A few years before my wife and I emigrated to Australia, we had come here on holiday for about three weeks. We had spent a few days in Melbourne and had rented a campervan. We were driving along the coast on the Princes Highway (which many Maltese here unfortunately insist on calling as if it was the Princess Highway).
Anyway one day we were driving from one camp site to the next. The radio was on and I was changing channels. At one point I heard a tune that was familiar, and after a few seconds I realised it was the song sung by Claudette Pace at Eurovision the year before, Desire. We were amazed as we didn’t think Maltese singers were followed in Australia.
We were more surprised after the song ended, which for a moment took us back to the land of our birth, hearing a voice speaking in Maltese. This was my introduction to Maltese language broadcasts in Australia on SBS.
Naturally, later I found out that not only were there Maltese broadcasts on radio from SBS, but the same organisation broadcast Maltese news on TV, there was a Maltese program on community television station TVS in Sydney which has now closed, and there still are a number of community radio stations broadcasting programs in Maltese, such as 2GLF and WOW FW in Sydney, 3ZZZ and North West FM in Melbourne, Gippsland FM in Gippsland Victoria, 5EBI in Adelaide, 4EB in Brisbane amongst others.
The most popular seem to be the radio and TV programs on SBS, understandable as these are stations that can be reached on all radio and TV receivers on the national territory of Australia. I have to say it is a pleasure to see the Maltese news being presented by Mr Joe Dimech, who for decades used to read the main news on TVM in Malta, representing continuity and one of the living symbols of Maltese current affairs.
These broadcasts often feature in discussions when Maltese friends and family meet and share their own and their community stories. There are some subjects with the potential for lighting a heated argument or two.
The first arises every few years, when SBS reviews the list of ethnicities which benefit from air time. Generally, Maltese transmissions pass through a variation of the proverbial tightening of the belt, either through the quantity of programming reducing, or else be delegated to a channel considered inferior, with the main reason being that the amount of people considering themselves Maltese in surveys, reduces with time. When this happens, there is usually an immediate reaction from followers, who write with sorrow and some (justified) rage, and Maltese councils attempt to resist with the SBS management.
The second subject happens a bit too frequently, when some scheduled transmission is in fact skipped. I remember initially I used to hear that ‘the tape did not arrive from Malta’, something I continued hearing well after I’d have expected the program to be delivered over the internet. Afterwards I discovered that ethnic programs take second place when events occur that are deemed to have a higher priority, such as the cycling races Le Tour in France or the Giro d’Italia. This always raised the question why Maltese isn’t considered sufficiently important.
Another subject is the most common, and regards the content of programming, both on TV and on radio. Completely opposite positions are taken. For example, some people say that on these programs, he or she wouldn’t want to see any political content, having been exposed to more than enough partisan politics when in Malta. Therefore the preference is expressed for programs dealing with culture, history, sport etc.
On the other hand, others grumble about transmissions containing very little on what is actually happening in the country, that everything would be passed through rose tinted glasses to make the Maltese government look pretty. Naturally this comment is applicable to Maltese news on TV produced in Malta, and on that part of the radio program that is produced in Malta, as the other part is produced by Maltese people employed by SBS. To say the truth I think this comment is a bit exaggerated, as I’ve often heard critical comments about the government, and there is a limit how many topics can be adequately covered in an hour program that needs to cover 2 or 3 days.
There is also the matter on the news mentioning events that occur outside of Malta. The complaint would be that the events in question would already be known, and that one would be expected to hear news about Malta. On the other hand, there is the position which I also take that news is not about Malta, but is with the Maltese perspective. Thus there might be a happening that occurs outside of Malta, that gets reported through the lens of a Maltese person, who might for example give importance to matters that might be ignored in Australian news, or might provide commentary on how the subject affects the Maltese community.
On this matter, it does seem that the policy of programming is not known sufficiently by Maltese viewers and listeners, and perhaps might be made clearer.
One man’s meat is another man’s poison!
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Ftit snin qabel ma jien u l-mara emigrajna lejn l-Awstralja, konna ġejna hawnhekk fuq btala għal xi tliet ġimgħat. Konna għamilna ftit jiem Melbourne u konna krejna vann tal-kampeġġ (campervan). u kKonna soqnieh matul il-kosta fuq il-Princes Highway (li ħafna Maltin t’hawnhekk sfortunatament isejħulha b’mod li tinstema qisha Princess Highway).
Insomma darba minnhom konna qiegħdin insuqu minn kampeġġ għall-ieħor. Kellna r-radju miftuħ u kont qed indawwar l-istazzjonijiet. F’ħin minnhom smajt daqqa li kienet familjari, u wara xi sekondi ndunajt li kienet id-diska li kienet kantat Claudette Pace fil-Eurovision tas-sena ta’ qabel, Desire. Skantajna għax ma ħsibniex li kantanti Maltin ikunu segwiti fl-Awstralja.
Skantajna iktar wara li spiċċat il-kanzunetta, li għall-mument ħaditna lura lejn art twelidna, meta imbagħad kien hemm leħenvuċi tjitkellem bil-Malti. Dik kienet l-introduzzjoni tiegħi għax-xandiriet Maltin fl-Awstralja fuq l-SBS.
Wara naturalment sirt naf li mhux biss kien hemm xandiriet Maltin tar-radju fuq l-SBS, imma l-istess organizzazzjoni xxandar l-aħbarijiet bil-Malti fuq it-TV, kien hemm programm Malti fuq l-istazzjon t-televiżiv tal-komunità ta’ Sydney TVS li issa għalaq, u hemm numru ta’ stazzjonijiet tal-komunità li jxandru programmi bil-Malti, bħat-2GLF u WOW FM f’Sydney, 3ZZZ u North West FM f’Melbourne, Gippsland FM f’Gippsland Victoria, 5EBI f’Adelaide, 4EB f’Brisbane, fost l-oħrajn.
L-iktar popolari jidher li huma l-programmi tar-radju u TV fuq l-SBS, naturalment għax dawn huma stazzjonijiet li jintlaħqu fuq is-settijiet tar-radju u televiżjoni fuq it-territorju nazzjonali Awstraljan. Ngħid għaliha huwa ta’ serħan għalija meta jinżerta jippreżenta l-aħbarijiet tal-Malti s-Sur Joe Dimech, li għal għexieren ta’ snin kien jaqra l-aħbarijiet prinċipali fuq TVM f’Malta, u li jirrappreżenta kontinwità u huwa wieħed mis-simboli ħajjin tal-istorja kurrenti Maltija.
Dawn ix-xandiriet spiss ikunu fid-diskussjonijiet meta jiltaqgħu familji u ħbieb Maltin u jibdew jaqsmu l-istejjer tagħhom u tal-komunità Maltija. Ikun hemm tlietftit suġġetti prinċipali li għandhom il-potenzjal għal xi argument ibaqbaq.
L-ewwel iqum kull ftit snin, meta l-SBS jirrevedu l-lista ta’ etniċitajiet li jgawdu minn ħin ta’ trasmissjoni. Ġeneralment, it-trasmissjonijiet Maltin jgħaddu minn esperjenza ta’ ssikkar taċ-ċintorin, jew għax l-ammont ta’ programmi jitnaqqsu, jew inkella jiġu ddelegati għal kanal meqjus inferjuri, bir-raġuni tkun li l-ammont ta’ nies li jqisu lilhom infushom Maltin fl-istħarriġ li jsir, iktar ma jgħaddi ż-żmien dejjem jonqos. Meta jiġri dan, ikun hemm reazzjoni mill-ewwel mis-semmiegħa, li dlonk jikbtu b’dispjaċir u rabja (ġustifikata), u l-kunsilli tal-Maltin jippruvaw jirreżistu mad-diriġenti tal-SBS.
It-tieni suġġett jiġri daqsxejn spiss iżżejjed, meta xi trasmissjoni li kellha ssir fil-fatt tinqabeż. Niftakar fil-bidu kont nisma’ li ‘t-tejp ma wasalx minn Malta’, u din bqajt nismagħha anke ħafna wara li kont nistenna li l-programmi kien qed jitwasslu bl-internet. Wara skoprejt ukoll li l-programmi etniċi jitwarrbu meta jkun hemm avvenimenti li jitqiesu ta’ iktar importanza, bħat-tiġrijiet tar-roti Le Tour ta’ Franza jew il-Giro d’Italia. Din dejjem tqajjimli l-mistoqsija għaliex il-Malti jitqies li mhux ta’ biżżejjed importanza biżżejjed.
L-aħħar sSuġġett ieħor huwa l-iktar komuni, għax jirrigwarda l-kontenut tal-programmi, kemm tat-televiżjoni u kemm tar-radju. Jittieħdu pożizzjonijiet kompletament kontra xulxin. Per eżempju, hemm minn jgħid li fuq dawn il-programmi, ma jridx jara affarijiet politiċi, għax kien xeba’ jisma’ politika partiġġjana meta kien Malta. Allura jrid jara kemm jista’ jkun programmi kulturali, storiċi, sportivi u l-bqija.
Mill-banda l-oħra, hemm min igerger li fuq it-trasmissjonijiet tisma’ ftit li xejn fuq attwalment x’qiegħed jiġri fil-pajjiż, li kollox ikun għadda mill-għarbiel biex il-gvern ta’ Malta jidher sabiħ. Naturalment dan il-kumment huwa japplikabbli għall-aħbarijiet bil-Malti fuq it-TV prodott f’Malta, u għall dak il-parti tal-programm tar-radju li huwa prodott f’Malta, għax il-parti l-oħra tal-programm tar-radju hija prodotta minn Maltin impjegati tal-SBS. Biex ngħid il-verità naħseb il-kumment huwa kemmxejn esaġerat, għax kummenti kritiċi għall-gvern spiss nisma’, u hemm limitu kemm tista’ tgħid affarijiet f’programm wieħed ta’ siegħa li jrid ikopri jumejn jew tlieta.
Imbagħad hemm il-kwistjoni fuq li l-aħbarijiet isemmu avvenimenti li jiġru barra minn Malta. It-tgergir ikun li dan l-affarijiet ikunu diġà magħrufa, u li wieħed ikun qiegħed jistenna li jisma’ aħbarijiet fuq Malta. Mill-banda l-oħra, hemm l-attitudni li jien nappartjeni għaliha li l-aħbarijiet ikunu mhux fuq Malta imma mill-perspettiva Maltija. Għalhekk jista’ jkun hemm avveniment li jsir barra minn Malta, li jiġi rrappurtat minn lenti ta’ xi ħadd Malti, li għalhekk per eżempju jista’ jagħti importanza lil affarijiet li jiġu njorati fl-aħbarijiet Awstraljani, jew li jista’ jingħata kumment dwar kif is-suġġett jaffettwa l-komunità Maltija.
Fuq din il-ħaġa, jidher li l-politika tal-programmi mhix magħrufa biżżejjed mit-telespettaturi u s-semmiegħa Maltin, u forsi tista’ tiġi magħmula iktar ċara.
Mitt bniedem, mitt fehma!
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