The Message vs The Media

Maltastar 

 

 

The battle lines are emerging. The Verheugen show on Xarabank left us with one absolute certainty. The EU will do whatever is necessary to play an Ireland upon us.

Verheugen did not mince his words. He said many people are still uninformed and he will ask the Commission reinforce the communications strategy to ensure that these people will be educated to the point of being brainwashed to vote yes in the referendum.

As happened in Ireland, the Maltese electorate in the up-coming referendum will not be allowed to vote on facts but will be forced to vote on fear of the consequences of being left out of the EU.

“On the other side of the fence there is the message of the Labour party loaded with self-confidence and belief in making our own future.”

Already the message is being drummed with persuasion and regularity. Having lost the argument on funding, the case for EU membership rests entirely on the argument of inevitability.

So we are being told that EU enlargement is a once in a lifetime opportunity. If we miss it now we will not have another opportunity. Not in my lifetime told us Verheugen. Every country is seeking to join, the argument goes, so on the outside on our own we will not be able to face the challenges of globalisation which can only be faced successfully by forming part of a much large organisation.

 

 

It is a message meant to destroy the pride and soul of being Maltese. A message that we cannot live unless the EU holds our hands to guide us into the future and that our independence was an unrealistic experiment which could not survive more than forty years without producing the twin unsustainable mountains of debt and debris.

It is a message that the more the government exposes its incompetence the more it strengthens the argument for voting yes to EU membership.

On the other side of the fence there is the message of the Labour party loaded with self-confidence and belief in making our own future. It is a message that we have done best, economically and politically, after independence and when we declared ourselves neutral attracting international investment and changing our economy from largely dependent on defence spending by foreign powers to one that competes effectively in international markets.

“The reference by Ver Heugen to ask the Commission to strengthen the communications strategy for Malta is clearly a strong indication that the Commission will bury us under a strong media campaign as they just did in Ireland.”

A message that under a special relationship umbrella we can trade more liberally and effectively, enabling us to protect and enhance existing access to foreign markets without jacking up our cost base. A message that we can re-structure with sense as it suits us rather than re-structure using models more suitable for large economies. A message that we have to use all our resources and move together as one-nation without leaving any sector behind as being unimportant and expendable.

 

 

A message that we are proud to be Maltese, that we belief in our own future, that nobody can take care of our interest better than ourselves, and that independence and neutrality are strong basis for further economic development if we govern this country with the necessary discipline, foresight and good husbandry.

There is no doubt that the positive message of the MLP is much stronger and appealing than the negative fear-laden message of the PN. However the battle will not be won or lost only on the message. The media will have a great say in shaping the electorate’s decision.

And it is on the media score that Labour is and will increasingly be playing at a great disadvantage. There will be absolutely no comparison between the media resources available to deliver Labour’s message of hope against the resources available to government’s message of fear of being left out. The reference by Verheugen to ask the Commission to strengthen the communications strategy for Malta is clearly a strong indication that the Commission will bury us under a strong media campaign as they just did in Ireland. Strengthened by the success of their formula in Ireland they will play it again on us without any scruples.

Probably reacting to an article I published on the same day he appeared on Xarabank appealing to Verheugen to give us the facts and let us make up our mind, he readily admitted that the EU cannot be neutral on the issue and they will make it clear that they consider membership to be a win-win situation for Malta and for the EU. Like the door-to-door salesman the EU will tell that the wares they are trying to sell us are once in a lifetime bargain which will not be repeated if the salesman walks out of the door without our signing on the dotted line. They will not allow us space to think or to listen to any other message, no matter how right or reasonable.

Clearly this will be a straight fight between the message and the media. It would be unwise to assume that the strength of the message can overcome the disadvantages of the media. Ireland should teach us otherwise.

In the circumstances Labour has to consider carefully whether it would be doing itself justice to compete in such an unlevelled playing field, tilted strongly in favour of the PN and their foreign masters or to take the sensible step of promising the electorate a truly informed and level-playing field referendum where the electorate would be able to take a binding and final decision on choosing between a fully explained partnership deal which Labour will negotiate as a matter of priority once elected, and membership which the PN will ‘negotiate’ by the end of the current year.

I believe in offering the electorate a real choice, not a choice between a loaded membership based on fear that the alternative for Malta would be like post-war Albania.