Foul language, badly written messages and offensive SMSes are the subject of the latest Broadcasting Authority circular to all television stations issued last Friday.
Clearly worried by the abysmal level of Maltese and the unedited messages scrolling along the Maltese TV channels on almost every live programme, the authority reminded the stations of their obligation to broadcast words in Maltese spelled correctly, besides censoring foul language that often ends up on the screens unexpectedly.
“The Broadcasting Authority reminds all broadcasters of their obligation to edit words sent to them by SMS to make sure there is no foul language and that Maltese is written well as much as possible,” the circular said.
Producers using SMSes during their programmes however said it was next to impossible to correct the spelling, given that text messages are by their nature concise and are often abbreviated in every language.
“We would have to edit every message we put out on the screens if we had to follow the BA’s circular,” one producer said.