Language, Accents & “Code Switching”

By Tucker Ives

NPR’s Code Switch logo.

NPR is launching a new race, ethnicity, and culture blog called “Code Switch.” You may have heard Colin McEnroe reference it during fundraising segments this morning.

The term “code-switching” is originally linguistic and it’s described as “mixing languages and speech patterns in conversation.” Here’s how NPR’s Gene Demby introduces readers to code-switching. 

So why is this the name of a blog on race, ethnicity and culture?

We decided to call this team Code Switch because much of what we’ll be exploring are the different spaces we each inhabit and the tensions of trying to navigate between them. In one sense, code-switching is about dialogue that spans cultures. It evokes the conversation we want to have here.

This reminded me of a conversation we had on Where We Live back in 2010 with the great linguist, David Crystal. He joined us to talk about his book A Little Book of Language and we focused on the linguistic aspect of code-switching (although I don’t think we called it that).

Crystal has a very noticeable accent and John Dankosky asked him where it comes from:

Sounds a lot like code-switching, right? As you probably know, JD is a native of Pittsburgh and every now and then you can hear the accent. It is especially noticeable when he’s talking to someone else from Pittsburgh, like WNPR host Lucy Nalpathanchil:

This may not fit exactly into “code-switching” since both JD and Lucy are from Pittsburgh. But it is a very noticeable change in speech from how they normally talk today so hopefully it illustrates how our speech can change.

I’ll leave you with one last gem from David Crystal. He says people of every language engage in baby talk. Adults generally speak very differently to babies than they do with other adults.

 

NPR’s Folkenflik Headlines Where We Live Special Event

David Folkenflik

Lifting The Veil: Journalism, Uncovered

Tuesday March 29, Founders Hall

Central Connecticut State University

New Britain, CT

Journalism is changing.  We know that.  But how are journalists managing that change?  ”Lifting The Veil” is a conference meant to uncover some of these secrets, and present new ideas about the news business.  These conversations will be recorded for WNPR’s award-winning news/talk show Where We Live in front of a live audience at Founders Hall at Central Connecticut State University, Tuesday March 29.  On the agenda:

• A prominent political figure grills political reporters (how’s it feel now?)
• New media organizations team up on high-quality, investigative journalism
• An influential national reporter covers one of the toughest beats: The media

1:45 – 2:45 p.m. – Ned Lamont Turns The Tables
Since 2006, businessman and CCSU professor Ned Lamont has been in the political spotlight.  As an upstart challenger to Senator Joe Lieberman, he rallied an online base of support that allowed him to beat Lieberman in the Democratic primary, and barely lose that seat to the Senator in November.  In 2010, he ran a tight race for the Democratic nomination for governor.  All along the way, he had to face tough questions from the capitol press corps, local and national talk show hosts, bloggers and thousands of others.  Now, he’s asking the questions of some of the political journalists who’ve been grilling him for years: Dennis House, WFSB anchor and host of Face The State; Mark Pazniokas, chief political reporter for The Connecticut Mirror; and John Dankosky, Robert C. Vance Endowed Chair in Journalism and Mass Communication at CCSU, and news director of WNPR.  For the hour, Dankosky turns the microphone of his talk show Where We Live over to Lamont, as he gives the media a taste of its own medicine.

3:00 – 4:00 p.m. – Partnership: A New Model For New Media
We’ve been hearing for years about the chronic struggles of newspapers and the proliferation of so called “new media” sources of journalism.  As one outcome of this change, the traditional competition for stories between papers has given way to a new era of cooperation.  By pooling resources and working together, these upstarts are making a real impact, informing the community, and driving the discussion in collaboration with newspapers.  Where We Live’s John Dankosky talks with a panel of innovators who are forming partnerships to present insightful and investigative journalism of the highest order (while maintaining a healthy sense of “competition”). Mike Webb, director of communications for ProPublica, an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in partnership with organizations like NPR and The Los Angeles Times; Jim Cutie is CEO and publisher of The Connecticut Mirror, an online site covering state politics that’s building partnerships and readership by filling a hole in public policy journalism;  Lynne DeLucia is a former editor of the Hartford Courant, who is now editor of C-HIT, the Connecticut Health Investigative Team, which provides in-depth journalism on issues of health and safety, in Connecticut and the surrounding region; and Doug Hardy, co-founder of the Independent Media Network, a venture designed to share content and provide advertising revenue to help locally-owned news and commentary websites in Connecticut.

7:00 – 8:00 p.m.  - NPR’s David Folkenflik
David Folkenflik is media correspondent for NPR.  His reports offer insight into the operation of the media amid tectonic shifts in the industry and cast light on figures who help shape the way the news business works.  Geraldo Rivera of the Fox News Channel once described Folkenflik as “a really weak-kneed, backstabbing, sweaty-palmed reporter.” Others have been kinder. The Columbia Journalism Review, for example, gave him a “laurel” for his reporting that immediately led the U.S. military to institute safety measures for journalists in Baghdad.  And, recently he was named to The Wire “50 Most Influential People in the Media.” In choosing David, The Wire cited the consistent quality of his reporting on shows like Morning Edition and All Things Considered, his insightful Twitter feed and how he “admirably” handled covering his own employer during the Juan Williams debacle.  His thought-provoking stories often spark debate and chatter, especially his rumination on the value of journalism school today, his two-part series looking at ideology in the media, and his coverage of how new media has influenced revolutions in the Middle East. Poynter has also praised David’s use of Twitter, showing how he uses a series of tweets to summarize and contextualize breaking news.  Folkenflik will talk with WNPR’s John Dankosky about these and other issues on Where We Live, and he’ll take questions from the audience.

Presented by WNPR’s Where We Live and The Robert C. Vance Endowed Chair in Journalism and Mass Communication at Central Connecticut State University, in partnership with The CCSU Journalism Department, The Arts & Sciences Public Policy Committee, and the student chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists.

Healy Hyperbole Over Public Broadcasting Reaches High Point

by John Dankosky – It’s been another bad week for NPR.  A top fundraiser gets caught in an “ambush” video.  The CEO resigns. Jon Stewart mocks the network, and not just for the gaffe that fuels the fire of those who want to de-fund public broadcasting, but for not “fighting back” against those who want to take it down.

The whole episode has left some of the network’s top journalists “appalled,” and many of us at member stations embarrassed – and answering a lot of questions.

But, as much as NPR seems to be doing to mess up on its own, many of those who “pile on” seem to think it’s just fine to make up numbers and facts completely to prove their case.  For instance, here’s a Facebook post by Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Chris Healy:

Really?  First of all, the local NPR station is called WNPR, not CPTV.  CPTV describes a television station, and it’s actually pretty easy to tell the difference.  (Hint: The letters “TV” give it away)

So, what is our subsidy?  According to WNPR and CPTV’s parent company Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Inc., WNPR gets no state operating funding at all.  CPTV gets an average of about $500,000 in bonding money from the state.

That’s pretty far short of $3.3 million, Chris.

But I’ll be charitable.  Perhaps he meant to reference all of our funding, y’know the enormous chunk we get from the federal government and the under-siege Corporation For Public Broadcasting.   Well, turns out that number for CPBI is around $1.9 million, and almost all of that is to support our television operation (which is quite a bit more expensive enterprise than radio).  WNPR itself gets only about $300,000 of that CPB support.

But really, who wants the facts?

By the way, I found the good chairman’s comment embedded in a blog post by our friend and occasionally grumpy NPR lover/hater Rick Green.  Rick is a devoted listener and paid member, and never shies away from speaking his mind about the station he supports.  And that’s what it’s all about.

But I do have some bad news for him.  When he writes: “I can’t stand their constant fundraising” and later writes “I also agree with the bloggers out there who are saying NPR would be better off without government funding” he sets up a little quandry for himself.

If he gets his second wish, I can almost assure you that gripe #1 isn’t gonna get better soon.

I do appreciate that he’s got the checkbook out once again, though.  Mug or totebag, Rick?

New Haven’s Union Station Board Making Last “Clickety-Clacks”

by John Dankosky - WNPR’s Diane Orson reports this morning for Weekend Edition Sunday on the demise of the “Solari” information board at New Haven’s Union Station.  The clickety-clack of the classic train station message board is being replaced by efficient, technologically-advanced, and boring LED screens.  We first heard about this first from The New Haven Independent, and “Save Solari” organizer Rich Hanley of Quinnipiac University and Faith Middleton’s “Politics Burgers and Beer.”

As several writers commenting on the Independent’s story make clear, the fate of “Solari” might not be one of our state’s (or the city’s) burning issues. But, as New Haven knows better than any city, preserving architectural history and uniqueness is something that is easily dismissed today, but difficult to recapture later.

Winter Hype Machine Activated at NPR

Local TV news outlets aren’t the only ones getting apocalyptic about this weekend’s snowfall.  NPR is getting ready, too.  You’ll see why in this AP note:

Forecasts called for up to 20 inches of snow across the region, including Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and reaching up to New York. About 16 inches fell west of Charlottesville, Va., the National Weather Service said.

Snowplows cleared the runway at Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Washington as President Barack Obama returned from climate talks in Copenhagen after the snow had started falling. The White House said Obama rode in a motorcade back to the White House, instead of taking his helicopter, because of the conditions.

20 inches of snow is news here…but we’re used to it.  20 inches of snow in DC shuts down the world.  (“Obama couldn’t take his helicopter!”) Listen for breathless coverage on NPR this weekend (including some from Connecticut)!

“Political Junkie” on Lieberman

We’ve asked – repeatedly – to get Senator Lieberman on Where We Live in recent weeks.  No better time than the present, but still waiting.  NPR’s Ken Rudin has a good synopsis of the latest on our junior Senator on his “Political Junkie” blog.

Meanwhile, the liberal blogs in Connecticut are none too pleased with Joe.