Re: writing for radio-- a lost art?

[SteveOrdinetz <steveord@bit-net.com>]

Donna Halper wrote:

>The same talent could be found in the great radio news reporters, and even 
>some of the announcers knew how to be articulate without talking down to 
>the audience.  But while some contemporary radio reporters and announcers 
>do put forth a good effort, it often seems to me that respect for the 
>beauty of the spoken word is becoming a casualty of an era dominated by 
>clever graphics and eye-catching visuals.


I see it as part of a general dumbing-down of America.  The warnings on 
wheelbarrows that warn of the consequences if you don't lift both handles 
at the same time.  Never mind the instructions for assembling that bicycle 
or a warranty...it may be written in 6 languages, but also written for a 
3rd grader (so-called "plain English")  The grade inflation in schools 
where kids were given good grades so as to not hurt their self-esteem with 
a failing grade...it's come back to bite us.  How many emails, posts on 
newsgroups or listservs, etc. have you read where the writer had absolutely 
no command of the English language...uses no caps at all (or conversely, 
ALL caps), no punctuation, grammar so bad as to obscure what the writer was 
trying to say?  And some of these are college grads!  These are the people 
who are our news reporters today.