ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to profile speaking F0 and its variations in newsreaders on varied emotional texts. STUDY DESIGN: This study has a prospective, case-control study design. METHODS: Fifteen professional newsreaders and 15 non-newsreaders were the participants. The participants read the news bulletin that conveyed different emotions (shock, neutral, happy, and sad) in a habitual and "newsreading" voice. Speaking fundamental frequency (SFF) and F0 variations were extracted from 1620 tokens using Praat software (version 5.2.32) on the opening lines, headlines, news stories, and closing lines of each news item. Paired t test, independent t test, and Friedman test were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Both male and female newsreaders had significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher SFFs and standard deviations (SDs) of SFF in newsreading voice than speaking voice. Female non-newsreaders demonstrated significantly higher SFF and SD of SFF in newsreading voice, whereas no significant differences were noticed in the frequency parameters for male non-newsreaders. No significant difference was noted in the frequency parameters of speaking and newsreading voice between male newsreaders and male non-newsreaders. A significant difference in the SD of SFF was noticed between female newsreaders and female non-newsreaders in newsreading voice. Female newsreaders had a higher frequency range in both speaking voice and newsreading voice when compared with non-newsreaders. CONCLUSIONS: F0 characteristics and frequency range determine the amount of frequency changes exercised by newsreaders while reading bulletins. This information is highly pedagogic for training voices in this profession.
Subject(s)
Emotions , Language , Occupations , Reading , Speech Acoustics , Voice Quality , Acoustics , Adult , Case-Control Studies , Female , Humans , India , Job Description , Male , Middle Aged , Prospective Studies , Radio , Sound Spectrography , Speech Production Measurement , TelevisionABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Newsreaders are elite vocal professionals who are highly dependent on their voice quality to meet professional commitments. Globally, the voice needs and demands of newsreaders could vary depending on technology and cultural variations. This study documents voice demands, voice needs, and vocal and nonvocal habits of professional newsreaders in Chennai, southern India through a questionnaire-based interview. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, case-control study design. METHODS: Forty-seven professional newsreaders and 47 non-newsreaders participated in the questionnaire-based interview that elicited information relevant to their profession and voice use. RESULTS: Majority of the newsreaders were not formally trained for newsreading. A significantly larger percentage of female newsreaders felt their jobs to be vocally demanding. Most newsreaders also had other full-time jobs that required a lot of speaking. Ninety-four percent of newsreaders consciously altered their voices while rendering news, and majority of them reported their voices to have changed considerably since they began newsreading. When compared with non-newsreaders, a significantly larger number of newsreaders were aware of voice problems, and many experienced some type of vocal technical difficulties. Seventy-seven percent of newsreaders took active measures to conserve their voice as opposed to non-newsreaders. Majority reported that sitting upright and erect while reading news helped produce the best vocal output for newsreading. CONCLUSIONS: The findings on voice needs and vocal and nonvocal habits among newsreaders in Chennai, India, provide valuable first-time information from this part of the world. These have potential application for voice professionals, voice trainers, and prospective aspirant newsreaders in developing strategies for voice care and in preventing voice problems.
