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[Mark Roberts]

There is still incredible pushback against dialect on the U.S. airwaves, unless you happen to be in an area where that dialect is common.

At KFBK, I hired an Asian reporter who (forgive me, @DavidEduardo, because I'm sure I'll use the wrong term) "sounded Asian". She was the child of Vietnamese refugees born in America into a household that didn't speak English, learned it as a second language in school, and had worked in broadcasting before I hired her. It was a very gentle Hmong lilt on top of otherwise perfectly fine English and a pleasant voice.

We got complaint calls, as we did for another reporter I had who pronounced a few words in a way that sounded "too black" (their words) to some of our listeners who called in to tell us they "weren't racist, but..."as they did for our Asian reporter.

Even NPR is not immune. We heard from people who "just could not listen" to Ayesha Rascoe on Weekend Edition.

One of the things I truly regret about my time as a news director was when I hired an African-American reporter who had deep local roots. She was coming up with all sorts of terrific stories no one else had because she was so connected with the community. But she had a slight accent and, yep, there were complaints. I didn't care; I even thought that might help us a little bit with the city's black community. The station owner wanted her out. (He also didn't like female voices in general but was told that he'd better have some, or else he would have license renewal problems.) I resisted, pointing out that she was breaking stories right and left. But I was still relatively new to management and couldn't protect her. I wasn't in a position to say that if she left, I would go, too. And I knew it wouldn't affect things anyway, since even then, the radio news market was shrinking and replacing me wouldn't have been a difficult task. In any event, she saw the pressure and decided to leave on her own and, in fact, gave up on journalism altogether. It saddens me to this day.

This wasn't in the South. This was in an allegedly liberal college city in Missouri (at the time Missouri was more politically balanced than it is now). And still that's what happened.

Edit to add: What I should have also mentioned is that listeners will complain about anything. Under there's some substance to those complaints, or something relatively technical or factual, they usually ought to be ignored. I once reviewed the public file for one of the TV stations in that same city and came away feeling rather depressed about the things listeners or viewers complained about and put down in writing.

 

[michael hagerty]

One of the things I truly regret about my time as a news director was when I hired an African-American reporter who had deep local roots. She was coming up with all sorts of terrific stories no one else had because she was so connected with the community. But she had a slight accent and, yep, there were complaints. I didn't care; I even thought that might help us a little bit with the city's black community. The station owner wanted her out. (He also didn't like female voices in general but was told that he'd better have some, or else he would have license renewal problems.) I resisted, pointing out that she was breaking stories right and left. But I was still relatively new to management and couldn't protect her. I wasn't in a position to say that if she left, I would go, too. And I knew it wouldn't affect things anyway, since even then, the radio news market was shrinking and replacing me wouldn't have been a difficult task. In any event, she saw the pressure and decided to leave on her own and, in fact, gave up on journalism altogether. It saddens me to this day.

This wasn't in the South. This was in an allegedly liberal college city in Missouri (at the time Missouri was more politically balanced than it is now). And still that's what happened.

Not at all surprised. Sorry you went through it. I had the support of my PD and GM, and that was invaluable.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Not at all surprised. Sorry you went through it. I had the support of my PD and GM, and that was invaluable.

Part of it, I think, was a generation gap. I was in my 20s then; the owner was in his 60s. Now that I'm in my 60s, I think about this and wonder if some of my reactions to current events indicate a certain amount of being stuck in my ways. I hope I'm more flexible than that station owner; fortunately, I've interacted with people from far more diverse backgrounds than he ever encountered, which is a good way of avoiding that kind of rigidity.

 

[michael hagerty]

Part of it, I think, was a generation gap. I was in my 20s then; the owner was in his 60s. Now that I'm in my 60s, I think about this and wonder if some of my reactions to current events indicate a certain amount of being stuck in my ways. I hope I'm more flexible than that station owner; fortunately, I've interacted with people from far more diverse backgrounds than he ever encountered, which is a good way of avoiding that kind of rigidity.

Yeah. I was able to compare my style as a PD in my 20s and an ND in my 50s/60s thanks to that 30-year detour in TV news. I don't think I changed a lot, other than a better sense of how to navigate things well in advance to avoid big showdowns. Less about impressing the boss and more about building the relationships with the folks above me so that they knew what I was thinking and didn't have to wonder.

 

[davideduardo]

I think he's referring to Received Pronunciation, the standard BBC-dialect, AKA "The Queen's English". It is different even from accents in London, and used to be even stuffier in the past. Now they're working in a bit of Estuary into it.

That is nothing unusual. Networks and cable channels in general try to keep neutral accents. You will see a lot more TV news correspondents that sound like Indianapolis than like Shreveport.

 

[michael hagerty]

That is nothing unusual. Networks and cable channels in general try to keep neutral accents. You will see a lot more TV news correspondents that sound like Indianapolis than like Shreveport.

I used to describe the TV news anchor dialect as "sounding like you were raised in a network Vice-President's office".

 

[Weiserguy]

Even NPR is not immune. We heard from people who "just could not listen" to Ayesha Rascoe on Weekend Edition.

I had difficulty with Ayesha's sound when they first gave the WESUN host chair to her. I got used to it, but I think she's also toned it down. (Except in her weekly intros to Will Shortz and the Sunday Puzzles. There, when she says her name, she sounds like a caricature of Cousin Brucie doing his "YeeEEEEee" sound back in the WABC days. "This is Weekend Edition, I'm AyEEEEEEEsha Rascoe and it's time to play the puzzle!")

If you want to live in the 1950s that's your prerogative, but this ain't the '50s anymore and not everyone sounds like Douglas Edwards or Robert Trout. Actually, very few do anymore.

 

[michael hagerty]

...this ain't the '50s anymore and not everyone sounds like Douglas Edwards or Robert Trout. Actually, very few do anymore.

I have a pretty healthy aircheck collection, and everytime I go back to something from the 1950s...and increasingly from the 1960s, it's clear how language and phrasing have changed. Douglas Edwards and Robert Trout would stick out like sore thumbs today, as would Murrow and Cronkite.

 

[Mediafrog+]

I think he's referring to Received Pronunciation, the standard BBC-dialect, AKA "The Queen's English". It is different even from accents in London, and used to be even stuffier in the past. Now they're working in a bit of Estuary into it.

The accents currently heard on the BBC World Service are dramatically different from those of 50+ years ago.

I started listening to shortwave radio in the mid-1960s, and the BBCWS was of course one of the stations I heard the most. I suppose if I had an aircheck of one of their newscasts of that era, it would sound incredibly stuffy by today's standards...all "Received Pronunciation" spoken in a very formal manner, and all the news presenters were male. This continued into the early 1970s.

I recall BBC naming conventions at that time could be quite formal. Queen Elizabeth was never referred to by her name, but rather "The Queen". Similar for Prince Philip and Prince Charles, who were always "The Duke of Edinburgh" or "The Prince of Wales" instead of the more common name usage. Other royals were referred to only by their titles, which could be confusing for those outside the UK who might be familiar with those people by name but had no idea of what title belonged to whom. Political leaders got the formal treatment as well; I recall then Prime Minister Harold Wilson was always given as "The Prime Minister, Mr. Wilson" and other cabinet members and politicians got the same formality.

In the mid-70s that situation changed, as the BBC realized it needed to modernize its presentation, as well as becoming more inclusive. More UK regional accents started to be heard on the air. Another big change: Female news presenters were now part of the BBC staff.

Today you will hear all sorts of accents on the BBC World Service, as its presentation staff has become more cosmopolitan. There can be some pushback even in recent times; about 20 years ago BBC added Neil Nunes to its announcing staff. Nunes is of Jamaican heritage but grew up in Manchester. He speaks with a distinct Jamaican accent, but it is not heavy, and he also speaks in a very measured and even cadence. Apparently when he first appeared on the domestic BBC networks there was some listener criticism of the accent, but far more listeners defended him. He was later added to the BBC World Service presenter lineup. Nunes has a wonderful speaking voice, perhaps one of the best set of pipes I have ever heard on international radio.

 

[davideduardo]

One of the things I truly regret about my time as a news director was when I hired an African-American reporter who had deep local roots. She was coming up with all sorts of terrific stories no one else had because she was so connected with the community. But she had a slight accent and, yep, there were complaints. I didn't care; I even thought that might help us a little bit with the city's black community. The station owner wanted her out. (He also didn't like female voices in general but was told that he'd better have some, or else he would have license renewal problems.) I resisted, pointing out that she was breaking stories right and left.

Back in Birmingham, AL, at WERC in 1972 we had a brilliant news person in afternoons who not only sounded good, but was a beautiful writer.

He was, incidentally, Black. In the pre-EEO years, he was hired for talent as the new ownership and new PD (me) wanted to better represent the community.

One day, I got a phone call with a pretty solid south'ren accent. "I want to tell you about that news person you have on the air in the afternoon. I don't like him because he sometimes sounds like a (insert "N" word here).¨ I responded that perhaps he sounded like a Black person because, indeed, that is what he was. The woman said she would never listen to us again, and she had been listening for the last 40 years or so. "Thanks for your call, ma'am. We won't miss you a bit".

Of the AM and PM drive newscasters at WERC, one went on to become a minister, the other a well-recognized teacher.

 

[davideduardo]

I used to describe the TV news anchor dialect as "sounding like you were raised in a network Vice-President's office".

As long as that Veep came from South Bend or Terre Haute.

 

[michael hagerty]

The accents currently heard on the BBC World Service are dramatically different from those of 50+ years ago.

I started listening to shortwave radio in the mid-1960s, and the BBCWS was of course one of the stations I heard the most. I suppose if I had an aircheck of one of their newscasts of that era, it would sound incredibly stuffy by today's standards...all "Received Pronunciation" spoken in a very formal manner, and all the news presenters were male. This continued into the early 1970s.

I recall BBC naming conventions at that time could be quite formal. Queen Elizabeth was never referred to by her name, but rather "The Queen". Similar for Prince Philip and Prince Charles, who were always "The Duke of Edinburgh" or "The Prince of Wales" instead of the more common name usage. Other royals were referred to only by their titles, which could be confusing for those outside the UK who might be familiar with those people by name but had no idea of what title belonged to whom. Political leaders got the formal treatment as well; I recall then Prime Minister Harold Wilson was always given as "The Prime Minister, Mr. Wilson" and other cabinet members and politicians got the same formality.

In the mid-70s that situation changed, as the BBC realized it needed to modernize its presentation, as well as becoming more inclusive. More UK regional accents started to be heard on the air. Another big change: Female news presenters were now part of the BBC staff.

Today you will hear all sorts of accents on the BBC World Service, as its presentation staff has become more cosmopolitan. There can be some pushback even in recent times; about 20 years ago BBC added Neil Nunes to its announcing staff. Nunes is of Jamaican heritage but grew up in Manchester. He speaks with a distinct Jamaican accent, but it is not heavy, and he also speaks in a very measured and even cadence. Apparently when he first appeared on the domestic BBC networks there was some listener criticism of the accent, but far more listeners defended him. He was later added to the BBC World Service presenter lineup. Nunes has a wonderful speaking voice, perhaps one of the best set of pipes I have ever heard on international radio.

From Gordon Skene's wonderful archive site, Past Daily, a 1947 BBC World Service broadcast:

February 7, 1947 - The Great British Freeze Of 1947 -

February 7, 1947 - The Great British Freeze Of 1947 - News of the wave of storms and severe weather plaguing Britain this Winter season.

pastdaily.com

 

[michael hagerty]

As long as that Veep came from South Bend or Terre Haute.

That flat midwestern-from-nowhere that Brian Williams had nailed:

 

[davideduardo]

From Gordon Skene's wonderful archive site, Past Daily, a 1947 BBC World Service broadcast:

I had to laugh at a Beeb announcer going "brrrr" about the cold and showing amazement at the storm!

And only a BBC news commentary would cite Charles Dickens!

 

[TomásEstefan]

I have a pretty healthy aircheck collection, and everytime I go back to something from the 1950s...and increasingly from the 1960s, it's clear how language and phrasing have changed. Douglas Edwards and Robert Trout would stick out like sore thumbs today, as would Murrow and Cronkite.

One interesting thing about the last couple of decades or so is that many anchors that seem to be roughly under the age of 40 or maybe 50 tend to "have trouble" (in my opinion) reading copy from a teleprompter (or whatever it might be called today) correctly. The letter "A" is just that, a letter. However, when it appears at the beginning of a sentence, or in the middle of one it should pronounced "uh". I know it sounds like I'm nitpicking, but in a normal conversation, you might say, for instance: Those folks hope to have "uh" nice time at Disneyland!" But when read off of a prompter, there's about a 50% chance it will be read as: "Those folks hope to have "A" nice time at Disneyland which is, of course, "A" well-known theme park in southern California".
Drives me nuts. I would run into this frequently when an account wanted to read/record his or her own spot. Many times I had to politely coach them in order to get something that sounded natural that was appropriate to use on the air.

End of rant.

 

[radiofan2023]

I know he bored @DavidEduardo, but I loved Michael Jackson (the KABC talk host) and I'll die on that hill.

When I listened to him on KGIL talking about how he had had a stroke and had to learn to talk and walk again, I was amazed.

 

[Street Novelist]

The "stuffy" thing is actually offensive. The folks in the UK have a wide range of accents, just as the U.S. does in different regions. And, to them, there is nothing "stuffy" about how they speak as it is absolutely normal. No different than the differences between a Boston accent and a Southern drawl.

Jesus...some people have no sense of sarcasm 🙄

 

[Mark Roberts]

Back in Birmingham, AL, at WERC in 1972 we had a brilliant news person in afternoons who not only sounded good, but was a beautiful writer.

He was, incidentally, Black. In the pre-EEO years, he was hired for talent as the new ownership and new PD (me) wanted to better represent the community.

One day, I got a phone call with a pretty solid south'ren accent. "I want to tell you about that news person you have on the air in the afternoon. I don't like him because he sometimes sounds like a (insert "N" word here).¨ I responded that perhaps he sounded like a Black person because, indeed, that is what he was. The woman said she would never listen to us again, and she had been listening for the last 40 years or so. "Thanks for your call, ma'am. We won't miss you a bit".

Of the AM and PM drive newscasters at WERC, one went on to become a minister, the other a well-recognized teacher.

As Mike said, support of management is essential in these situations. I didn't have that. Personnel management at family-owned stations could be problematic, to say the least. That's one big reason that I have zero nostalgia whatsoever for family-owned operations. Every one I ever encountered was screwed up in some weird way or another, and the professionalism was lacking.

 

[Mark Roberts]

That flat midwestern-from-nowhere that Brian Williams had nailed:

I call it the "Area Code 800" accent. I'm pretty sure I have it, too.

 

[Mark Roberts]

As long as that Veep came from South Bend or Terre Haute.

I'd say Nebraska or Iowa. Supposedly Omaha was selected as the site of so many call centers, back when they were mostly domestic, because the prevailing accent in that area was considered the most neutral and least like to give offense.