The Times of Malta, that bastion of media balance, is in a very boastful mood. An eventful start to 2012 saw over 1.6 million visitors browse timesofmalta.com in the first 10 days of the year – unprecedented figures for a Maltese website. That figure jumps five-fold, to just over 8.5 […]
Ian Waugh
I love the Internet. Indeed without the World Wide Web that was invented or should I say evolved by some horrible coincidence in my life I think from a personal point of view my existence would be totally different. Just as I was beginning to lose the use of my […]
Apart from uplifting events personally, this has been a rubbish year. Riots, burning, thieving, national political gloom, lies and garbage from those who should know better. Credibility sold for a cent. National pride and a country’s good name kicked in the teeth by those who run it. Good, then not […]
In 2007 I was asked to write a piece on Maltese radio. 20 years after deregulation here is an update. In a medium where “content is king” and where in Malta the Maltese have such choice, in fact all that seems to be on offer is much of the same. […]
The eighth of August 2011 will go down as one of South London’s darker dates. It will stay in our memories probably for ever. As London was burning, the sirens were screaming, as news channels broadcast our hell live to the world, I can remember watching the thick black smoke […]
When I was a boy I remember a scandal in the early 1960s that brought the Macmillan government to its knees. I am of course referring to the Profumo affair, an event so appalling that elderly members of my family refused to discuss it in front of us children. But […]
These last few weeks have been quite extraordinary in a positive and happy way. First there was the build-up and anticipation, then the “big day”, followed by the “getting back to normal” syndrome. I am in fact referring to our civil registration which took place on Saturday as an extremely […]
There is something very creepy that has always in lurked around in this vehicle we call the Internet. There is a grave danger that our lives and indeed our personalities can be penetrated from outside the safety of our keyboards and Internet screens. Human nature seems to have adapted itself […]
I came across this from British Pathé. King George VI opening The Empire Exhibition in 1938. I am actually searching for footage for another unrelated item. Although unused this piece is clearly heavily edited in an attempt to disguise the Kings’ severe voice impediment and nerves. It’s painful to watch […]
I find myself these days are applying myself to the Internet with certain caution for fear of upsetting or shocking the delicate amongst us. So here goes, once more into the breach! In the Mediterranean in the grand old city of Valletta, the capital of Malta, they are having a […]
It has been pointed out to me that I am ‘negative’. To me and many around me, this is real news. The only medium where this claim has been made is Facebook, famous for users to openly express themselves. Several (about half a dozen) people on Facebook take this strange […]
The trouble with having a viewpoint is that invariably there is a danger of alienating half of the recipients of your thoughts. Facebook is the only “social” networking site I use. There are dozens of them out there and all seem to do exactly the same job. I’m not a […]
Since this coalition government has been running the affairs of Great Britain, Prime Ministers Question time (PMQs) scheduled for most Wednesdays has turned into a theatrical fiasco. Yesterday was no exception to the rule. With the Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative party making a total mockery of the […]
If ever a single photograph portrays a scene of dread and sheer disgust then it has to be this one, published last week in The Daily Star in Dhaka Bangladesh. It was taken by chance by a freelance photographer who happened to be in the area on another assignment. While […]
First hitting the streets in colonial Malta in 1935, The Times of Malta is an English-language newspaper with allegedly the highest circulation. In many ways it has been a point of reference to current affairs on these Maltese islands, but in recent times its monopoly and in some ways its […]
On the streets of Malta there is genuine fury, through the pages of Facebook there is indignation and anger. At the offices of RAI there are copious amounts of egg on a great many faces. Emotions are running high in the Mediterranean as it looks like a huge rather ugly […]
This evening I have been filling in my 2011 Census Form. I used my computer, did the process online using the high speed broadband, in my central heated comfortable apartment, lit by electric light whilst listening to some nice music recorded digitally after a rather pleasant dinner. Almost to this […]
A lot of my broadcasting work (especially in the last 25 years) has been in the field of presentation and programming development. Some of this has been to identify talent as a means to improving station output or overall presentation. One such case was in Zimbabwe where I worked for […]
There’s a little story behind this record. I met Marc Almond in the early 80’s when he was the other half of Soft Cell and interviewed Gene Pitney for radio in the mid 80’s. I used to frequent a small bar on the front at Gzira (Malta) opposite the bridge […]
The call for a greater range of real Halal products in our shops and restaurants is growing at a steady and interesting pace. But how do you know that the meat and other products you are purchasing is genuinely Halal? How is it regulated and what measures are in place […]