Letter: Storm brewing
"Our news and weather broadcasts offer spoken English at many levels of formality and in the natural tones of many parts of the kingdom. All our presenters are expected to have a good command of standard English, but it is also important that they are approachable and easy for viewers to identify with. In such contexts, speaking 'colloquially' rather than 'badly' is appropriate.
"Presenters… have their own natural style of presenting and communicating information. This is something we seek to nurture, not to erase."
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThis indicates that the BBC is recruiting "on camera" people whose articulation would be classified as "colloquial". In other words, how the BBC considers Scots generally speak.What an insult.
Alan McKinney
Beauchamp Road
Complaints about the BBC weather presenter's accent drive me up the wall, not only because she is described as a weather "girl" (how infantilising) but because they display unacceptable snobbery about regional accents.
Fiona Gordon
Hyndland Avenue
Glasgow