The hubris of Today presenters.

Chestnut

Has anyone yet seen Amol Rajan interviewing Bill Gates? That was absolutely fascinating. I thought AR asked many interesting questions but eventually asked some very personal ones and BG shut him down. I wonder what he thought of him.

I have listened to the podcast of this - I thought he was better at asking quick questions rather than longer ones which involved more "conversion". I don't know why he kept on comparing Gates to Musk and pushing on his personal views of Trump... or why we are interested in who to (and why) he was apologising after an affair 20+ years ago.

Also odd that he made him describe peanut brittle in some detail as though it was something exotic!

Fleurpepper

Ranvir Singh has an Indian accent?

Yes, I get it that you don't understand my point at all. That's OK, forget it.

I cannot see why you are so fixated on Indian accents?

Ranvir Singh has an Indian accent?

Yes, I get it that you don't understand my point at all. That's OK, forget it.

Fleurpepper

I said that people with regional accents had to 'lose' them to get jobs in TV (not acting but presenting). I was told this was a thing of the past and no longer the case. Although there are now many actors, and presenters of some shows, who do have a strong regional accent. But not really on the news. And this is doubly so for anyone from an immigrant background.

Steph McGovern BBC breakfast news for many many years

Ranvir Singh ITV Breakfast News

Hugh Edwards BBC News

Kirsty Wark Newsnight

Four presenters on mainstream news programmes with regional accents

Fleurpepper I am struggling to understand your point.

Folks who live in the U.K. whether born here or not tend to pick up the accent of where they live/work/attend school.

Yes I am a bit deaf but turning up volume didn’t help.

I started to watch something promising last night but the heavy regional accents were impossible to understand. Could not access subtitles so had to switch off. Disappointing but this seems to be becoming more frequent.

annodomini

I too was taken aback by Amol Rajan's style of interviewing when he tried to take Kier Starmer apart. Not that I think he could really hold a candle to the forensic ability of such an experienced KC.
And, by the way, I was, for many years an English teacher who taught hundreds of mature students. I never forgot a book I once read - 'Teaching on Equal Terms' by Jennifer Rogers, now long out of print, but still fixed in my memory. I rest my case.

Thank you for this. I have never read it and will try and get a copy.

Yes, I agree. You are totally misunderstanding what I am saying, and not for the first time.

Chestnut
The same for listeners to the bbc world service. Can you imagine ( let’s take an Inuit) tuning in to a broad Newcastle, West Country, Devon etc accents.
Why are there no air traffic controller’s with a broad regional accent. Chestnut explained why.

Well I agree that the most important thing for a TV presenter is their diction and their style. Viewers in the UK must be able to understand them and that means speaking clearly with a UK accent which is not strongly regional.

I said that people with regional accents had to 'lose' them to get jobs in TV (not acting but presenting). I was told this was a thing of the past and no longer the case. Although there are now many actors, and presenters of some shows, who do have a strong regional accent. But not really on the news. And this is doubly so for anyone from an immigrant background.

NOT at all, not I am saying- totally the opposite.

Fleurpepper

Chestnut

Regarding presenters' accents, we started off with RP only, and eventually included more and more regional accents. So now we have accents from all over the UK and I would suggest that most people would rather keep it that way.

There are two aspects to the way people speak, one being their accent and the other being the clarity of their pronunciation. If we start having presenters with accents from all over the world it is likely that people won't understand them unless they speak very clearly. Not many people do have the skill to project their voice in a crisp and clear manner.

So what is this obsession with Asian accents Fleurpepper? Why shouldn't the UK have presenters with UK accents so that the viewers can understand them? If someone wishes to work in broadcasting then they have to achieve the required standards and that includes the way they speak.

Ah thanks- yes, this is what I am saying.

I don't think it is what you're saying. You are asking why there are no presenters with Asian accents, as if there should be. Or at least that is how it came across. I have just explained why there are no presenters with worldwide accents.

GrannyGravy13

Fleurpepper

Your messages were deleted because they obviously breached ^GN Guidlines^

But they truly did NOT, that is my point.

Has anyone yet seen Amol Rajan interviewing Bill Gates? That was absolutely fascinating. I thought AR asked many interesting questions but eventually asked some very personal ones and BG shut him down. I wonder what he thought of him.

Chestnut

Regarding presenters' accents, we started off with RP only, and eventually included more and more regional accents. So now we have accents from all over the UK and I would suggest that most people would rather keep it that way.

There are two aspects to the way people speak, one being their accent and the other being the clarity of their pronunciation. If we start having presenters with accents from all over the world it is likely that people won't understand them unless they speak very clearly. Not many people do have the skill to project their voice in a crisp and clear manner.

So what is this obsession with Asian accents Fleurpepper? Why shouldn't the UK have presenters with UK accents so that the viewers can understand them? If someone wishes to work in broadcasting then they have to achieve the required standards and that includes the way they speak.

Ah thanks- yes, this is what I am saying.

I too was taken aback by Amol Rajan's style of interviewing when he tried to take Kier Starmer apart. Not that I think he could really hold a candle to the forensic ability of such an experienced KC.
And, by the way, I was, for many years an English teacher who taught hundreds of mature students. I never forgot a book I once read - 'Teaching on Equal Terms' by Jennifer Rogers, now long out of print, but still fixed in my memory. I rest my case.

Regarding presenters' accents, we started off with RP only, and eventually included more and more regional accents. So now we have accents from all over the UK and I would suggest that most people would rather keep it that way.

There are two aspects to the way people speak, one being their accent and the other being the clarity of their pronunciation. If we start having presenters with accents from all over the world it is likely that people won't understand them unless they speak very clearly. Not many people do have the skill to project their voice in a crisp and clear manner.

So what is this obsession with Asian accents Fleurpepper? Why shouldn't the UK have presenters with UK accents so that the viewers can understand them? If someone wishes to work in broadcasting then they have to achieve the required standards and that includes the way they speak.

silverlining48

Neal Nuness might be the person you mean. He's on R4. I remember there were complaints about his west indian (?) accent initially but I thought it was rather nice.

Neil Nunes. I mentioned him early doors.
He was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1980, and grew up in Manchester

Fleurpepper

Your messages were deleted because they obviously breached GN Guidlines

Fleurpepper, your posts can only have been deleted if they broke guidelines. You know that very well.

What do you hope to achieve by demanding posters identify interviewers with Asian accents? Your experience of ‘1000’s’ of students alongside living in a family with immigrants doesn’t give you superior knowledge. We are a country full of immigrants. We’d be hard pressed in my area to find a family without immigrant history or members

I heard the Amol Rajan interview with Starmer that DaysyAnne refers to in her OP. I found AR’s style rude and hectoring. I’m all for rigorous interviews of politicians but this stepped over the line for me. I was hoping to understand more about the key 5 areas planned by the LP. Starmer was interrupted so often, I wondered if Rajan is anti Labour. I’m sure he isn’t but this combative style shuts people down. He needs to understand, it’s not all about you being clever and combative Rajan.

NotSpaghetti I totally agree. When he first started I thought that he was something of a breath of fresh air, but rather than growing into the role, he seems to be getting worse.
A previous poster mentioned JH and BR. I find him far worse than Humphries.
He isn’t adversarial, he just sounds petulant.
In fact, he made something of a fool of himself yesterday with Starmer

In my opinion lixy his "conversational" style is always about him (and also lacks gravitas).

His "courtesy" towards people comes over as pushy and fake to me - he does this sometimes by apologising in a totally insincere way (which makes me think he's selfish) then he grinds on with his chat irrespective.

He is regularly patronising
I regularly find myself wincing.

Yammy

Fleurpepper

Of course- but most spoke their own language at home, and had to make a conscius effort, at school, to acquire RP in order to succeed.

I don't think that applies to just Asian, African or people from other countries. It applied until recently to British people as well. We all have to moderate our accents when we visit another part of the country.
Someone I went to school with Read the news for Look North from Leeds she certainly did not speak the way she did when at school. DH went to school with a chap who was a newsreader for Boarder T.V. he had certainly changed his accent from the local one.

Totally- you need however to follow the whole thread. I said this, and was told that was a very old fashioned idea, that no longer applies currently. I replied that it still does for presenters from other countries. It's OK if you are a comedian, an actor, but not for a presenter.

Asian students (and others who would speak another language or more at home) would have to adapt several times over.

Again, could someone please give me an example of an Asian TV presenter who has a non soft modern British RP?

two of my posts have been deleted, and I have had no notification from GN and I have NO idea why.