The seder snafu is just another example of the lax state of broadcast training nowadays.
Once upon a time if you wanted to be a professional newsreader, you had bosses who would correct you... or at least hold announcer meetings to discuss things like names and words that are going to crop up, so you'd know in advance to pronounce them properly.
The CBC had the most rigorous training.
I've made the comparison before... what if you went to a doctor who said, "blood pressure?  I really am not sure how to do that." And as for this stethoscope..."
And speaking of Jewish mispronunciations, another common one is bah-NYE Brith instead of Bah-NAY Brith.


 

Saul wrote:

dieter wrote:

Another sign of decline at CTV Toronto. Passover is a major Jewish festival every year. It's mentioned by pretty much every media outlet -- often with the detail that the focal point is a ceremonial meal each of the first two nights. That meal is called a "seder," which is pronounced SAY-der. I guess Nathan Downer hasn't heard that in his lengthy career because on the Monday supper-hour newscast, he called it a "SEE-der" at least twice. Amateurish.

You're presuming a CTV announcer would use a Canadian accent. But SayDer is not how Jews from Alabama pronounce their festive meal. Anyhow, I gather last night's lead story was about Gefilte fish and its popularity prior to the Middle Ages with Catholics during Lent, when meat is verboten.
 

  1. This could not have been the first Passover story Nathan has read in his career.

2. You gather wrong.
 

Walter wrote:

Frankly, on the rare occasions that I put on CTV Toronto news at 6 these days, I get the impression that neither of the regular readers are particularly bright.  At least Mr. 'Toy Mountain' Dave Brown isn't around anymore to drag the IQ level even lower.

Tom Brown... but man I miss Dave Devall.

djwildbill wrote:

Forward Power wrote:

Walter wrote:

Frankly, on the rare occasions that I put on CTV Toronto news at 6 these days, I get the impression that neither of the regular readers are particularly bright.  At least Mr. 'Toy Mountain' Dave Brown isn't around anymore to drag the IQ level even lower.

Tom Brown... but man I miss Dave Devall.

I actually really liked Tom Brown and also Anwar Knight.   Don’t know why they got rid of them.    Maybe they were making too much $$.   I doubt it but Bell does crazy stuff.

It was likely $$$. Their current weather person, Jessica Smith, talks far too quickly. Just terrible.

Anwar Knight was on the Weather Network last I saw of him, but since they had the unfortunate hack attack, their weather on the 10's feature is now so bad, I haven't tuned in on any regular  basis, more just once a week to see if they have corrected it. 

dieter wrote:

Another sign of decline at CTV Toronto. Passover is a major Jewish festival every year. It's mentioned by pretty much every media outlet -- often with the detail that the focal point is a ceremonial meal each of the first two nights. That meal is called a "seder," which is pronounced SAY-der. I guess Nathan Downer hasn't heard that in his lengthy career because on the Monday supper-hour newscast, he called it a "SEE-der" at least twice. Amateurish.

It's actually worse. He mispronounced it on the noon show twice and repeated the error two times over on the 6 PM show. It means no one - not a single producer or anyone in the newsroom - corrected him on this in six hours. You'd think someone would have said something to keep it from happening again.