Many of my friends laugh at me when I say that Radio 4 is too intellectual for me. And they laugh even more when I confess that I am a Radio 2 addict. I don't care. Even my picky teenagers admit they play some good music--and if I didn't listen to Radio 2 I wouldn't know about the really excellent children's book thing which is currently taking place on the Jeremy Vine show, (and I wouldn't be able to share it with you). There! You see? It is really a noble sacrifice I am making on behalf of the AABBA readers.
The bedtime story is in decline, according to Jean Gross, the Government's first 'speech chief' (whatever that is)--and it is affecting language and reading skills. "The next generation lack basic speaking skills because parents now spend less time talking to their children over family meals or reading them bedtime stories", she told The Times on her appointment as communications tzar last month. This is depressing, but probably true. Our lives as parents are busier and more pressured than ever. Some children will never be read to by their parents--ever. The ritual of a bedtime story--that precious time of sharing a world of imagination with your child--is more than likely to be replaced with watching tv or playing computer games or television or a cd--or nothing at all. It's easier for many pressured parents to let a machine take over the job--and what a loss that is for both child and parent. So, what is going on at Radio 2? How are they helping to address this problem? Listen carefully (so to speak) and I'll begin.....
All this week on the Jeremy Vine Show, listeners are being asked to
choose their favourite bedtime story from a shortlist of eight, in turn chosen from a longlist of 36 last month. Each day Jeremy will read two extracts and then someone from the media will champion their chosen book--yesterday the author and journalist Guy Walters talked about Roald Dahl's
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Bea Campbell supported
Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. The others on the shortlist are
The Gruffalo, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Famous Five, Where the Wild Things Are and
Winnie the Pooh. Jeremy gets a lot of listeners, and it will be fascinating to see which of these comes out on top--and how many votes are cast. Personally, I am throwing my hat into the ring for
Each Peach Pear Plum--a book I have read probably hundreds of times without ever being bored. If asked to recommend a picture book for young children, it's the one I invariably pick. Well, I would, feeling as I do about the importance of nursery rhymes and poetry. Which one would you pick? If you feel as strongly as I do about the importance of banging the drum for bedtime stories, please do go and vote. And even if you are a dyed-in-the-wool Radio 4 listener, give Radio 2 a chance for the next few lunchtimes. Just this once. You never know--you might be converted.
Next month marks the demise of
Go4It, BBC Radio 4's specialist children's book review programme. Barney Harwood, the presenter, does a brilliant job, there are some great stories being read (currently
Liz Kessler's
The Tail of Emily Windsnap and
Julia Donaldson's The Giants and the Joneses feature), some newsworthy topics being discussed (the Arctic and global warming). So why is it being axed? We are told that the audience is made up of the over-50's, and that therefore the 'target market' is not being reached. There are simply not enough listeners 'of the right sort'. If it doesn't work, and, for the present, leaving aside the fact that a) there are now many mothers who, having had babies in their 40's, are now well into their half-century and b) that the people who actually buy children's books for the 'target market' are generally adults, surely the BBC should be thinking about how to
make it work. Books are an important part of the government's literacy strategy, and as a publicly funded body, the BBC should therefore be helping to promote books and providing their licence payers and their future licence payers with information on the subject.
But there is a problem. The weekly audience of 4-14 year olds on BBC Radio 7 is only 25,000--a small minority in the grand audio scheme of things. Children's radio programming will continue there--in the CBeebies 5-7am slot, which could be seen as a boon for early risers or, more negatively a graveyard, and books will continue to be featured on
Big Toe. Radio 4 will feature Joan Aiken's
Black Hearts in Battersea, Roald Dahl's
Matilda, Erich Kästner's
Emil and the Detectives and
The Wizard of Oz at Christmas
. But is it enough? Are the BBC thinking about what children really want, and more importantly how to provide it in a form they want?
For someone such as myself, brought up on a diet of Listen with Mother, listening to the radio is easy and natural. But today's children have so much going on that to sit down for a whole half hour and listen to a programme is, quite simply, an alien concept. A snatch of music here, five minutes on an i-pod there, gaming, downloads--the technology today's children are familiar with is all about fast and furious action. If books on the radio are ever going to work, they must be presented as cool and relevant. In the case of the Radio 4 choices, the books mentioned above are all wonderful classics. But why not introduce younger listeners to some modern classics in the making--by living authors who could be interviewed, could blog, could podcast--all things which kids can understand. Tapping into the 'celebrity culture' will be abhorrent to some readers here--and I'm not too keen on it myself--but if presenting books in this way hooks in more readers then why not? If the BBC wants books to work for those under 16, they must create a buzz about them--find different ways to use the technology which is out there. Don't tell me that there aren't the readers who are hungry for the next big reads, let alone the next good reads--Harry Potter and the current Twilight craze prove that there are. The radio is already linked to the computer--we just need some creative thinking to convince young listeners that books are right up there with the latest pop download. Answers on a postcard to Mark Damazer at the BBC, please.
So true - it's not as though the BBC doesn't provide other places people can get their news fix, after all! And much of the news is either waffle or barrel-scraping and really *doesn't* need an update! And it's not as though they couldn't claw some time back by reducing the number of repeats, either... #bbcgrouch
Thanks for the link. I've signed and will pass it on
Anne - so true about the repeats too!
Sue - thanks for signing the petition and sharing the link.
I do agree...despite being a news junkie. Maybe I am biased as I had a short story "The Prince's Favourite" broadcast on Radio 4, and going to listen to Claire Skinner record it, then getting so much positive feedback afterwards, was both a huge pleasure but also made me realise how big an audience this slot reaches, and how much short stories are enjoyed.