Peculiar styles when narrating the news: The intonation of radio news bulletins

Abstract

The voice is one of the radio news reader’s most important resources when conveying messages. Controlling the voice, through the proper use of prosodic features as the main tool for transmitting the explicit content of a text, provides a referential framework. It is also instrumental in conveying the sense of the text as well as its affective dimension. Ultimately, therefore, it affects the impression forming process of the listener. Therefore, the objective of this study is to contribute to the prosodic characterisation of radio news by identifying the prosodic resources used. The results show that radio news bulletins can be characterised by a wealth of circumflex contours, regular use of the pitch contour or accent and constant stress on the emphatic accent. Although these resources can guide the discursive understanding of the listener at specific moments during speech, their repeated use can lead to counterproductive effects for comprehension and attention.