# US cities where newscasters speak with local accents **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 25, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566 "2006-12-25T23:08:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/1 "2006-12-25T23:08:46Z")
I’m visiting the 'rents for the holidays, back in Buffalo, New York. Watching various newscasts of local stations, again I noticed that about half of the anchors and reporters often talk with very strong Buffalo accents; the very pronounced nasal flat A is quite prevalent, among other traits of Buffalo English. When I’ve lived and visited cities throughout the country, newscasters seemed to speak mainly in a generic Midwestern accent; they all sound like they’re from Kansas City or Salt Lake City. I didn’t hear southern drawls on newscasts in Atlanta or Charlotte, clinched-teeth cowboy accents in Denver, south suburban flat-As in Chicago, or Brooklyn and Long Island accents from stations in NYC. Okay, they do pop up occasionally, but it’s usually a feature reporter or some “gotcha” consumer advocate; not the anchors and reporters. Are there any cities in the US where local accents are the norm for local newscasts? ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/2 "2006-12-25T23:10:25Z")
Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/3 "2006-12-26T00:11:55Z")
Here’s they’re sort of in the middle - recognizably local, mostly, but not broadly so. ---
**Author:** ![Don26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@Don26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don26)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/4 "2006-12-26T00:28:53Z")
Here in CA newscasters speak accentless English, that is until they say their name with a bitchin Spanish accent. ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/5 "2006-12-26T04:28:15Z")
Things aren’t too far off General Midwestern English here in Cincinnati, so the only distinct linguistic feature I hear is the nasal “a” sound. It really is a funny little pocket of General American bordered on three sides by Appalachian/Southern (southeast Indiana, northern Kentucky and eastern Ohio), so you drive a thirty to forty miles in any direction but directly north and hit a completely different linguistics region. I’d love to know whether I’m just in error, suffering from regional bias, or what the historical reason is. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/6 "2006-12-26T17:45:32Z")
Some Baltimore stations have reporters with accents – it’s especially common for the sports guy to have a local accent. Typically the anchors don’t have much of an accent, but as soon as they “go live to Jim on the scene” you remember where you are. Bugs the heck outta me whenever I watch the news at one of my parents’ houses. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/7 "2006-12-26T18:30:27Z")
[QUOTE=Misnomer] Some Baltimore stations have reporters with accents – it’s especially common for the sports guy to have a local accent. [/QUOTE] if it sounds like diversity, really, it’s not. It’s just another Industry Standard. Sports Guy needs to be super relatable to the local fan, and that means sounding a) local, and b) about 15% louder and 30% more obnoxious than News Guy or Gal. (Sports Gals have never really caught on in local.) Investigative reporters - those with their own segment and a Beat - should talk (and look) local too. After all, _They’re watching out…for YOU!_, not for some twerp from Walla Walla. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/8 "2006-12-26T19:05:41Z")
Sorry, I didn’t mean to give the impression that I didn’t understand _why_ the sports guys/reporters would have local accents. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/9 "2006-12-26T19:57:34Z")
And I’m sorry if I implied you didn’t. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/10 "2006-12-26T20:13:43Z")
In my experience, I’ve seen much of the reverse phenomenon. News reporters/anchors who are not from the local market, but have been hired from out of town. It becomes obvious when they read a news story about some local community or person and mangle the pronunciation in a way that no local would ever do. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/11 "2006-12-27T01:26:30Z")
In the sixties, there was a talking heads who spoke with a local accent. The surprise was, he was a mainlander-a Texan. One did so so successfully, he is considered one of the legendary talk pidgeon story tellers and did a TV children show telling fractured fairy tales. A died a few years ago, _make die dead_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/12 "2006-12-27T01:59:45Z")
Aren’t you lucky that we all already know where you live, and that no further explanation is necessary. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/13 "2006-12-27T02:35:43Z")
Pittsburgh, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/14 "2006-12-27T02:53:24Z")
I wasn’t aware Pittsburgh had left the mainland, or that pidgin had become widely spoken there. I also wasn’t aware **ouryL** had hi/r [coordinates](http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?searchtype=address&formtype=address&latlongtype=degrees&latdeg=21&latmin=20&latsec=0&longdeg=-157&longmin=55&longsec=0) posted in Location, accustomed as I am to posters Just Assuming we all live inside their heads. My bad, **ouryL**. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/15 "2006-12-27T18:22:28Z")
[QUOTE=Don26] Here in CA newscasters speak accentless English, that is until they say their name with a bitchin Spanish accent. [/QUOTE] I saw that in El Paso. Not only that, but any word or location that was even remotely Spanish was said with a flourish that bordered on the ridiculous. There were rumors that some reporters and anchors had real-life Anglo names, but adopted Spanish screen names to better appeal to the audience and boost ratings. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/16 "2006-12-28T01:20:34Z")
The flippany answer to this would be “Cleveland”, since (IIRC) it is/was considered to have the most neutral/generic accent in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/17 "2006-12-28T03:33:08Z")
I bet you’re from Cleveland. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-where-newscasters-speak-with-local-accents/385566/18 "2006-12-28T17:35:37Z")
[QUOTE=Kilvert’s Pagan] since (IIRC) it is/was considered to have the most neutral/generic accent in the US. [/QUOTE] I’ve heard this said about two dozen different places between the Appalachians and the Rockies.