Hearing is believing

Press, 1 September 1980, Page 16

Hearing is believing

If “Death of a Princess” had been a radio drama instead of for television there wouldn’t ’ have been all the fuss there was. Dennis Potter’s play, “Brimstone and Treacle,” which was heard recently on 3YC, was rejected by the 8.8. C. as being too outrageous for television, yet it adapted itself in a quite seemly fashion to the medium of radio, even though all the naughty bits were kept in. If “Penthouse” didn’t have pictures Dail Jones would presumably be content, yet the text (is “text” the right word for “Penthouse”?) is more explicit than the photographs could ever be. At least so my friends tell me— know what I mean?

The point of these observations is simply to reflect on how picture-ori-entated we’ve become. Censorship has gradually geared itself up to concentrate almost exclusively on media that contain pictures. Newspapers can make any article “readable”. with the inclusion of pictures, and adverts are often ludicrous without a pictorial prop. Just listen to some of the commercials on any private radio station and you’ll see how poor an essentially televisual profession has become in dealing with the medium of sound. Of course, the reason for all this fixation with pictures is that we are now trained into thinking of them as being the only presentation of “reality.” We know instinctively that the camera cannot lie — though it can still come as. a shock to realise that the events in front of the camera are often stage-managed. I would love to have a film of a riot in a television documentary being . prefaced with something like “Unfortunately the camera crew missed the riot, but have set up another one — including some of the people in the earlier riot — so that you’ll at least get some of the feel of a riot and thus be prepared to believe that a riot (though not this riot) actually took place.” Wouldn’t that be a riot? Radio, it seems to me, is a necessary and valuable countem to the seeping view that pictures show the only reality, and I feel very, relieved, and indeed grateful, yvhen I come across a programme that does well what television can only attempt. I am thinking particularly of “Checkpoint,” the daily programme on 3YA, after the 6 o’clock news. Recently this programme

has become so topical that one often only reads about some of its subject-matter in the following day’s newspaper. For example, last week two items — one about abuses of diplomatic immunity and another about a significant Cabinet reshuffle in South Africa — appeared complete with interviews and comment in “Checkpoint” some 12 hours before any other news agencies came on line with them. In the business of news and commentary. of course, television is ac-i tually hampered by its re-i liance on pictures. If it 1 doesn’t have a film ittends to ignore the item if it can, or else have someone staring you straight in the camera — never a comfortable experience — reading it off from the teleprinter. Once a film has been bought or made, it has usually cost so. much that it has to be used, even if the story has; grown old. Radio can get straight on to the story, make a few phone calls,' kill the ones that are get-: ting nowhere, despatch one person with taperecorder for the interview arid sometimes, I suspect, have a complete item ready, within the hour. Where’s your television reporter how? Probably still in the interview room waiting for the lighting to arrive. ’ Radio then is a much more instant and informa-1 tive news medium simply 1 because it doesn’t need the baggage or preparation of ■ a film, and someone x at' “Checkpoint” is realising l this and using the speed! of sound to stay' ahead of the game. - 1 Perhaps even more to the point, “Chekpoint” and! other radio features rely 1 entirely on the human voice, which is by itself) so good a means of communication that it forces I you to do your own pic-, tuning, in the'world of the 1 imagination.. Thus news’ items on radio have their own means of involvement and their own immediacy. \

Speaking personally, I; always watch the television news to see how “reality” is _ being pack-1 aged; but I listen to the 6 o’clock news on radio to know what’s going on.

FT'■ ■- y. Radio Heath Lees ? A*' ** - V ‘ ■ -*v , •