Re: [ARSCLIST] Edward R. Murrow "Hear It Now"

[Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I tend to think Murrow and Friendly stacked the deck a little bit because,
particularly when they put their microphones in state houses or local
political events/meetings, the local pols are generally not well-spoken at
all. But the "common man" always seems clear and precise. Now, I can't
imagine that most or all Midwest housewives or NYC cabbies were articulate
life-philosophers back in the day. The only "common folks" who seem truly
representative are the soldiers and sailors in Korea who get interviewed.
There, you have a true spectrum of accents and levels of sophistication as
far as expessing one's self. Still, though, the shows are very enjoyable and
I wish I had more to hear. It's interesting how much a show like "All Things
Considered" or even more so "Morning Edition" owe to "Hear It Now." Another
very interesting thing is how the correspondents in Korea could make very
clear voice recordings using primative portable disc machines and
optical-sound recorders.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steven C. Barr" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005 12:14 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Edward R. Murrow "Hear It Now"


> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tom Fine" <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > This may well be true. I don't know of Murrow and Friendly cherry-picked
> > particularly well-spoken citizens, but the diction and sentence
structure
> > were more complex than your average American today. Not necessarily more
> $5
> > words, just better craft of stringing together $1 words.
> >
> Also, don't forget that oratory skills were admired, and many people tried
> to attain them, back in "them days!" This was before politicians could
reach
> the entire public via TV or (today) the Internet...so one's skills at
public
> speaking were much more important...
>
> Steven C. Barr