Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1281593
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 AUGUST 2020 NEWS AT some point or another, the last 23 years of Maltese society and politics has been defined by what Xarabank was broadcast- ed. Conceived in 1997 during Malta's belated coming-of-age for public broadcasting, Xara- bank was, at its outset, the cul- mination of Malta's new liberal drift. At the helm was Joe Az- zopardi, host and producer, a media protagonist not tied to any establishment, with a histo- ry in green politics, as were so many of his collaborators. Just like the potpourri of voices that Maltese audiences had heard on such Italian shows as Mau- rizio Costanzo's late-night dis- cussion show, here was a sim- ilar set-up: a large audience in studio, listening to what a few bigwigs, and unlikely leftfield tokens had to say, all on equal footing as part of the Xarabank panel. Such was the instant appeal of the wide audience that Xara- bank guaranteed, that no guest too outlandish, no guest too mediocre, would be denied the coveted platform. So over the next two decades, Xarabank's magnetic pull ensured one of the widest coverages ever giv- en to the multi-faceted Maltese society. It was not just country lead- ers (every prime minister has graced Azzopardi's stage, upon introduction given the parlour treatment, later in a semi hard- talk appearance). It was prac- tically every single politician, from senior ministers down to the monster raving loonies who called for the people's vote. But not only: it have gave un- precedented visibility to people and communities that had been excluded, for decades, from Maltese broadcasting. Out came a cast of the diverse Malta that Azzopardi was first to ush- er into public view: LGBTIQ activists and ordinary citizens, cohabiting couples, the work- ing class (an entire episode of Xarabank was dedicated to bus drivers), the Muslim commu- nity, Palestinians (a whole edi- tion was filmed in the occupied territories and was screened on the eve of a solidarity march attended by thousands), single mums, drug addicts, canna- bis users, refugees and asylum seekers… Subjects discussed on that show remain too many to men- tion. Like the taboo-shattering politics of the new movements of the 1980s and Alternattiva Demokratika, Azzopardi flew that same flag. In 1997, divorce comes to Xarabank. From then on, little seemed to be off the cards for a programme like Xarabank. But Azzopardi had a better handle on the media than most. He knew how to craft a talk show that could entertain a mass audience, and with light entertainment colouring the show, he upped the game on what people could expect from a discussion programme. Audi- ences started expecting more than a mere discussion between panelists and a moderator. But that demand for more al- so generated huge talent. A vast turnover of people, journalists, entertainers, scriptwriters and comedians, were passed from that very same sieve of talent: people like Marie Briguglio, the economist, filmmakers like Abigail Mallia, Kenneth Sciclu- na, and Andrew Sultana, or the inimitable 'James Bondin' – Joe Debono – were all part of this laboratory of sorts. Many were the names who passed through Xarabank to become media personalities in their own right; many more were granted their 15 minutes of fame and pro- pelled to a wide audience. Mercifully, Azzopardi's tab- loid formula was never used to attack or threaten minorities, and especially was religious in refusing to foment any sort of racist frisson as often happens in other countries or in oth- er TV programmes. Xarabank had refrained from milking far- right antagonists like Norman Lowell, whose cabaret racism has otherwise graced the stu- dios of even channels like One TV, the organ of the Labour Party. Historically, Xarabank has championed progressive causes and enjoyed the benign caress of the equally progres- sive Peppi Azzopardi to find a sympathetic platform, rather than one that questioned or challenged anti-racism or an- ti-fascism. Surely enough, Azzopardi did have his political biases. Very often they reflected his own agendas, and at times he ensured that his own agenda is aligned with the power that allowed to continue his mediat- ic career uninterrupted. But he had enough stamina to stand his ground when his show hit hard those who did want to be placed under his magnify- ing glass: famously there was the boycott of Xarabank by the entire Labour Party during the EU referendum campaign, a pivotal moment that under- lined the influence of the show and its power of seduction. But Azzopardi also clashed with the Church hierarchy which re- buked it in its early years when Xarabank's choice of subjects started chipping away at the silence and acquiescence the Maltese Catholic church count- ed on to move unquestioned; and when the Xarabank studio was hit by a PA enforcement notice after the programme investigated illegalities by the developer Charles Polidano un- der a PN administration, Azzo- pardi soldiered on by finding a new venue that would host his show. All grown-up and too much With time, the Malta of Xara- bank appeared to have been lost in the Xarabank of Malta. After those halcyon days of testing the limits of public broadcast- ing with subjects that merited critical insight and wide airing, something in Xarabank veered far into a slavish spectacle of sorts. When everyone learnt the format, when Malta itself be- came accustomed to the per- formativeness that Xarabank inspired, even the show itself became aware that simple voic- es could give spectacle to the masses. And that, that specta- cle could be nurtured, grown, and used to propel the show in- to new territory. At some point, even human stories that invit- ed empathy carried with them some element of misplaced glamour; and with the tab- loidish attraction of the sordid, the serious stuff started passing for a series of brief, infotain- ment slots. The bus breaks down For 23 years Xarabank was a shared collective space on national TV enjoyed and loathed by thousands of viewers. JAMES DEBONO and MATTHEW VELLA on the legacy A parched Peppi Azzopardi has a quick drink during a commercial break for Xarabank in 2015 Young Joe during Xarabank's first incarnation, aired from a University of Malta lecture hall