THE ANNOUNCER

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 36, 11 August 1927, Page 7

THE ANNOUNCER

m* "csFnty-piAS"

AN AMERICAN ATTACK

The following article, condensed from ;h'e "Literary Digest," gives a painful imjression of the sort of thing American listeners have to put up with. 'From such things here, good Lord deliver us.

"A • moron broadcasting for morons" is the unflattering description given o£ the "announcer" of some, if not many, American- broadcasting stations. "The Vigilant" (New York), which describes itself as "a journal, of opinion," is frank in its indictment of this functionary, and lays the blame at his door for the revulsion, of sentiment against what seemed, so short a time ago, a "magic toy." Notwithstanding occasional programmes 01 real idistinction —and it is reported that the. National Broadcasting Company will spend this year 2,700,000 dollars for talent—"many listeners financially able to purchase the finest equipments are stigmatising radio broadcasts as "vulgar beyond description," "offensive," "tedious,"

"intrusive," and "mediocre." It 13 the announcers who come in for criticism because they intrude "into all programmes their own interesting personalities, tlieir banalities, and their gratuitous misinformation." "'The 'announcer' is a misnomer. More and more he assumes to be a i composite of patronising tutor, amateur entertainer, after-dinner wit, and Ihe 'life of the party.' " "There are a scant few among the announcers who obviously bave sufficient acquaintance with cultural subjects to make them admissible in some of the gatherings, which, unseeu, they address.',' Yet— "In radio, all announcements are elaborated, reiterated, explained, and qualified; broadcasting for morons, frequently by morons. Facetious comments, redolent of the smoking-rooni, sometimes punctuate otherwise innocuous programmes. . . . Every -moment is- filled with chatter. "It is obvious that announcers arc striving not to announce, but to popularise themselves. The redundancy of radio announcers is as great a detriment to broadcasting, as is tlieir spurious wit. The circumlocution of announcements is reminiscent of the old childish doggerel 'The flea on the hair of the tail of the dog of the child .of the wife of the wild man o£ ■Borneo!' Thirty words are used where sis would suffice. Superlatives never come singly, but in pairs. Numbers are named both before and after delivery; names are reiterated; artists are flattered ad nauseam irrespective of professional standing; every song is very, very famous am] all unknowns are celebrated or very, very wonderful artists condescending to perform for a palpitating, breathless audience. "Audiences nrc instructed to signify, not their approval, but their appreciation, their great appreciation, their very great appreciation of' hearing Madam Gazink of l'odunk, or a would-be pi'ima donna or some has-been tenor. 'It is my honour and "privilege" to" introduce 1 is frequently followed within a few moment with 'it is again my very great- honour and privilege to introduce,' to ;be followed at the conclusion of an off key solo by 'you have jnst enjoyed the great privilege of hearing.' And the unworthy thought persists that the radio announcer is ir little claque all by himself! . "Broadcasting companies expending vast sums for entertainment should realise that the personal opinions of announcers concerning curi-ent events, the musical classics, prominent persons, or nonentities, are both offensive and intrusive. To listen to music is one thing, to have every five minutes of a musical programme freighted with three minutes of mispronunciation, moronic wit, cheap flattery, or misinformation is something else. "The uncomplimentary assumption that radio listeners are ignorant and uninformed is ■wearisome. Discovering for the first time some standard composer, announcers proceed to 'instruct' audiences, either by reading Grove's Dictionary without due credit, or with many inaccuracies of their own fertile imagination." Mispronunciation of the most commonplace English words, uncouth enunciation, and a halting or nasal delivery, are things charged against the announcer, if his back is able to bear any more stripes: "Announcements are made inattentively, with pauses to alter the original words. Songs are adopted, not adapted; unprejudiced becomes inprejudiced: the superlative 'escellent' is qualified by very, very; we are old of the 'charming nayvery; we are told of the 'charming naythat Micareme is known to these widely read announcers as 'micarmay.' We are 'treated' to a jazzed 'paraphrase' of the prison scene from 'Faust,' to be 'followed by a rather different type of number called Bamboola!' Added to these is the atrocity of garbled foreign titles, French, Spanish, Italian, and German are attempted brazenly by these persons, and the result is .an insult to adult intelligence. 'Free translations' are made regardless of accuracy. "News items read from a legitimate news service are elaborated with the announcer's personal opinion. . . . Tell the pseudo-scientists and linguists, the counterfeit encyclopedias and men of letters who are announcing your programmes, ] that the 'unseen' audience is competent to do its own thinking. It is not as ignorant as the announcer credits it with be-

ing. Nor does it, despite his amusing affectations, estimate the announcer at more than his correct cultural rating."