The same song for different broadcasters. Voice and prosody in radio news (original) (raw)

Rodero, E. The same song for different broadcasters. Voice and prosody in radio news, en Stachyra, G. Radio – Community, Challenges and Aesthetics, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University Press, Lublin, Poland, 211-224, 2013

Voice is our main communication resource but especially is the tool more important for working on radio. Voice on radio transmits, not only the explicit text, but also all the meaning and the affective dimension. Consequently, the audience attention to the radio message as well as understanding and assimilating of it, will depend on a correct and expressive use of voice through prosody. Accordingly, this paper attempts to compile data from different studies in order to characterize the use of voice and prosody in radio news. The main findings can be resumed in these three conclusions: a) the vocal and prosody changes are clearly perceived by the listeners and these have influence in the understanding of the radio message, b) the voices preferred by the listeners have a low pitch and a resonant timbre because are perceived as more credible, communicative, safe, direct, calm and natural, and c) the best use of the voice on radio for the listeners’ perception is based on a correct and dynamic intonation (without a regular ’singsong’) with a varied speech rate.