RED BUTTON BLUES

This article is a duplicate of my Pensioners Platform column for the March-April 2014 edition of the Torbay Times. It is also an update of my November 2013 OAP-UK Blog article on the same subject:-

HEARING LOSS can strike at any age, but it’s especially common among the retired and elderly. Indeed, after a lifetime of ‘ear troubles’ I now wear hearing aids, but I still resort to sub-titles as a back-up when I watch the television. Similarly, I enjoy reading the interactive news on the BBC red button first thing in the morning, while keeping half an eye on the muted video news content. This may be a bit of a personal ritual, but it helps me to wake-up. In fact, I used to start my day on Sky News interactive, after which – and simply for a news balance – I’d switch to the BBC News text service. Not anymore though.

A little over one year ago, in a sly and cynical move, Sky News removed its on-screen red button icon. However, not to be outdone, I found I could still access the Sky News text service by pressing the red button on my remote control anyway. Then, towards then end of last year, I noticed a Sky News announcement stating that the text news service was being discontinued but an on-demand video choice would remain.

Consequently, on 1^st November, I e-mailed Sky News as follows: “Dear News at Sky: I suffer from severe hearing loss, and I’m appalled at the apparent scrapping of your text news on the red button, which I’ve been using for quite a few years. If my suspicions are correct, I believe your actions are a clear case of discrimination against those of us with hearing issues. I have therefore copied-in Maria Miller MP, the Secretary of State for Media and Equalities, on this e-mail’s circulation. Yours faithfully”

Guess what? I didn’t receive a reply from either Sky News or the Secretary of State: just computer generated acknowledgements of receipt. So, on 26^th November, I copied the above e-mail to our local MP Adrian Sanders, who immediately contacted Ofcom. At the end of January, Mr Sanders wrote to me to confirm he’d been in-touch with Ofcom, and they, in turn, had made contact with Sky. In response to the Ofcom approach, Sky apparently said it had withdrawn the red button service, because “it was duplicating information already shown on its website.”

Excuse me? Duplicating information already shown on the Sky website? Forgive me for asking this question but, who at Sky News made the misguided assumption that EVERYONE viewing its TV ‘red button’ facility owns a PC, tablet, laptop, smart phone or smart TV?

Yet again, we appear to be witnessing, here, the all too familiar narrow-mindedness of today’s corporate world. And, once again, the perpetrators are likely to be otherwise bright but not-so-young things with all kinds of diplomas and degrees, yet possessing little, if any, sense of community or consideration for others. These people are being entrusted with decision-making that clearly discriminates against a significant proportion of the population. Yet their bosses don’t get it!

By its very nature, the now defunct Sky News red button text service was a useful tool for all of us suffering hearing loss: young and elderly alike. However, in its wisdom, Sky News assumed we ALL have internet access. But they were wrong. While it’s true to say we UK pensioners are only just beginning to wake-up to the advantages of being internet savvy, we nevertheless represent a huge sector of the UK population. So, whoever made that decision to drop the Sky News red button text service not only did us a disservice, but he or she also demonstrated a distinct lack of social awareness. Shame on you Sky News!

As a footnote to the above, I regret to report I have received an e-mail from the Equalities & Human Rights Commission (EHRC) telling me that enquiries such as this are now handled by the Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS). The e-mail then goes-on to say, “The EHRC is unable to provide you with any advice or support in relation to the matters raised in your original request.  We have not forwarded your request to the EASS in order to protect your privacy and confidentiality.”

I wonder why the words “fobbed-off” and “pillar to post” spring to mind?

DON'T LET DEMOCRACY DIE

This article is a duplicate of my Pensioners Platform column in the April-May 2014 edition of the Torbay Times:-

PENSIONER alert! This will not only be of interest to you, but also to everyone else over the age of 18 years. On Thursday May 22, many of us have an opportunity, through the ballot box, to express our support for, or abhorrence of, the European Union. There is no fence-sitting, don’t know option here: you either love the EU or you loathe it, and May 22 will give you the chance to register your opinion in a secret vote. That’s what democracy is supposed to be about.

But, what does democracy actually mean? Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with too much history, but the term originates from the 5^th Century B.C. Greek word demokratia which, in fact, is two words in one: demos (meaning people) and kratia (meaning power or rule). Yes, people power! That’s what John Lennon was singing about in his 1971 chart hit Power to the People.  Even longer ago, on November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address touched on the same theme when he ended his speech with, “Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

While pondering the above musings by two celebrated thinkers, a searching question came into my mind. Is the “people power” known as democracy actually alive and well in the UK today? To be brutally honest, my response to that question was, and still is, a resounding, “No!” In fact, I’d even go as far as to say democracy is dying in Britain, and it has been doing so for quite a few years.

So, why do I believe democracy has fallen on such hard times? In short, I feel, we, the voting public must take much of the blame, because far too many of us have neglected our inalienable right to vote. For far too long, voter turn-outs have been allowed to fall to alarmingly low levels, even for general elections. The result is we’ve, all too often, ended-up with MPs and local councillors who are in-place thanks to the abject apathy of those who didn’t bother to vote. Indeed, that might be exactly what some of today’s politicians want. An irony, however, lies in the fact that it’s the very people who can’t be bothered to vote who are, invariably, the first to complain when legislation and cut-backs start to bite.

How, then, can we go about rectifying this problem? Well, the politicians could, perhaps, adopt the Australian system which compels all those entitled to vote, to do so, or face a fine. Alternatively, the powers-that-be could start exploring the wide range of technologies that might easily be utilised in the voting process: in particular our home telephones and mobile phones. But these are just floated ideas, because all we’ll have at our disposal on May 22 are the archaic polling station and rickety voting booth set-up, plus the postal or proxy vote. Not exactly twenty-first century is it?

Another stumbling block is voter apathy. Many of us will have overheard someone say, “I don’t vote, because my vote doesn’t make a difference.” But they’re wrong. Every vote, regardless of political motive, makes a difference by helping to keep democracy alive. Then there are those who think that not voting is a protest. It’s nothing of the sort! If you want to make a protest: get into the voting booth and deliberately spoil your voting slip by scrawling “I don’t trust any of you!” across it. Now, that’s what you call a protest. And that’s what underpins the democratic ethos … people power. Not voting is not a protest, it’s a cop-out, so get out there and exercise your right to vote on May 22, or forfeit the right to whine and whinge when the politicians tighten their grip on your lives.

For those of you who are genuinely unable to get out and vote … maybe through disability … if your name is on the Electoral Role, you have a right to request a postal or proxy vote. All you need to do is make contact with the Elections Office at Torbay Council on 01803 208008, and request an application form for a postal or proxy vote for the European elections on May 22. You will need to get your completed application form back to Torbay Council by 5 pm on Wednesday May 7, 2014. Your voting slip(s) will then be delivered to you approximately one week before the day of the election.

Please help to keep democracy alive. Vote on May 22. It’s your right!