If the British RP accent owes it prestige to the fact that it was adopted as the "ideal form" in news broadcasts by the BBC, then why, with the new emphasis on "inclusiveness" and "diversity", is it still so necessary a feature of such broadcasts?

True, there is more flexibility for variation; but in nearly all cases - particularly with BBC London news broadcasts - it is still a requirement that the presenters speak with a clear, neutral, and therefore non-regional accent which will be understood by everyone. Maybe THAT'S where the "inclusiveness" comes in, lol...

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by mumpsimus on November 21st, 2009

If you were talking about the second-rate regional news bulletins on "BBC Bristol", for example, no one really takes them seriously because (a) their headlines affect such a small minority (many of whom will be Bristolian themselves and won't care for RP), and (b) because their format has been substantially dumbed down to accommodate the young and the illiterate. I view it as both an attempt to engage children's interest by reporting only "small", "bite-size" news, while at the same time, rather than promoting a standard variety (because, heaven forbid, that would be "discriminatory"), trying to make it maximally accessible to those whom its reports DO affect. The most salient way of doing this is through the adoption of a distinct regional variety; a shared accent, towards which the designated audience will react positively. It means they won't be "switched off" by what might otherwise sound, to them, like a patronising ideological lecture. So, again, the 21st-century commitment to "inclusiveness" is brought swiftly to the fore. That's not always a good thing - in some cases, it can be a very bad thing. But in THIS case, I'm in two minds about it..

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by mumpsimus on November 21st, 2009

Thanks M. I think "clear" becomes even more important as the old hearing goes! Actually I speak with a south London accent but do a "Victor Meldrew" if a presenter says "pleece" or "terrist" or drops "t"'s and "h"'s. Bit of hypocrisy there! It is a generational thing and I will no doubt get even more intolerant if I am granted a long life. I haven't seen the BBC Bristol news but I find ITV's London News fairly "light" if not actually dumbed down.

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by Ambrose the Colossal Praying Mantis on November 21st, 2009

lol, my advice would be to chill out, safe in the knowledge that you speak proper English and would be universally understood.

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by mumpsimus on November 21st, 2009

Thanks M. I'll chill out with a mug of Bovril and see if I can find some crackly RP on Radio 7!

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by Ambrose the Colossal Praying Mantis on November 21st, 2009

Received Pronunciation. And yeah, it is, in the BBC News at 10, for example - which, I know, celebrates the Welsh accent in the form of Huw Edwards. But his accent is one that would be considered neutral to the Welsh. In any BBC news broadcast that affects the people of London, there will be an insistence (though perhaps not one as stringent as it would have been fifty years ago) for clarity of articulation and adherence to a broadly recognised standard variety - even if this isn't always the standard ENGLISH variety. If you can't see how this policy translates into the broadcasts themselves, that's probably because the presenters, reporters, correspondents etc are more diverse in terms of other, non-linguistic attributes: race, gender and increasingly, ethnicity. THAT is where the "diversity" comes in. But linguistically, no: the standard remains an only slightly more negotiable consideration for eligibility, still the pre-eminent obelisk against a backdrop of "anything goes".

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by mumpsimus on November 21st, 2009

I made a comment on this reply about fifteen minutes ago. But it's not there. Where did it go?

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by mumpsimus on November 21st, 2009

Ah, there it is. Just took a bit of poking with a stick!

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by mumpsimus on November 21st, 2009