Yelling at the telly

Gill Temple

Gill on Gib

With all the political drama that has being going on recently, and no one really knowing what is happening, it was a bit like the Ockey cokey last weekend, In, out, In, Out, shake it all about. I gave up following it all, and thought to myself, "Enough" and switched off by refusing to speculate or believe one side or the other. At one point it appeared that both sides disagreed and were going to sign an agreement to contradict their statements. The world has gone mad. 

I instead started to focus on the way that the news was being reported and was horrified to see, nearly two years later, political correspondents for leading newspapers and television news still report to the world that Gibraltar is an island. Sky news basing their knowledge on this misinformed fact went on to say they couldn't see what the big deal was with Gibraltar being a stumbling block. "Well if you bothered to check your facts love, it is a very big deal" I shouted at the telly.

I believe there must have been many others that were also screaming at their televisions over the weekend. It can't be just me, can it?

Frustrating

How frustrating that the simplest of facts still haven't been recognised. I mean it isn't two years ago that Gibraltar a tiny island in the Med, somehow attached itself to the land mass called Europe. It's been attached since Nana and Flint were running about in their loin cloths. However, two years ago when Gibraltar suddenly became very important to the leaving of Europe, one would have hoped that the main stream European and world press would get their act together and report the news and Geography correctly. For two years we have had to put up with news claiming that the only border with Europe is the Irish one, with Northern Ireland. I'd love to know why I'm queuing up in six lanes of traffic then?

I wonder if it is just morons running the show, or if in fact it is done deliberately in order to sway the masses. Media is a wonderful thing to push the people one way or another. Was Gibraltar and her interests deliberately written out of the script, or mismanaged by the news outlets? I do hope not.

Infuriating

Whilst I find it infuriating, imagine how the Government ministers that have had to deal with the negotiations have felt. It must have been and still is an up hill battle. No matter who your best friends in the UK are, the subliminal messages being posted in every outlet are a burden to fight against. As if they didn't have enough on their plate at the moment.

As laws in Gibraltar can be changed at the flick of a pen, it should be decreed that anyone that hears false statements about Gibraltar within Gibraltar should be corrected or thrown off the Rock, preferably from the top. Ideals policies, thoughts change, but factual information ( like it's not an island) remain the same.

If these news outlets are unaware where Gibraltar is, then how can they possibly know of the strategic positioning of Gibraltar that meant so much to the navy in years gone by, or that Gibraltar's border was closed for so many years and the hardships that Gibraltarians suffered due to that dumb Spanish idea, which they celebrate the 50 year marker of it closing ( not reopening) recently.

Without the obvious knowledge and unforgivable mistake that continue to be made by these reporters, Gibraltar is being given an uneven hand. It is not fair, nor correct to con the masses with fake and destructive news. I am hoarse. I can imagine that the Chief Minister can not be that happy either. Whilst he has both eyes on the ball and continues to stand firm and remain articulate throughout, there are these uneducated forces that are damaging his work. I'd like to think he is also yelling at his much bigger and flatter television in surround sound, too, whilst his beautiful unflappable wife tries to calm him before he wakes the children. I admit if that is the scenario going on in his household, his yelling would be far more eloquent and positive than my bitching.

rubbish

It's not over yet until the fat lady sings, or so they say. I for one remain glued to the news for the next round of rubbish reporting to emerge trusting that the folk at the top aren't being hampered too much by what is said.

The problem though isn't so much what we think about these untrue stories and discussions based of factually untruths, but how the rest of the world see us, viewed through the eyes of a moron/ uneducated reporter.

A picture that the chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister has been painting almost continuously is now being rubbed out and rewritten. I am more than angry by the sub text that is being laid down. If anyone spots any of these untruths being said, we have a moral duty to contact the news department of the offending company and tell them by email. It takes 3 minutes to educate them.

It is our duty to make sure these subtle hints and lies are removed from future stories that will be told in the international television news and papers.

29-11-18 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR