What Lies Beneath: Decoding messages and Interpreting Information
In 1995, local singer John Bundy won the ‘Ghanja tal-Poplu’ award with his song titled Pajjiz tal-Miki Maws (Mickey Mouse land). The song is a sarcastic description of the Maltese islands. Although criticised for such a song, many still quote the song title when faced with some form of national blunder and say how right he was. This December, Malta was faced with what is probably the worst political scandal in Maltese history, following the murder of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia back in 2017.
International News
Following this week’s instructions, I chose to kick off the research by looking at how 3 newsrooms reported the Maltese Prime Minister’s statement regarding his resignation. The articles I looked at are published by Reuters, Al Jazeera and CNN. All articles were published on the same day at approximately the same time.
Links to articles:
CNN: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/01/europe/malta-pm-joseph-muscat-resigns-intl/index.html
Starting off with Reuters, it introduced the article with a pacific note – that of the Prime Minister appealing for peace. Unlike the other two articles which I looked at, this article focused more on the happening in court as well as the words and actions of the Prime Minister. The tone of the article takes that of a narrative, without invoking any sort of feeling to the reader. Moving on to the Al Jazeera article, this one included a video feature, showing the Prime Minister’s statement as well as footage from the protests and a brief interview with two editors-in-chief of two local newspapers. In comparison to the Reuters one, the Al Jazeera article used more expressive words when describing the topic in question. It also focused more on how the protests are unfolding in relation to the events taking place. On the other hand, CNN introduces the article with the Prime Minister’s statement itself. Then it is followed by a backstory that dates back to the 2017 incident that has led up to today. Out of the CNN’s was the only one that discussed in detail the event of 2017 which led up to today.
Fake News taking Centre Stage
Being an event where it involves the people in power and
being in a country with two major political parties, it is expected that people
can be very sensitive, both sides have very differing opinions, and both want
to voice it. That being said, there are always the ones who try to mar the
overall situation by publishing fake news, for various reasons. These couple of
weeks, the local media has been flooded with fake news, including from
international newsrooms. The problem is, there are so many articles being
published right now that it is hard to decipher what is real and what is not. MaltaToday
– a local newspaper gives some insights on this subject. Amongst other things,
it sheds light on a fake story published by The Guardian, some insight on what
is really true and what is not, about ‘waiting and seeing’ is not the best
option, and numerous speculations and conspiracy theories that flooded the
media.
The People Speaks, and the Artist Makes
Like in any protest, the mob is adorned with all sorts of banners and slogans. Two growing movements: Occupy Justice and Repubblika have created a numer of billboards that can be seen around the island. Similarly, when such events take place, it will reflect in some artist’s latest masterpiece in an exhibition. From an artistic standpoint, the purpose of the banners is to get the message across, there is no aesthetical side to it. Which fits the setting perfectly, given the current situation.
With that said, various artists have been inspired by the current affairs that unfolded over the past couple of years. Below are some examples from two artists – Jana Moroz, known as Jana Frost and Seb Tanti Burlò, a caricature artist and illustrator.
In addition, since everything was unearthed on Black Friday, the social media was flooded with the hashtag #blackfridaymalta. The social media became a dumping ground of news articles, fact, conspiracies, footage, protest slogans and all sorts of material in relation to this. As social media is not vetted by any sort of editors, one could see the situation from multiple perspectives, but it was also the place where heated online “discussions” (for the lack of a better word” could be witnessed. This hashtag was also being used by the two above mentioned movements on their social media pages.
In addition to this, authors have also left their mark. Recently, I read a book called Kapitali, by Wayne Flask. It is a very interesting book about two schoolmates who later on run for election with opposing parties and are both elected as MPs. The book kicks off as a humoristic satirical story, however as the story progresses, it shifts to a rather uneasy setting were light is shed on rather dodgy affairs. The protagonists of the story are fictitious, however the other makes references to happenings that really took place as well as existing MPs and ministers.
The book was published with two different covers, the colours represent the two major parties in Malta. However, the contents of the books were all the same.
Bottom Line
In the light of situations like this, decoding what is true and what is not can impose a challenge. Bias can have a large impact on one’s judgement, making it easier to be fooled by conspiracy theories and fake news. As a common, tax-paying citizen that waits for the salary in the end of the month, all I can say is that before making sweeping statements and posting on social media, I make sure that my argument is backed by sources, where it gives me room to put together my own opinion and build my own view of things. With that said, I am going to conclude by posting the video to the song I mentioned in the very beginning. The way the world is heading, seems that the artists are right most of the time. Probably because we are the most observant of beings.
Here’s the song lyrics, and translation:
Min qal li f’Malta m’hawnx muntanji,
Asslu wasla tal-widien,
Fost tyres, fridges u elf ħaġ’ oħra,
Taraw muntanji ta’ terrapin.
Min qal li neqsin minn ħafna ħdura,
Ħarsu ħbieb, lejn xi talin.
Għax hekk kif toqrob l-elezzjoni,
Toħroġ il-hdura f’għajn il-Maltin.
Konna u għadna ngħixu,
F’pajjiż tal-Miki Maws,
Fejn ta’ fuq jiġbdu l-ispaga,
U aħna l-pupazzi, nimmarċjaw.
U jekk ma rridux nibqu,
Pajjiż tal-Miki Maws,
Jeħtieġ nagħmlu xi ħaġa,
Biex lilna jirrispettaw.
U min qal li m’għandnix progett spazjali,
Flok tlajna, il-qamar ġie hawnhekk,
Bil-ħofor li hawn fit-toroq tagħna,
Trid tkun attent kif tmidd riġlejk.
Min qal dal-ġens mhux b’qalb taz-zokkor
Ara jsakkrukom ġo Kordin.
Jekk inqbadtu b’xi kilo trab mill-abjad,
Persważ li tiġu, meħlusin.
Konna u għadna ngħixu,
F’pajjiż tal-Miki Maws,
Fejn ta’ fuq jiġbdu l-ispaga,
U aħna l-pupazzi, nimmarċjaw.
U jekk ma rridux nibqu,
Pajjiż tal-Miki Maws,
Jeħtieġ nagħmlu xi ħaġa,
Biex lilna jirrispettaw.
Min qal li m’aħniex poplu bieżel,
Ftakkru dejjem fil-ħaddiem tal-Gvern,
Jaħdem, jistinka, bla ma jixbha,
Basta mad-disgħa, iparpar ‘l hemm.
U min qal li m’hawnx ambjentalisti,
Kulma nagħmlu, kollox f’gieħ l-ambjent,
Kaċċa, nonsbu u l-art neqirdu,
Ghax kuntent jien, kulhadd kuntent.
Konna u għadna ngħixu,
F’pajjiż tal-Miki Maws,
Fejn ta’ fuq jiġbdu l-ispaga,
U aħna l-pupazzi, nimmarċjaw.
U jekk ma rridux nibqu,
Pajjiż tal-Miki Maws,
Jeħtieġ nagħmlu xi ħaġa,
Biex lilna jirrispettaw.
Jeħtieġ nagħmlu xi ħaġa,
Biex lilna jikkuntentaw.
Who said that in Malta there are no mountains,
Pop by to the valleys,
Amongst tires, fridges and a thousand other things,
You’ll see mountains of debris.
Who said that we lack greenery,
Look friends, at some blokes.
As soon as the election approaches,
You see the green* in the Maltese’s eye. [In Maltese langauge, the colour green is associated with jealousy and malicious intentions].
We were and are still living,
In a Mickey Mouse country,
Where the ones at the top pull the string,
And we the puppets, march.
And if we don’t want to keep living,
In a Mickey Mouse country,
Must do something,
For them to respect us.
And whoever said we don’t have a space project,
Instead of going, the moon came here,
With potholes here on our roads,
You need to be careful where to place your feet.
Who said this isn’t a people with heart of sugar*, [generous and undertanding people]
Careful not to be locked up at Corradino*. [Corradino Correctional facitlity. i.e. prison]
If caught with some kilos of white powder,
I’m persuaded you’ll be freed.
We were and are still living,
In a Mickey Mouse country,
Where the ones at the top pull the string,
And we the puppets, march.
And if we don’t want to keep living,
In a Mickey Mouse country,
Must do something,
For them to respect us.
Who said that we are not hard-working people,
Always remember the government worker,
As long as by nine, he gets away.
And who said that there are no environmentalists,
All we do, all for the sake of the environment,
Hunting, trapping and destroy land,
Because if I’m happy, everybody is.
We were and are still living,
In a Mickey Mouse country,
Where the ones at the top pull the string,
And we the puppets, march.
And if we don’t want to keep living,
In a Mickey Mouse country,
Must do something,
For them to respect us.
Must do something,
For them to keep us happy.
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WHAT LIES BENEATH: DECODING MESSAGES AND INTERPRETING INFORMATION – THE LEAFLET – Lindsay Aquilina – Graphic Designer
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