Perth Talking Newspaper
Free talking newspaper for the blind and partially sighted.
Local news on CD.
The Perth Talking Newspaper is a free 80 minute audio CD recording of local news and features, produced each fortnight. The News is available to all visually impaired people who live in the Perthshire area. The Newspaper is free to anyone with a disability or infirmity which prevents them from reading the printed word. Perth Talking Newspaper is a charity registered with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, registration No SC013698.
Perth Talking Newspaper started in 2000 with 60 listeners, by 2006 the number of listeners registered had risen to over 200.
Visually impaired people need the Talking Newspaper for the same reason sighted people read the local newspaper - to keep in touch with the local community. Several of our listeners are elderly, have lived locally all their lives and have friends and relatives in the area. The Talking Newspaper helps keep them in contact, sustains an active interest in life, aids conversation, helps people to be interested and interesting to talk to. The Talking Newspaper can provide an intimate sense of belonging, with familiar and friendly voices in the home each week.
How is it organised?
Local news items are edited from the Courier, the Perthshire Advertiser and the Sunday Post during the fortnight. On Thursday a team of four news readers and the technical staff meet in the Blind Society building in New Row, Perth. They read and record a master recording with 80 minutes of local news, a quiz and What's On
After the recording is completed, high-speed multiple copiers are used to produce the CD copies. On Friday the dispatch team put the CDs into special yellow plastic posting wallets, inserting the reversible address cards ready for collection by Royal Mail. The Royal Mail delivers the tapes to our listeners on Saturday morning. The tapes are sent post free under the "Articles for the Blind" regulations. The Royal Mail bears the cost of this free delivery service, without which the Talking Newspaper could not operate a free service to the visually impaired.
After the listener has finished listening to the CD, the listener only needs to return the wallet as this will be used to send out the next recording.
Who runs the talking newspaper?
The Talking Newspaper is run by volunteers from the local community. Many people are involved and jobs are organised on a rota-basis with each helper doing a small part of the work.
Where are we?
The Perth has a fully equipped recording studio based at the Society for the Blind, 14 New Row, Perth, PH1 5QA tel 01738 626969. You can contact us by letter at this address or leave a message at the Society. Please note that the studio is not manned full-time. email alexander.pearson@btopenworld.com
How much does it cost?
The Talking Newspaper is free to our listeners. However, the studio recorders and copying equipment and so on, is expensive and needs to be maintained and occasionally replaced.. For this we are dependent on voluntary donations.
The Association of Scottish Talking Newspapers (ASTN) is a Scottish Charity, run by volunteers and funded entirely by donations.
The ASTN Council comprises area representatives who are elected by local Talking Newspapers (there are 70 in Scotland) and act as co-ordinators.
ASTN offers help and guidance to the Scottish Talking Newspapers, keeps organisers aware of new legislation and technology and holds specialised training events around Scotland.
An annual Scottish conference offers an opportunity to organisers and volunteers from around the country to meet, share ideas and problems. Listeners are encouraged to come along and meet the "people behind the voices" and, most importantly, give advice so that the Talking Newspaper service is tailored to meet their needs.
For more information, please visit www.astn.org.uk