NPR Voices
What’s up with the Saturday morning voices on NPR? The male voices, in particular. Scott Simon, a dozen other regular commentators, guests, interview subjects, taped promotions for other shows. Every last one of them for the past two hours has delivered his words in a prim, precise little whisper. They all sound as if they’re gathered around the microphone while curled in the fetal position with their jammies on.
You don't hear this anywhere else in the media. Probably because the rest of the media needs to attract an audience, and thanks to your tax dollars, NPR doesn't care about that. But I'm not sure if this is an intentional delivery style based on marketing research (did testosterone test badly in the focus groups?) or if it’s just the influence of Scott Simon. He’s the host, the alpha male as it were, setting the tone for all. And he’s prissiest, lispiest voice in the media since Truman Capote. If it wasn’t for the Nina Totenberg reports, the show wouldn’t have any authoritative male presence at all.
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