For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1558387
Now I'm fully aware of the vitriol this post will bring down on me,and I don't give a terpenny ferk, but is there anybody in the BBC TV East Anglian region who has a view on the BBC's latest acquisition in its Eastern regional Look East programmes.

Robbie West is a product of the BBC's misguided attempts to dumb down its reporting by going out and trawling the streets for oiks with nary a GCSE to bring grit to its programmes.

This bloke was fished out of plumbing college (or was it electricians college) with no journalistic experience or qualifications and is quite unable to string a sentence together wivout dropping aitches left right and cen' er. (how do you represent a glottal stop on paper?)

Don't get me wrong: most plumbers and electricians can speak passable English, and I have no problems with regional accents , its the grammar and syntax (or lack of) which grates with me on prime TV.

Surely to god the BBC can find someone who doesn't call people attending university ' sch-chewdents' who 'doh-wanna' pay 'chew-ishun' fees .

Or catch the tchrain to Fetford wiv dere muvvers and farvers..

Dear gawd.

Peter :roll: :wink:
unkind jibe redacted.
Last edited by PeteSpencer on Wed Sep 13, 2017 7:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
By Highland Park
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#1558419
Compare and contrast with the lovely Katherine Nash who graced the Look East screens for about ten years. The complete antithesis where her diction is concerned, professional and also very attractive. Sadly left our screens in the East now to join ITN News on Channel 5...
Last edited by Highland Park on Wed Sep 13, 2017 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
#1558503
in keeping with the grumpy old flatulatory tendency of this forum, things haven't been the same since that time in the 80s when news readers gave up their BBC (east of mid-Atlantic) faux accents and went all regional, innit.
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By skydriller
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#1558507
He isnt the only one, but at least its just a local news program. Another example is the woman that does the business segment on the BBC breakfast show with a strong regional accent which my girlfriend finds really hard to understand. For myself, her accent when reading from the script isnt the problem, because she is obviously making an effort to at least pronounce things correctly - however it does grate when she "chats" off script because at that point she doesnt speak clearly at all and her pronunciation of words completely changes - for the worse!!

I believe that the BBC has a duty to ensure that its news reporters speak proper correctly pronounced English, I would even go so far as to say that on National News programs they should not have very strong regional accents either. Its probably politically incorrect to say that though... :roll:

Regards, SD..
#1558517
OCB wrote:Interesting point - that "regional" accents aren't understood.

The corollary being that non-regional (hence London/sawf east accents) are in fact universally understood.

Yeah....innit...


:roll:


One of the reasons why call centres are located in, for example, the north east, is that girls with a geordie accent are readily understood and sound attractive (and yes I know call centres have male employees too).
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By skydriller
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1558529
OCB wrote:Interesting point - that "regional" accents aren't understood.

The corollary being that non-regional (hence London/sawf east accents) are in fact universally understood.

Yeah....innit...


:roll:


If you read what I actually wrote I said that my GF didnt understand that particular presenter, not all regional accents. I also said that ANY STRONG regional accent, be it London or Liverpool, had no place in mainstream country-wide broadcasting by the BBC. Despite the prevalence of US TV, many American accents are also apparently difficult to understand on TV too.
Last edited by skydriller on Wed Sep 13, 2017 3:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#1558530
Kittyhawk wrote:It's never been quite the same since BBC announcers stopped wearing dinner jackets.


"Good Evening from the British Broadcorping Castration"....with perfect annunciation!

I can't help but laugh when I see newsreels from the 50s and early 60s now, especially from broadcasters who are still kicking about (or at least not that long departed).

I remember the Rikki Fulton (of Scotch and Wry fame) obit show; he MC'd radio shows in the 50s such as the BBC radio "Showband Show" with an accent that defies all logic today.