The turn of the year saw the 50th anniversary of Radio Malta, previously known as Radju Ta’ Malta.

I remember those days vividly. My father, then chief executive officer of the Malta Broadcasting Authority and responsible for launching Radio Malta One, Two and Three, had brought home a transistor radio. It was the first one I had ever seen, with a fluorescent green digital clock. He set it at the exact medium wave frequency (999 kHz), placed it on the ivory-coloured kitchen counter and told us to tune in at midday sharp.

The Impossible Dream was the first song played on Maltese radio airwaves; on January 8, 1973, a dream came true.

Radio has evolved and continues to evolve. A milestone in local broadcasting was the Broadcasting Act, brought into effect in June 1991. This created a mini-revolution on local airwaves. Radio stations mushroomed and public demand for music and talk stations grew exponentially. Within the private stations network, the Labour Party’s Super One, now called One Radio, and the Nationalist Party’s 101, now known as NET FM, were launched.

The question begs itself: Has radio content improved or have these media platforms deteriorated by opting for quantity over quality?

Let us consider the political stations, which have, apparently, forgotten that they are, after all, part and parcel of our ‘public service’.

To all intents and purposes, these stations have done nothing but widen the political divide and further aggravated the already present heavy polarisation in Malta; such a small country but such a big disunion.

Presenters on One Radio mock the opposition as if they were some kind of amateur non-league football team while callers on Net FM ooze hatred towards Labour supporters and cabinet ministers.

Then, there is the rife, cringe-inducing, slapdash broadcasting attitude of some presenters, and unprofessional station management; news not starting on time, news scripts with repetitions ad nauseam within the same story, reference to visual clips on radio, interviewees chewing gum or sweets, dead air, et al. Some presenters play to the gallery; double entendres, risqué or indecent jokes, lavatory humour, vulgarities... the list is endless.

The national broadcaster, TVM, is regularly being slapped with court judgments, thus confirming that PBS is a propaganda machine for the party in government.

These government stations are still, in part, run by the same pre-2013 clan where even the soldiers act as generals, running radio stations with very poor ratings. PBS faces no challenges; who cares?

So, we have another capital injection into obscure spending by this government entity, airing radio shows with canned laughter and stale, repetitive adverts spoken by the same voices, sometimes of presenters of more than one programme, such that it seems they are gifted with bilocation, unless they are rushing from studio to studio for the next recording.

An overhaul of the local broadcasting system is long overdue, and imperative, to obtain long-term viability, in the best interests of the nation.

The next legislature, whoever is in government, must see to the shutting down of the political stations, both radio and television. Fresh legislation must be introduced; a bill that promotes to balanced and impartial information.

This is possible; a new and sound formula that would incorporate all professional present presenters. Let it be said that it is not all doom and gloom; there are some broadcasters who are worthy of the name. It can be made to happen; it’s not The Impossible Dream.

Mark Grima is a broadcaster and entertainment and leisure industry executive.