Sound and fury

The correspondence columns of the current Radio Times are full of letters complaining about the inaudibility of dialogue in the dramatisation of Jamaica Inn.

One letter from the chief executive of Action on Hearing Loss (formerly the RNID) comments that these six million viewers got an insight into what it is like for the ten million people in the UK with some degree of hearing loss who have difficulty disentangling speech from background noise.

It never ceases to amaze me that the news editors on the BBC and STV continue to broadcast spoken news items and weather forecasts accompanied by background music.

Of all people, they are in a privileged position to know better. It seems they will have to learn the hard way as they get older.

Meanwhile, their audiences are left to make the best of it.

R J Ardern

Southside Road

Inverness