Pronunciation and respect
Feb. 23rd, 2004 02:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
urocyonI generally stay away from the local television news, but it came on last night with me a semi-captive audience. This was unfortunate.
The frequent butchering of local place- and surnames by the apparently unconcened tends to irritate me. It could not be that difficult for even the completely unfamiliar to find out how to pronounce things; I certainly do so when I'm unsure about names. Not bothering to do so shows a serious lack of respect, and I cannot understand why so many people continue to tune in and listen to it.
Last night's prime example, on WSLS, was particularly cringeworthy. A man died in flooding last year, and in the coverage of his memorial service, the reporter managed to mispronounce his name terribly, again and again. This struck me as being in such poor taste that I felt compelled to make a complaint. I even tried not to get too snarky, though it was difficult.
Letter to WSLS
Dear Sir or Madam,
Last night, an item on your 11:00 news disturbed me. The reporting was perfectly fine, other than one extremely jarring thing: Brian Quesenberry's name was badly mispronounced.
The frequent mispronunciation of local place- and surnames is aggravating at the best of times. Besides being sloppy, it sets forth the impression that the reporters in question are not interested enough in what is happening locally even to make an effort to find out how to pronounce the names of the people and places here. It would not take a great deal of effort to determine how to pronounce things before going on the air, and this would be time well spent. Repeatedly hearing names butchered makes me less likely to tune in to a news program, and I would be surprised if it didn't affect other viewers similarly.
Last night's example struck me as particularly disrespectful to Mr. Quesenberry and his family. This was a report of the man's memorial service, and the reporter could not even take the time to find out how to pronounce his name. I can only imagine that his family and friends cringed every time they heard "Queasenberry" issuing from the television; I didn't even know the gentleman in question, and it made me "queasy".
Do people care if their names and their hometowns are terribly mangled? I suggest that they do, and that not trying to correct this can only foster ill will. Your newspeople are average in this respect, but I must mention last night's example because it was a particularly ill-considered one.
Thank you for your attention.
Yours faithfully,
Rachel L. McCraw
The frequent butchering of local place- and surnames by the apparently unconcened tends to irritate me. It could not be that difficult for even the completely unfamiliar to find out how to pronounce things; I certainly do so when I'm unsure about names. Not bothering to do so shows a serious lack of respect, and I cannot understand why so many people continue to tune in and listen to it.
Last night's prime example, on WSLS, was particularly cringeworthy. A man died in flooding last year, and in the coverage of his memorial service, the reporter managed to mispronounce his name terribly, again and again. This struck me as being in such poor taste that I felt compelled to make a complaint. I even tried not to get too snarky, though it was difficult.
Letter to WSLS
Dear Sir or Madam,
Last night, an item on your 11:00 news disturbed me. The reporting was perfectly fine, other than one extremely jarring thing: Brian Quesenberry's name was badly mispronounced.
The frequent mispronunciation of local place- and surnames is aggravating at the best of times. Besides being sloppy, it sets forth the impression that the reporters in question are not interested enough in what is happening locally even to make an effort to find out how to pronounce the names of the people and places here. It would not take a great deal of effort to determine how to pronounce things before going on the air, and this would be time well spent. Repeatedly hearing names butchered makes me less likely to tune in to a news program, and I would be surprised if it didn't affect other viewers similarly.
Last night's example struck me as particularly disrespectful to Mr. Quesenberry and his family. This was a report of the man's memorial service, and the reporter could not even take the time to find out how to pronounce his name. I can only imagine that his family and friends cringed every time they heard "Queasenberry" issuing from the television; I didn't even know the gentleman in question, and it made me "queasy".
Do people care if their names and their hometowns are terribly mangled? I suggest that they do, and that not trying to correct this can only foster ill will. Your newspeople are average in this respect, but I must mention last night's example because it was a particularly ill-considered one.
Thank you for your attention.
Yours faithfully,
Rachel L. McCraw
