Broadcastin' live, Ya all!
Posted by Marie B on April 24, 1998 at 08:03:36:
In response to I've noticed that too., written by Lu on April 24, 1998 at 01:38:06
Lu,
There is training for broadcasters, although not all are trained. I myself was a speech and theatre major (didn't finish my degree, went off to the big time of Radio instead!) But in the 3 years that I spent as speech major, I was indeed trained with that mid-western dialect. I am originally from Wheeling, West Virginia which sits in the northern panhandle of the state and above the Mason-Dixon line. It's a thin strip of land that is nestled between Ohio and Pennsylvania. Speech patterns there are more mid-western anyway (most people don't understand when I say that I am from West Virginia....first they think that I mean Virginia and 2nd that my accent isn't southern.)
I always enjoy when my Buffalo friends think that they have heard a twang in my voice, because my accent is more Pittsburgh than deep south!
For a long time most network news people came from the mid-west, because their accents were so non-descript and anyone from elsewhere had to train to get it to be considered. These days you will find a bit more variety, but not much. Dan Rather is from Texas, Jane Pauley from Indiana (Peter Jennings is Canadian and admits to having worked on his "eh's".)
So the answer to your question is: It depends.
Enjoy,
Marie
- Cleveland Beckie 20:58:34 6/02/98
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