warmed-over soapboxesclever would be nice

On NPR and phonics

§ July 30th, 2010 § Filed under media § 4 Comments

I was sad to hear last week that Daniel Schorr had died. Like many journalists of his era such as Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow, his voice carried that memorable white male gravitas that perhaps only Brian Williams of NBC still effects, and that palely.

Anyway, despite earning a trophy in second grade for perfect spelling and an erstwhile career as a copy editor, I was surprised when reading Schorr’s obituary to see his name spelled “Schorr;” I had always, in my head, spelled it “Shore,” not only because it seemed appropriate phonetically, but also metaphorically by the way his voice washed over me as a listener. And it occurs to me that, over the years, I have been surprised to learn the true spellings of many of my favorite NPR personalities:

• Howard Berkes isn’t Howard Burkas
• Diane Rehm isn’t Diane Ream
• Carl Kasell isn’t Karl Castle

And the biggest disappointment thus far, because I remember him from early childhood when my mom listened to NPR during breakfast before school:

• Robert Siegel isn’t Robert Seagull

Rest in peace, Mr. Schorr, and long live the rest of NPR’s phonetically challenging staff.