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You and Yours聽- Transcript 大象传媒 Radio 4 |
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TX: 25.11.04 - Right to Read Campaign PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON |
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THE ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT WAS TYPED FROM A RECORDING AND NOT COPIED FROM AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT.聽 BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF MISHEARING AND THE DIFFICULTY IN SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS, THE 大象传媒 CANNOT VOUCH FOR ITS COMPLETE ACCURACY. ROBINSON If you've ever tried to buy a large print book for a relative or a friend you will know that they are as a rare as hen's teeth.脗 Ninety six per cent of books are never sold in audio versions, let alone Braille or large print.脗 And when it comes to large print editions are very expensive and the shops don't want to stock them because they take up too much space. The RNIB is part of a campaign called Right to Read, it's being run by a group of organisations who are lobbying the government for help to publish many more books in accessible formats.脗 They held a reception at the House of Commons to try to draw attention this problem, some avid readers were there and some authors, including Jacqueline Wilson, creator of Tracy Beaker and Tony Hawks whose books include Round Ireland With A Fridge. HAWKS The talking book campaign is a marvellous idea and I think even people that can read will often listen to a book in their car if they're driving or - it's nice to be read to, I mean I know I've read my books for this and I think it's vital for these people to have access to this form of entertainment. BULLEN My name's Emma Bullen.脗 Just over a year ago I was pregnant with my first child and started to lose my sight during pregnancy.脗 I'm a full-time student studying at the University of Derby, I'm doing a BA Honours degree in English Literature.脗 My favourite book range is the Harry Potters.脗 I have been able to get them in large print but to buy them six months ago was going to cost me 拢300.脗 And even now on sale it's 拢50. MANN David Mann, I'm registered blind, I live in Lisburn in Northern Ireland.脗 You hear books reviewed on the radio or the authors of books interviewed.脗 There was a book recently by Austin Currie, who's been a longstanding politician in Northern Ireland.脗 I would have loved to have just gone out and bought the book that day but I don't know if that'll ever be available, it certainly isn't now and by the time it is people will not be talking about it anymore.脗 You share books with people, don't you, you talk to people about books.脗 I think being able to get something at the same time as everybody else can get it is very important. WILSON Jacqueline Wilson.脗 As an author I can ask my publisher if they can possibly provide an electronic version so that varying copies of my books in all different formats can be available on publication day.脗 And I urge all my fellow authors to do the same thing. ROBINSON Jacqueline Wilson. Steve Winyard is head of policy research at the RNIB.脗 Did that reception achieve very much do you think? WINYARD Yes it did in terms of allowing us to engage effectively with authors and indeed with publishers.脗 But sadly the - it's ironic that we hold a reception at the House of Commons yet there's no government minister willing to turn up and take responsibility for this issue and that's something that we're very angry about frankly, that we get pushed from department to department, from Culture, Media and Sport to Trade and Industry, to Treasury and no one will take responsibility for what is a book famine and it's a disgrace. ROBINSON Well you've been campaigning on this issue for a very long time, what's going on in the marketplace? WINYARD Well in the marketplace technology is changing, fortunately and with digital files of books we can expect rather more to become available rather more quickly from the publishers. ROBINSON Is that what Jacqueline Wilson was talking about - she asks the publisher to make a digital file available? WINYARD Well I think her books are so popular, as we'll hear from Pandora, that any publisher in their right mind will produce them in a range of formats.脗 But there are a lot of books, such as David Mann mentioned, that aren't quite so popular and it doesn't make commercial sense to produce them and have them on the shelf of a bookshop.脗 So someone has to put their hand in their pocket and produce some money and it must be the government, I mean it's outrageous that it's dependent upon charity and charitable funds to ensure that blind and partially sighted people can access a measly 4% of books that appear in anyone year. ROBINSON Well you mentioned Pandora, that's Pandora White, audio manager to Ryan Books, who's sitting alongside you here, it's a typical mainstream publisher.脗 What proportion of books then are published with audio versions - only 4%? WHITE It's about that yeah. ROBINSON And what about then the other ones - large print, Braille? WHITE I don't actually deal with large print and Braille. ROBINSON What not at all? WHITE No. ROBINSON So what happens with those? WHITE The rights are sold separately. ROBINSON To separate companies? WHITE Yes. ROBINSON So how do you even decide then which book will be an audio book? WHITE Well the audio list is led very much by what the print book is doing.脗 So if the print book is a bestseller then definitely we will turn it into an audio book. ROBINSON So the point that the reader made at the reception that it's lovely to have a book at the same time as everyone else, that's just not going to happen with an audio book unless it's a sure fire bestseller ...? WHITE Yes.脗 Because the demand isn't there basically.脗 I would like to do it, very much so, but the demand isn't there. ROBINSON Steve Winyard, there you are it's a commercial decision, even with the audio book - the demand is not there.脗 Now you're asking for a pot of money from somewhere, everyone wants money from the government don't they, if you had such a pot of money how would it be used? WINYARD Well yes, I mean let's be clear the government is spending literally billions on adult literacy projects and we're saying why on earth is a small part of that not being made available to the two million blind and partially sighted people who face this book famine. ROBINSON How much would you need though to make every book available in say - well not every book, every popular book available in large print and Braille and audio? WINYARD We're looking for a Right to Read fund initially of around 拢20 million, to set the whole scheme up.脗 But, as I say, with digital formats for books and digital files it does become much easier - a publisher can send to RNIB a digital file and we can print off a Braille copy very easily if that scheme is set up.脗 But it does need to be funded and we do need to run a pilot scheme to set up exactly how this would work but it is possible and it would increase enormously the availability of alternative formats. ROBINSON Put that into some context for us if you would because you said it shouldn't be left to charity but on the other hand the RNIB is a very wealthy charity - 拢20 million, how does that fit into say what is your own annual turnover? WINYARD That would be about half of our - half of our income that's available for everything.脗 So clearly there are a wide range of demands being made on a large charity like RNIB.脗 But, as I say, it is somehow 19th Century to think that a Right to Read should be dependent upon people putting money into boxes on the street corner, it shouldn't be that way. ROBINSON Pandora White what do you think?脗 Do you think there is a right to an audio version of a book or not? WHITE Yes, there is a right obviously, and it should happen but from my point of view - the commercial end - it doesn't make commercial sense for us to do it, so we can't. ROBINSON Pandora White, Steve Winyard, thank you both. Back to the You and Yours homepage The 大象传媒 is not responsible for external websites |
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