Were Things Really That Much Better?

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Were Things Really That Much Better?

Postby cart_machine » Wed Feb 13, 2013 10:23 am

Young announcers, he says sadly, can’t appear to get the hang of spoken English, a failure he blames on schools and colleges.
“We can’t undo the damage that’s done in schools. They’re not teaching English any more. Ninety per cent of the people in this country can never be taught correct English speech. They’ve heard it spoken incorrectly too long.”
- John Crosby, Herald-Tribune syndication service column, quoting NBC's chief announcer, May 24, 1949.
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Re: Were Things Really That Much Better?

Postby Mike Cleaver » Wed Feb 13, 2013 4:54 pm

They say the same thing about music.
Today, it's pretty poseurs of both sexes who actually cannot sing or play without tons of technical augmentation such as "Awfultune," Beat Detective, Pro-Stools and other accoutrements designed to mask their talent deficit.
Each recording takes hours of tweaking and the "artist" can no longer perform it live, instead, lip synching to a recorded track.
Real talent can stand on the stage, sing without accompaniment or with a piano and guitar and hit 98 per cent of the notes.
They also know how to tune and play their instrument.
When I started in radio back in the early '60s, there were tests in English by senior people who also monitored your on air work.
Corrections in English came quickly and if you wanted to move up the ladder, you learned just as quickly.
Did you ever take the CBC announcer's test back in the last century?
The writer also is talking about the US, where they haven't spoken English for years, much the same as in Australia.
As an aside, Jim, why do almost all of the "readers" on News 1130 feel that it's OK to drop the "ly" from words that require it?
I'm hearing this more and more often.
Mistakes in basic English are grating to hear.
Mike Cleaver Broadcast Services
Engineering, News, Voice work and Consulting
Vancouver, BC, Canada

54 years experience at some of Canada's Premier Broadcasting Stations
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Re: Were Things Really That Much Better?

Postby Fillinguy » Wed Feb 13, 2013 5:26 pm

You writed that real good.

I recall spending longer than I like with the GM and PD lecturing me on proper pronunciation of "ing" apparently I said "runneen" or "Talkeen" instead of "running"
:)
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Re: Were Things Really That Much Better?

Postby isthisthingon » Thu Feb 14, 2013 12:06 pm

Best language perfectionist PD I ever worked for was Bruce "Mitch" Mitchell at CHAB in Moose Jaw.
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