Sir, - Radio is being slowly but inexorably infiltrated by American accents, some of them genuine, many affected. This is presumably to make the product seem cool, hip and appealing to the young. The most irritating example of all is 2FM's ludicrous jingle now played after every news and sports bulletin in which a deep American voice, which sounds like a prolonged belch, proclaims (often after eight solid minutes of talk): "While the other stations are still talking, we're playing more music".DJs on 2FM (more so than those of the "other stations") frequently talk hysterically with silly American accents (e.g. Tony Fenton saying to a caller: "Get outta heah"). Far from making them sound cool, they just sound stupid. Why can't they use their own accents?
Could it be because the image consultants to whom they have probably paid a fortune to advise them on improving their slipping ratings suggested it, along with the British Labour Party trick of repeating the words "fresh" and "new" as often as possible all day long in the hope that it will fool people into not noticing that the programmes are just the same as the previous ones? The underlying premise that young people are dumb is insulting and will hopefully be rewarded with further falls in the ratings. - Yours, etc.,
Richard McDonnell, Ardee, Co Louth.