Editing General American English (section)

== In the media ==
General American, like the British [[Received Pronunciation]] (RP) and [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige accents]] of many other societies, has never been the accent of the entire nation, and, unlike RP, does not constitute a homogeneous national standard. Starting in the 1930s, nationwide radio networks adopted non-coastal [[Northern American English|Northern U.S.]] rhotic pronunciations for their "General American" standard.<ref>{{cite web |last=Fought |first=John G. |date=2005 |url=http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/southern/ |title=Do You Speak American? {{!}} Sea to Shining Sea {{!}} American Varieties {{!}} ''R''ful Southern |publisher=PBS |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161208194238/http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/southern/ |archive-date=2016-12-08 |url-status=live}}</ref> The entertainment industry similarly shifted from a [[rhoticity in English|non-rhotic]] standard to a rhotic one in the late 1940s, after the triumph of the [[Second World War]], with the patriotic incentive for a more wide-ranging and unpretentious "[[Heartland (United States)|heartland]] variety" in television and radio.<ref>{{cite book |last=McWhorter |first=John H. |author-link=John McWhorter |year=1998 |title=Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of a "Pure" Standard English |publisher=Basic Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Edt7yUD6PkMC&q=%22this%20accent%20passed%20out%20of%20fashion%22 |page=32 |isbn=0-73-820446-3}}</ref> Newscaster [[Walter Cronkite]] exemplified the rise of General American in broadcasting during the mid-20th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Babbel.com |last2=GmbH |first2=Lesson Nine |title=The United States Of Accents: Announcer Voice And Other Radio Accents |url=https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/announcer-voice#:~:text=It%20was%20Walter%20Cronkite%20who,sentences%20were%20spoken%20with%20emphasis. |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Babbel Magazine |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fallows |first=James |date=2015-06-08 |title=That Weirdo Announcer-Voice Accent: Where It Came From and Why It Went Away |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/06/that-weirdo-announcer-voice-accent-where-it-came-from-and-why-it-went-away/395141/ |archive-url=https://archive.ph/0vidP#selection-1949.562-1949.566 |archive-date=4 Dec 2023 |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref>

General American is thus sometimes associated with the speech of North American radio and television announcers, promoted as prestigious in [[List of television stations in North America by media market#TMAs|their industry]],<ref name="freshair1" /><ref name="60minutes" /> where it is sometimes called "Broadcast English",<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/is-there-a-place-in-america-where-people-speak-without-accents|title=Is There a Place in America Where People Speak Without Accents?|last=Nosowitz|first=Dan|date=2016-08-23|website=Atlas Obscura|language=en|access-date=2019-10-12}}</ref> "Network English",{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=470}}<ref name="Cruttenden">{{cite book |last1=Cruttenden |first1=Alan |title=Gimson's Pronunciation of English |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-41-572174-5 |page=87 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2nMAgAAQBAJ&q=%22general+american%22+%22network+english%22}}</ref><ref name="Melchers & Shaw">{{cite book |last1=Melchers |first1=Gunnel |last2=Shaw |first2=Philip |title=World Englishes |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-44-413537-4 |pages=85–86 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6AsVAgAAQBAJ&q=%22general+american%22+%22network+english%22}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lorenz |first1=Frank |title=Basics of Phonetics and English Phonology |date=2013 |publisher=Logos Verlag Berlin |isbn=978-3-83-253109-6 |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nY0Thjq2-J8C&q=%22general+american%22+%22network+english%22}}</ref> or "Network Standard".{{sfnp|Kövecses|2000|pp=81–82}}{{r|Melchers & Shaw}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benson |first1=Morton |last2=Benson |first2=Evelyn |last3=Ilson |first3=Robert F. |title=Lexicographic Description of English |date=1986 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn=9-02-723014-5 |pages=179–180 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_T5CAAAAQBAJ&q=%22sometimes+called+the+network+standard%22}}</ref> Instructional classes in the United States that promise "[[accent reduction]]", "accent modification", or "accent neutralization" usually attempt to teach General American patterns.{{sfnp|Ennser-Kananen|Halonen|Saarinen|2021|p=334}} Television journalist [[Linda Ellerbee]] states that "in television you are not supposed to sound like you're ''from'' anywhere",<ref name="Burner">{{cite web |last=Tsentserensky |first=Steve |title=You Know What The Midwest Is? |url=http://www.thenewsburner.com/2011/10/20/you-know-what-the-midwest-is |website=The News Burner |date=2011-10-20 |access-date=2018-12-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118205803/http://www.thenewsburner.com/2011/10/20/you-know-what-the-midwest-is/ |archive-date=2018-11-18 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and political comedian [[Stephen Colbert]] says he consciously avoided developing a [[Southern American accent]] in response to media portrayals of Southerners as stupid and uneducated.<ref name="freshair1">{{cite web|url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4464017|title = A Fake Newsman's Fake Newsman: Stephen Colbert|first = Terry|last = Gross|author-link= Terry Gross|work= [[Fresh Air]]|publisher = [[National Public Radio]]|date = 2005-01-24|access-date = 2007-07-11}}</ref><ref name="60minutes">{{cite web|url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/27/60minutes/main1553506.shtml|title = The Colbert Report: Morley Safer Profiles Comedy Central's 'Fake' Newsman|first = Morley|last = Safer|author-link= Morley Safer|publisher = [[60 Minutes]]|date = 2006-08-13|access-date =2006-08-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820141728/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/27/60minutes/main1553506.shtml|archive-date=2006-08-20|url-status=dead}}</ref>