Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1196490
NEWS ONE way to describe the jour- nalistic journey of a newspaper is take a close look at its editorial cartoons. On the 28 November, Malta- Today hosted an exhibition of 40 selected cartoons and the book '20 Years of MaltaToday – The Cartoons' at The Villa, Corin- thia, H'Attard, with around 200 guests in attendance. Columnist Michael Falzon, University vice-rector Prof. Car- men Sammut, and publicist Jes- mond Saliba also gave speech- es in honour of MaltaToday. Guests included former journal- ists and employees of MaltaTo- day and other contributors and collaborators. Welcoming the guests Saviour Balzan reminisced on the last 20 years and told the invited guests: "There is and has always has been a very clear link between what the editor is thinking and the cartoon itself. MaltaToday is no exception, and different editors have had different per- spectives, beliefs, fears and pet hates. The cartoonist in our case follows more often than not the direction given to him by the editor." MaltaToday's longstanding ed- itorial cartoonist is Mikiel Galea, known as l-Stordut, who started off with MaltaToday in 1999 and works for this newspaper un- til this day. Mark Scicluna also served as cartoonist before tak- ing up illustration in Scotland. The works of both cartoonists are represented in both the ex- hibition and the book which dis- plays over 155 cartoons. Scicluna and Galea have differ- ent styles, but their cartoons are often not only a caricature of a political or cultural occurrence that coloured that particular moment in time, but more often an extension of the editor's per- spective. The editors and cartoonists in general reflected the mood of the moment. This collection of cartoons are taken from three newspapers in the MediaToday stable, MaltaToday, MaltaToday midweek and Illum. They are not randomly chosen but specifically selected to highlight a thematic subject that were shown in the print stories of the day. "Looking back, it is not too dif- ficult to conclude that the state of affairs has not changed dra- matically. We remain a polarised society, we still have ugly bouts of racism, environmental degra- dation is still a serious concern and politicians are reasonably well-versed in the art of double standards," Balzan told guests. "In general most of the pro- tagonists or targets embraced the cartoons and the spirit of the cartoon and took them in their stride. Politicians surely were flattered to be given so much attention. And most of the subjects in our cartoons always bragged about their appearance in a cartoon." The book includes essays on MaltaToday's history by co- owners Roger de Giorgio and Saviour Balzan, executive edi- tor Matthew Vella, online edi- tor Kurt Sansone, and veteran journalists James Debono and Raphael Vassallo. maltatoday | SUNDAY • 29 DECEMBER 2019 Issued by Bank of Valle a p.l.c., 58, Triq San Żakkarija, Il-Belt Valle a VLT 1130. Bank of Valle a p.l.c. is a public limited company regulated by the MFSA and is licensed to carry out the business of banking in terms of the Banking Act (Cap. 371 of the Laws of Malta). NOTICE TO CUSTOMERS Bank of Valle a will be upgrading its IT systems. In view of this, the Bank will be offering limited services as from Friday 27 December 2019. The Bank will be closed for business on Monday 30, Tuesday 31 December 2019 and Wednesday 1 January 2020 (Public Holiday). It will resume opera ons and banking services as from 8.30 am on Thursday 2 January 2020. During this period, customers will be able to con nue using their BOV Cards and BOV Pay in the normal manner, in all retail stores, restaurants and all other outlets locally, abroad, and online. Cash withdrawals and balance enquiries will also remain available from all BOV ATMs. Customers may also withdraw cash from non-BOV ATMs locally and abroad*. The Customer Service Centre will be available for repor ng lost or stolen cards and card fraud. All other services including payments, BOV Internet Banking and BOV Mobile Banking will not be available throughout this period as from the following cut-off mes. Date Cut-off Time Services interrupted: Back in service Friday 27 December 12:00 pm ATM Services - Deposits (cash & cheques), Viewing of Recent Transac ons, Transfer between Accounts, Cheque Book and Deposit Book Orders through ATMs Nightsafe Deposit Facility Services interrupted will resume as at Thursday 2 January 2020 at 8:30 am BOV Cards, BOV Pay and Cash Withdrawals from ATMs will operate normally throughout the whole upgrade period 2:00 pm Payment services through all channels (including payments through Branches and Internet Banking) Saturday 28 December 11:00 am Branches (will close at 11:00 am instead of 12.30 pm) 5:00 pm Internet and Mobile Banking systems Monday 30 December BOV closed for business Tuesday 31 December BOV closed for business Wednesday 1 January Public Holiday Thursday 2 January BOV open for business at 8.30 am Bank of Valle a encourages its customers to carry out the banking transac ons they require for this period by Friday 27 December 2019 as per cut-off mes above, including transfers to their card linked accounts to ensure that they have access to enough funds throughout the upgrade period. The Bank apologises for this temporary interrup on of its services and for any inconvenience caused to customers. More informa on is available on www.bov.com/content/upgrade, by calling 2124 7822 or by sending an email to systemupgrade@bov.com. *Normal Charges apply Funny that: 20 years of cartoons 20 Years of MaltaToday – The Cartoons is published by MediaToday and goes on sale at €20. Enquire on 21832741 • Distributors and shops contact Bianca Clarke Freddi on email: bcfreddi@mediatoday.com.mt