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Caveat Lector!

Dateline: 26th April, 2004

Some people can be very rude. It is not unusual for people who post on Usenet asking for detailed information for some academic work or other to be asked, "Have you never heard of libraries?"

Then there are those who ask where on the Net they can find copies of scripts. They receive very dusty answers: "Buy the book!" and "Stop trying to rob writers!" are frequent responses.

But isn't the Net the "information superhighway" and doesn't information "want to be free"? To which we have to reply, "No. That's political hype." But the tropuble is, this kind of hype has raised expectations to a ridiculous level and encourages people to have totally unrealistic ideas about what the Net can and cannot do, or, indeed, what it should do.

So what does it do for us? Here's the BTG quick guide to theatre on the Net and how we should regard it:

1. Information may be free but the work of an individual is not. Writers - including playwrights - deserve to benefit financially from their efforts. You wouldn't expect a carpenter to make a beautiful table and chair set and then allow you just to take it. He'd want to be paid and you'd expect to pay him. Why, then, should you expect writers' work to be free, even on the "information superhighway"?
2. Information may be free, but is it accurate? Sites such as the BTG (and most of our competitors!) take great pains to check our news and information items. We want to be sure it is absolutely accurate (and legal!) before publishing it. Can you be sure that all the sites you visit are the same?
3. I have read reviews - particularly of the Edinburgh Fringe but of other productions, too - which make comments like "This is the best production I have ever seen". When you get to meet such writers - we're all journalists together in Edinburgh, you know! - you often find that they've only seen two or three! Just what are the qualifications of the writer to speak on the subject?
4. Does the writer have an axe to grind? I have on occasions, but I will always say so. The BTG is not in the business of proselytising (except for theatre in general, of course).

When you buy a book on a factual topic (such as theatre), you know that the publisher has decided to publish or commission it because the writer has a reputation in the field. Then, when the manuscript is complete, facts are checked and things which are doubtful referred back to the author for further investigation. Only when the editor is happy is the book actually passed for publication. But anyone can write anything on the Net. Anyone can assume the mantle of the expert and pontificate until the cows come home.

In other words, on the Net, even more than in print, caveat lector - let the reader be wary!

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©Peter Lathan 2004