Newsreaders lighten up for the low-down

3 November 2004

Women and FM radio stations appear to be the flagbearers of change to a more conversational newsreading style according to Monash University researcher Ms Jenny Price.

Ms Price, a PhD student from the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, says many radio newsreaders have developed a conversational reading style which is quite different from broadcasts of the 50s and 60s where people imitated BBC English.

Australian newsreading styles have changed markedly over time and she says linguistic presentation of radio and TV broadcasts is moving further and further away from the rigid style of early broadcasts.

Ms Price is studying archival and current news excerpts from AM and FM radio stations and commercial and non-commercial television broadcasts to track the change in Australian broadcasting vernacular.

From preliminary research Ms Price said FM radio stations appear to have made the biggest move away from BBC English, while television stations have remained more conservative in their delivery style.

"I have found that radio news directors on FM stations want their broadcasts to slot seamlessly into their programming style, so you find newsreaders using slang and a more informal speech style, where television newsreaders are less conversational and more formal in the way they read the news," she said.

To collect further data for the study, Ms Price will interview about 40 newsreaders from various radio and television stations.

"I hope they will agree to record a short transcript of an old broadcast in their usual modern style so I will then be able to measure the differences between past and present styles on computer. This will help me pinpoint where the greatest linguistic changes have occurred."

For further information contact on Ms Ingrid Sanders in Media Communications on +61 3 9905 9201. Photos of Ms Jenny Price are available on request.