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Quarky "Loudellisms"

6

650AM

How is it that Alan Loudell pronounces Pakistan, "Pock-E-stan," when the expert newsmakers he is interviewing on the subject say Pakistan just like the rest of us?

It is the same with his pronounciation of Muslim as "MOO-slim." He says MOO-slim, but his interviewees say plain old Muslim.

I recall a poster here once referring to Loudell as a "faux intellectual" and I guess that really struck a chord with me. Does he go out of his way to drum up off-beat pronunications of things just to appear "smart" or "intellectual?"
 
I worked for Allan,for part of the time I was at WILM. If I recall correctly, I believe Allan has a degree from U of Ill., in either journalism or communications. He has taught courses at both U of Del and Wilmington University. I've had many great discussions with him, while at WILM and since as friends who both love radio. He is well read and is able to intelligently discuss many topics ranging from world economics/politics/geography to religion/butterflies/etc. Allan is a gentle soul, who is willing to be a mentor to folks learning the trade of radio. He doesn't have that cut throat mentality that seems to be a part of some who work in radio.

As far as the correct pronunciations for words, do any of you "old time" radio folks have a copy of the NBC Prounounciation Guide (a hard cover book of about 400 pages with what NBC back in the day said was the correct way to pronounce words. I seen copies of it at libraries. My guess is, Allan may have a copy of it or such a book that he refers to. I remember Allan was big for marking up the on air copy of the news, the anchors at WILM would read for pronounciations, etc. He's an exacting person when it comes to doing radio. He has a standard and tries to pass on that standard to the folks who worked for him.

As to whether or not Allan is an intellectual? I'd say he is, but then again, he's a whole lot smarter than I, so I may not be qualified to make that distinction. Knowing Allan, I don't think he sees himself that way. My guess is, he sees himself as a radio journalist who is out to bring the news and info, in a quality way, to his listeners. That I know for a fact is one of his passions.

My suggestion is to simply tune in to his mid day or PM drive newscasts and enjoy. Allan is unique for Delaware radio. WILM had him for many years, now WDEL does.
 
We will have to pass the word to all of the radio and tv network newscasters about that then. They all must be getting it wrong.
 
650AM said:
We will have to pass the word to all of the radio and tv network newscasters about that then. They all must be getting it wrong.
Click to expand...

I'm not really familiar with this guy, but if he doesn't have a thick accent and fumble over copy he's already in the top tier of Wilmington radio guys.
 
Loudell enjoyed the role of "big fish in a little pond" as he led WILM News Radio for many years up until the time the Hawkins family sold out to CC. He often asks interview questions that start out as statements and then are so layered with clauses and sub clauses, and are totally "around the bush," that even the interviewee and listenter often get lost in the mumbo jumbo.
 
He often asks interview questions that start out as statements and then are so layered with clauses and sub clauses, and are totally "around the bush," that even the interviewee and listenter often get lost in the mumbo jumbo.

I'd agree. If I was going to offer to Allan a suggestion for improvement, it would be just that. As the interviews are so short due to all the interruptions for promos and spots (that's where NPR/WHYY-FM has it over WDEL) that by Allan being more consist in how he asks his questions would give the guest more time to get into it. They barely scratch the surface and their 2-3 minutes are done and it's time for a 3-5 minute spot break that includes traffic. Then the next interview, which is done the same way. Obviously, WDEL isn't going to cut the spots (they aren't a charity), but maybe rather than trying to do so many interviews, Allan might devote the first half hour of his mid day report(12:00-12:30) to national news/Delaware news/weather/sports/traffic/stocks, etc. The second half hour(12:30-1pm) make it the news analysis/commentary/interview part so that with the heavy spot load you could actually have a couple in depth interviews and Dave Ross. At 12:55 to 1pm recap the big national/local stories/weather/traffic before CBS at 1pm. One thing that might make it a bit better for Allan too, would be to prerecord those interviews prior to the noon broadcast and insert them into their desired slots, then he'd not have to gamble on someone not calling in while trying to do the show live.
 
Plus, I still think that, at WDEL like at WILM, he focuses too much on world and national issues. Would be better if he would place more focus on the state, N.C. County and municipalities within New Castle County.
 
Allan does do interviews involving the local political scene during election times, which generally are pretty interesting, but as a suburbanite, I'm not real interested ( OK I'm not interested at all) in the City of Wilmington's issues. County issues would be more interesting, only because I live in the county, but many of those topics also are rather dry and would make for boring radio, I believe.

Some state issues could be interesting, so those topics might be a good fit for Allan's interviews, but he'd have to be rather selective or they too could be rather boring. Frankly, I find Al Messitti's and Rick Jensen's discussions of local issues, quite often, not very interesting, especially Rick's as he's so one sided (same with John Watson on WILM). Al is also, but the big difference between the two is Al will give the opposition credit for doing some stuff right, he'll even agree with the opposition sometimes, I've never heard Rick ever even hint at that, much less ever say it. So when Rick discusses a local issue, it seems like he's got a point of view he's trying to sell you rather than trying to give the listener quality info to help them decide for themselves what the correct position is.

Now, that might be a good argument for Allan doing more of those topics as he's good at not showing his bias which is a good thing in an interviewer. Allan's style of interviewing might make those interviews with locals far more informative and worth tuning in to hear.
 
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