The PM’s first web conference with the public
Published:
May 10, 2012 at 8:30am
It’s not so much the content that we have to look at here (though that too). It’s that it’s very difficult to imagine Joseph Muscat doing the same thing: facing a web camera and taking questions live, answering them there and then without help, notes, prepared text and teleprompters, while not knowing what’s going to come up next.
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WOOW, my heart nearly missed a beat, I miss-read your last part as”while not knowning what’s going on ”
I said to myself “surely this can’t be our Daphne”
Thank God I noticed my mistake.
What a difference compared with the radio & TV presenter.
Joe Muscat is scared shitless unless his performance is stage-managed with pre-prepared Q&A.
If he is as open as the PM, he has to be prepared to answer with chapter and verse about policy – and we all know he is totally devoid in that department – and many others.
Joseph would want his wife nearby, holding his hand for moral support as a boy on his first day at school.
[Daphne – Usually she holds onto his elbow while he forges ahead of her.]
Daphne I’m sorry but this looks staged and scripted. It might be just an impression.
[Daphne – Yes, it is just an impression. I know this for a fact. And to paraphrase somebody more famous, she would know, wouldn’t she?]
Eh ara fejn hu il-Prim! Franco kien qed ifittxu il-bierah u qal li qed jaghmel xi haga fuq l-internet jew hekk… qas haqq kemm hsibijiet ghaddew minn mohhi fuq x’seta kien qed jaghmel fuq l-internet.
“without help, notes, prepared text and teleprompters”
Are you kidding?
[Daphne – No, I’m not. It’s not as though you haven’t seen him do it before during televised press conferences organised by the Broadcasting Authority, Mr Stingray. And on many other occasions, too, as when facing a rabid audience on Xarabank. You just can’t believe it, can you, because your people are so bloody incompetent.]
I joined the web conference, and I must say that I enjoyed it very much.
Apart from a few idiots who repeated their question ad nauseum, there were some really relevant questions. I think after this success, other web conferences will be scheduled, hopefully lasting more than just an hour to give time for more questions.
It’s also the fact that he speaks so politely. He shows respect for every question, suggestion and comment. He’s not trying to show off- he’s genuine.
Not to burst your bubble, but just as a point of information, tomorrow Dr. Joseph Muscat will be having a whole 2 hour round table conference (i.e. face to face communication) with youth organisations. MZPN, SDM and PN activists are invited. Maybe you might feel to keep us informed about this one, as well. You’ll never know, maybe JM will show us more flaws within his party’s direction.
[Daphne – If Kurt would send me the link, I’ll upload it.]
Hussssss, I never truly believed that this blog was an official PN propoganda, maybe it was just an opinion. Does tal-Pieta send the articles as well, or limited to videos and links. Well, today I feel normal again.
Meta Joseph Muscat gie mistieden fuq Bondi+, mar biss nofs program ghax l-speeches li kieku preparati ma kienux iwasslu aktar.
Great feat, indeed.
I am proud to have participated in this web broadcast. The prime minister was calm and convincing.
Muscat would have had it much easier, as questions would have dwelled on the new price of tonn taz-zejt and other absurdities of their time.
I took part in this webex session and I can say that it was a very positive meeting. Loads of questions and many prompt and very clear answers from the PM.
What does Lawrence’s colon taste like?
[Daphne – I wouldn’t know. That’s the sort of extra curricular activity that Jason Micallef and his friend Consuelo Herrera favour, not me. And I doubt they’d get close enough to try.]
He will do it. It’s very easy actually.
Step 1. Get a bunch of elves.
Step 2. Prepare their questions.
Step 3. Give the Great Leader the answers.
Step 4. Number each question and answer accurately.
Step 5. Pray the Great Leader reads the correct answer.
They can’t do the same; it would divert the elves away from their habitat. Imagine the panic at Maltatoday.
The prime minister is a class act and a gentleman. Joseph has a long way to go to match the calibre of our prime minister.
I hope there will be another one. I had to skip this one due to unavoidable commitments.
The PM is slick as usual. You are assuming however that he’s taking questions live, answering them there and then without help.
[Daphne – Should I groan? Of course he’s taking questions live, David. IT’S A LIVE WEB BROADCAST. And of course he’s answering them without help. Do you see any indication that somebody is passing him notes, or that he’s referring to anyone else, or reading notes? You just don’t believe, do you, that some people are actually competent, because they all seem to be in the Nationalist Party and you just find it too much to process. Can you imagine Simon Busuttil ever being a Labour politician, for instance? Ask yourself why.]
It’s also a big if, whether or not he knows what’s going to come up next. I wasn’t impressed. The backdrop is beautiful though.
[Daphne – Yes, isn’t it. And of course he didn’t know what was going to come up next. Even the Nationalist Party can’t control minds. You should have tested it by putting in a question or five of your own. But of course you wouldn’t do that, because you’d rather believe your own myths than face the unpalatable truth.]
Should I groan louder?
You are wrong but I’ve just come from work and don’t have the energy to explain to someone who thinks she’s always right.
Xi darba nghidlek…
[Daphne – I don’t think I’m always right, David. It’s just that I’m right disproportionately often, largely because the competition is so poor. I would probably have a harder time elsewhere. It’s really not hard to win an argument with a Labour supporter, because voting Labour is by definition irrational.]
I’m really groaning loud now!
What argument? What did you win? Who is a Labour supporter? What does it have to do with the simple fact that the PM was well prepared for his answers because, well BECAUSE, he knew the questions beforehand?
[Daphne – I don’t mean in this case, David. I meant in general. And I also include AD supporters, incidentally. I agree with Henrik Piski.]
The mind boggles. Many times you amuse me, but at times you irritate me because I’m pretty sure you’re convinced about what you’re saying … when you shouldn’t be because you’re wrong. On this occasion, you are wrong.
[Daphne – Oh, where you there? Fascinating. You must have been something they trod on on the way in, because I can’t say anyone noticed. As for the tone of the rest of your comment, I’ll have to say that at this stage in my life, I find men who seek to provoke me into debate, as a sort of mental challenge, irritating rather than entertaining. There ARE some women, of all ages, out there who don’t bat their eyelashes. Hunt one out. This one finds men in search of intellectual debate and point-scoring utterly tedious.]
How is this more difficult than, say, being on Xarabank? They do answer questions from the audience there, don’t they?
I can’t see what this fuss about a simple webinar is all about. It’s like any other TV or radio program but presented on a different medium.
Was this a joke? I mean I have only seen the first 10 minutes and this is totally absurd. Whoa, I truly needed the PM to explain to me what a pedestrian area is, it was that one single subject which my lecturers never really explained, and here it is for us, Dr.Lawrence Gonzi explaining to me what is a pedestrian area, and by the way he agrees. Men, my life is complete.
[Daphne – ‘Men, my life is complete.’ Watch your spelling, because it gives your accent away. And then I sort of, you know, lose interest in what you have to say. Anyway, I see you’re back. Or, so that you’ll understand me clearly, peck.]
Ehhh challenge kbira izzid is-soddod. Of course it’s a great challenge especially after building a hospital which took 17 years to be built which isn’t sufficient for a 400,000 population. That was the answer I was expecting. Thanks Lawrence. EHHHH Mariella saqsietni dwar ir-rapport tal-IMF, but what the fuck was the question. Gosh and then explains to me what is an IMF. Thanks Lawrence. Not that Labour has offered much up to this moment, but if what they’ve proposed is a joke, this is hilarious. Gosh. Issa saqietu dwar bieb il belt, pero l-mistoqsija ma nafuhiex, ghalmenu jien miniex naraha, bhal li kieku mistoqsija wahda emm dwar bieb il-belt.
Yeah it truly does show my accent, just as if man can never refer to a plurality of the noun, but that’s irrelevant. Insomma qbadtni defni, accent ta’ bniedem hamallu b xi ghoxrin misluta m ghajnejha. No, my dear, I wouldn’t say I’m back, today I saw that one video which urged me to speak up, actually joke about, but whatever. Ejja Dafni stennejt ahjar, hisbtek ha tiddefendi lill-Onnorevoli.
talk- T A L K, I’d better stop