It is beautiful to see a democratic country functioning properly. It is beautiful to live in a country where freedom of speech is enhanced. What might be less beautiful is to see people calling weekly on a television program for the sole purpose of setting the presenter’s temper off.
The tragedy in it all is that the presenter easily succumbs to provocations, going as far as to tell a person, who called and passed inappropriate remarks, to jump from Dingli Cliffs.
It is ironic to see a presenter, who criticises every institution and public figure on our island, resort to name calling when people phone his program with ’diverse’ ideas, especially when one considers the fact that the program is called ’Il-Parlament tal-Poplu’ (The Citizens’ Parliament).
Whilst for most of us telling someone to jump from Dingli Cliffs comes across as humorous, it is a remark that clearly triggers suicide. It is a phrase that we might use daily in informal speech, although not justifiably, but when presenting a program, which is increasing its popularity week after week, the situation is completely different.
Suicide is such a sensitive topic for our country and the Western world, that suicide deaths do not get any prominence on our news, unless it is the death of an international celebrity.
Calling those who pass irrelevant remarks names, such as "pizella’ (pea) and "basal marinat fil-hmieg tal-grieden’ (onions marinated in mice excrement), is low and unprofessional, but what took place yesterday was extremely disrespectful towards people who might have lost relatives and friends due to suicide, as well as those people who might be contemplating suicide.
Some people have claimed that those who phoned were provoking the presenter and are therefore entitled to the presenter’s replies. But are such replies justifiable? One surely wouldn’t expect to be called a "basla’ (onion), when calling a program whose presenter continuously highlights the importance of a high IQ level within his audience.
Luckily, it has now occurred to Malta’s Broadcasting Authority that what is happening during this program is a tad more serious than it first appeared to be.
