Sounding Like A Reporter — And A Real Person, Too
What comes to mind when you imagine an "NPR voice"? You might hear the rich baritone of Bob Edwards. You might think of Terry Gross' velvety timbre. Or you might hear the hushed monotone parodied in Saturday Night Live's iconic "Schweddy Balls" sketch. Whatever you think of, you're not alone: Many listeners have an idea of what an NPR voice should sound like. And when reporters and hosts deviate from that supposed standard, our office hears about it.
We receive a regular stream of complaints about how reporters and hosts talk on air. Listeners have concerns about grammar, and filler words such as "um," "like" and "so." (Mark Memmott, the standards and practices editor, has addressed some of those issues in the past.)
But we especially hear about the tone and timbre of reporters' voices. Reporters get these complaints directly, too.
The Public Editor has examined concerns about pronunciation and accents, but for the most part, our office hasn't addressed complaints about how NPR reporters and hosts speak and sound.
One reason we don't comment on reporters' voices is because voice is personal. Reporters strive to sound clear and concise on air. And their voices reflect indelible features of their backgrounds — where they're from and the voices they grew up with. Criticizing someone's voice often seems to be a criticism of their identity.
"People forget that there's a person on the other end of the email," , a co-host and reporter for , told me. She's. "When you're critiquing a voice you're saying, 'I don't like the thing that is you on the radio,'" Duffin said.
