First, I admit that this is a pretty obscure obsession – the voice of an NPR foreign correspondent, but I’m sure like many others, the voices on public radio have become familiar companions on my way to work each morning. My favorite (by far) is Eleanor Beardsley. Beardsley is NPR’s correspondent in Paris and has that best kind of southern accent – one that sounds warm and soothing while never losing the subtle irony and edginess of an intelligent speaker. Think of buttery bread pudding with rum sauce.
I really like the musical quality of her phrasing, with her intonation changing — sometimes surprisingly — without it sounding fake and pretentious. Here, I need to acknowledge that I seem to be in the minority on this point. When I was looking around the internets for information about EB’s background, I kept finding people complaining about how terrible her voice was. How could so many be so wrong?
I’ve saved for last the best of all — Eleanor speaking French in her South Carolina accent. What can I say except it doesn’t get any better than that.
So to her Neanderthal and undiscerning critics, I say — reconsider this unique talent. May I forever hear, “From Paris, this is Eleanor Beardsley.”
Smashey's Blog 
You are not alone, I too perk up when I hear Eleanor Beardsley’s NPR reports from France. I don’t have a “southern accent fetish,” but I love Eleanor’s accent. Very attractive voice.
Her voice is second only to Ofeibea Quist-Arcton
OMG, her voice is soooooo annoying. Especially when she speaks French, or ends a sentence with an R.
I love her voice because it’s unique. I like the way she sometimes sounds rather disgusted with the whole process of reporting. One of the smartest women in public radio.
I fall in love all over again every time I hear her voice as I did just this afternoon – D-day, from Normandy. I was born and raised in Texas, Dallas and Austin, and I can place a Texan’s accent by region. Her voice, my darlin’ Eleanor Beardsly’s voice, is so much more melodious, warm, and she balances seduction with beautiful writing and intelligent reporting. But that’s too nerdy a description…..She could read to me the recipe book and I’d be put at ease.
I’m with you 100%. I was shocked when I just googled her and the first suggestion after just her name was “eleanor beardsley annoying.”
I agree. Although I’ve heard her before, her report from Tunisia today was lucid, compelling, and delivered in intelligent Southern accent. As I commented, it’s good to hear Holly Hunter back on the air. (That’s a compliment.)
She makes everything sound like a silly joke. As if it is all about her and her weird sounds, not the actual news she is reporting.
She could dial it back – a lot – and still sound unique without sounding like she is mocking everything she reports on.
I agree completely. She has a wonderful voice with great melodic range and a charming gravelly low dig. Would love to hear her sing.
I find the flow of her tones absolutely annoying. Her reporting? Great. Her southern accent when speaking French? I wouldn’t be able to tell, as I speak Japanese. The actual tones of her voice are fine, but the way she ends her sentences makes me want to kick puppies…or grind my teeth into nothing.
The ends of her sentences are over exaggerated and absolutely, for lack of a better term, disgusting.
Eleanor Beardsley’s voice is admittedly unusual, but it is also wonderful. I’ll admit to being a francophile, but if you listen to the words she uses and to her diction, it becomes clear that hers is clearly one of NPR’s most intelligent voices. She shares this gift with Susan Stamburg and Scott Simon. And she gets to live in the world’s greatest city. You can’t beat that. Her reports from north Africa have been especially good. NPR otherwise has slid a long way since the 1970s when I started listening. Eleanor, just keep doing what you’re doing. We love you. You’re the best.
I HATE her voice and pronunciation. It’s the most irritating voice ever!
I HATE her voice and pronunciation. It’s the most irritating voice ever! — I couldn’t agee more! The hair stand up on my back when she comes on the radio. This woman would not be able to hold down a radio job in any other country – with some standards as far as radio! Please get her of the air!!! She can write, she can do whatever… just do’t let her open her mouth on radio with her utterly disrespectful, careless, irritating voice!
Well said! Add my name to your petition!
I agree – I can’t stand to hear her. It’s not her accent or pronunciation, it just sounds to me like she is FORCING the words out, like her throat has closed up or something. It actually makes my throat hurt to hear her!
Her voice & intonation sound affected to me – as if she’s trying on purpose to sound more like David Sedaris or Sarah Vowell. (I think she’d rather be a humorist than a foreign correspondent. She should give the correspondent job to someone else – lots of serious news to report from France, and I’m sure many reporters would love to do it.) I’ve noticed lately (2011 – 2012) that’s she’s been dialing her voice down a bit. Still, rather annoying.
Oh, I hate her voice as well. That nasally non stop auditory offense makes me want to turn the station at once. I mean no offense, but I do hope she is replaced someday soon.
I too have thought the same thing…I heard her in a relaxed interview about the new Burka laws in France and I was surprised to find that she sounds even better (and more Texan-like) in that atmosphere.
I agree, I think she has dialed it back a bit and it sounds SO MUCH better now. Her voice is not so irritating when she just talks normal, it is the FORCED aspect that I find so very irritating. I can make my voice sound that way and I irritated MYSELF when I imitated her. She just needs to relax and not try and create such a distinctive edge that she makes me want to turn off the radio every time she does a report.
I love her voice too! It’s such a welcome surprise from “normal” radio voices. And I like the intelligence and humor behind it. Her picture did not look like I imagined from her voice: sort of a dark-haired, plump, old-school teacher appearance.
Sorry to be the sour grape but I find the sustain she uses on certain words throughout her narratives extremely annoying. It’s as though she took the stereotypical radio voice and upped the cliche ante.
Every time I hear her, it reminds me of the Family Guy reporter stereotype Tricia Takanawa.
Her voice e is the essence of annoying. Her vowels are excruciating long and unnecessarily so. She was speaking about Libya and the rebels getting weapons, but instead used the word ‘arms’, but it sounded like aaaaaaaarms. No joke, the first vowel lasted more than a few seconds. And I just heard her say ‘acount’ like aaacooouuunt. Just sounds very pretentious and dumb. So many other good voices other than this lady.
Just stumbled upon this trying to find out where she’s from… I was surprised to learn it is SC.
I think the way she says Paaaaris sounds like she’s from the Northeast (PA, NJ, or NY).
I can just imagine her saying “I haad to go to Paaaris to see my faaaamily and my friend Laaary.”
Bahaha!! So funny. Although I am surprised to learn that she is from South Carolina because I would have placed here in the upper midwest iron belt (think Buffalo, NY/Detroit, MI, Cleveland, OH). The way she signs off is classic, Ill-in-er Beardsley from Paaaaris.
I found this page because I absolutely despise her voice, I’d rather listen to Stephen Hawking read the news underwater.
Haters gunna hate.
Eleanor has a fabulous voice and her reporting is the best! Her voice is “Paris”!
I love her voice too! It’s weird, I was just looking up info on her because I was really curious to see what she looked like. Kinda wish she was my age 😦 She has a very young sounding voice. But I found a lot of videos of her speaking french….she doesn’t have that same je ne sais quoi
Dear Lord, “the voice of Paris”? Parisian women sound like adults. Eleanor sounds like a sixth grader holding court at recess. Her mind may great, and she seems to love Paris, but her voice . . .
I think she sounds like a gargoyle. Her voice is so raspy, it’s distracting. As far as pretentious, I find that all NPR radio hosts are condescending in addressing their listenership.
Ms. Beardsley has the most annoying voice on NPR. Her nasal tones and dragging delivery are awful. I just turn the sound off until I think she has finished. I can’t imagine her speaking French!
I think her voice sounds kinda cool.
I agree. It grates to hear her with her southern accent. Even worse is her terrible French accent.
She is an embarrassment to NPR. NPR can do much better.
Southern? Don’t hear it at all. She sounds mentally disabled, and if not stop talking like that.
Add me to the fan club. Love the voice, and the smart reporting behind it.
can NOT stand her voice. found this blog because i searched for more info on just what kind of accent she has and where she went to school … so i never send my kid there.
I love it too. Nothing better than hearing her talk about Nicolas Sarkozy and “le rigeur.”
Eleanor Beardsley’s delivery is bizarre. You know that she does not speak in that absurd voice in normal conversation.
If only she would listen to the other NPR anchors and reporters. But maybe she does and she thinks that her delivery is distinctive and therefore justified? I am perplexed that NPR does not require her to get some training.
Her delivery is so distracting that it overrides the substance of her reports.
If I wanted to be bombarded with exaggerated vowels and a loud, preachy voice, I would listen to Fox News.
I do not understand why NPR allows her to plug into some melodramatic alter ego that talks like a bad cartoon character.
P.S. EB participates in a panel here: http://www.france24.com/en/20100522-en-world-week-bangkok-red-shirt-Iran-Reiss-Vakili-Rad-nucleaire-europe-crisis-austerity-part1
She speaks about half way into the clip. Using her normal voice, which is not offensive.
I love hearing her voice, though I never really thought about why. I just really enjoy it, so entertaining for my ears! I finally looked her up on the internet today, and found your blog. I am not surprised by the opposing responses, as her voice is so unique that a person would either love it or “hate” it. So, the ones who don’t like it can turn off their radios, and those of us who love it can enjoy it and smile!
Love Eleanor Beardsley’s voice! if I hear she has a report, I will stay in my car just to hear it!
Nails on a chalkboard. That’s how I describe Eleanor Beardsley’s voice. And I wouldn’t consider myself picky.
I have to agree with a post below: she draws out the ends of her sentences with what I can describe as a long drawn out, nasal, whine that makes me want to flog a kitten.
It made me want to look up if others despised her voice as much as I did, and ironically I came up on this blog. Ha! Oh well. I guess it just goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Ultimately, whether a person likes the sound of her delivery or not, her voice is a “reporting voice” and not her normal voice. It is this theatricality and disingenuousness that is offensive to my ear.
That her affected radio voice also triggers in me the puppy-kicking, kitten-flogging response is apparently a response not shared by everyone.
I can think of no other NPR reporter who assumes a counterfeit, theatrical delivery. The only thing comparable is Frank DeFord (commentator) who affects a bad amateur-theater delivery when letting us know what his alter ego the Sports Curmudgeon thinks.
That’s interesting because I’ve always been repulsed by Frank DeFord, too. I think I’ve nearly driven off the road more than once when his swarmy, “I’m slumming when I talk about sports other than sailing or horse racing” nonsense comes on my radio. For whatever reason (and I admit it’s just a gut reaction) I enjoy EB.
Thanks for your smart comment even though we see (hear) things differently on this one.
Totally love her voice and her reporting. She’s a national treasure, in my opinion.
A national treasure!? Well maybe some otter nation than the US.
I was taken away by her picture. She looks HOT! By listening to her, I thought she was an old crone with arthritic hands, a wrinkled face and about 70 years old. I would buy her a croissant any day.
Sorry, but to me her voice is like fingernails on the chalkboard. The whine and wide swing of inflections make me turn down the radio and sometimes change the station.
Absolutely captivating is how I would describe the wonders she can work with her voice. As a radio person I’ve developed a proclivity to carefully listen and analyze the spoken word. I fall in love every time she stretches and stresses her words along with a charming bit of gravel in her delivery and I mentally take myself to France. And yes, she is a beautiful lady. I could listen to her unique and masterful styling forever.
Robert Henrickson
East Nassau, NY
“a charming bit of gravel” … what a perfect description, and as a compliment 🙂
“Unique and masterful style” – yes, one could say that about Howard Cosell,
Dick Vitale and Tiny Tim as well.
I’m a member of the Eleanor Beardsley fan club too, but before she came along Joanne Silburner was my favorite NPR voice.
Au contraire! Both of them practically swallow words before they escape from the back of their throats. I suspect both may have slight cases of spasmodic dysphonia, which is VERY apparent on NPR in Diane Rehm’s voice. Another well-known person with this affliction is Robert Kennedy Jr.
Sorry, EB doesn’t get a medical pass. There are a few clips of her being interviewed where she speaks in a normal voice. So the sing-song delivery and tortured vowels when she reports are entirely voluntary and affected.
Hearing about the shootings in Toulouse, I cringed at the thought that NPR would be informing me on this issue through the carnival barking of Ms. Beardsley’s adopted radio voice. But perhaps the solemn nature of the matter will cause her to at least tone it down. We can hope.
Wow. I just heard Ms. Beardsley interviewed on ATC about the Toulouse shooting. And she talked in a normal, conversational voice.
There is hope….
Her voice is so GREAT! Its fun and serious and whimsical and intelligent all at the same time. For sure a welcome change from most reporters.
EB is the best on NPR. She is worth 100 Steve Innskeep! No BS. Just the facts and it is appreciated. She is one of the great journalist of our time (of course the bar is low- but she is heads above the rest)…..
Her theAAthrical intonations are aKIN to capitaliZAAAtion whilst TEEEExting or EEEEEmailing. Downright JUUUUUvenile.
YEEEAAAAASSSSSS inDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDuh.
When I first heard Beardsley’s voice a number of years ago I thought she was doing an Olive Oyl impersonation. “Oh POPeeeyyyyeee!” She sounds JUST like Olive Oyl. It is a bizarre and distracting intonation she uses.
Lorna put it exactly right: that it sounds as if Beardsley is mocking what she is reporting on, like with an “Oh BROTHER, here we go AGAIN” sound. “Nicholas SarkoZEE had another round of TALKS with his FInance ministers todaaaaaaay…”
The end of her sentences sound like a high revving electric motor winding down, or a spring bouncing after being released from tension.
That said, she is a very good reporter who really got my respect during her coverage of the revolution in Tunisia, and I have just started to notice that maybe she finally toning it “DOOOwwwnnnn…” a bit.
I find her voice irritating, especially the way she rides certain vowels. However, I find many of the young women who file reports on NPR even worse. There is a tendency among them to conclude words with a gravelly growl that reminds me of the worst days of the 1960s rock FM DJ tracheotomy voice: so laid back it is six feet under.
Eleanor Beardsley at her most subdued is worse than all the others combined. Recordings of her reports should be used as what-not-to-do examples in journalism/communications courses.
I am a North Carolinian living in Syracuse NY for over 25 years….and totally love Eleanor Beardsley’s voice. Just read up about her…..from SC huh? I was thinking maybe from Georgia. Whatever, I always enjoy her reporting….but most of all her wonderful voice (btw….I am also a Speech Pathologist)
Thanks for weighing in. I think it’s fascinating how polarizing something like our pleasure or discomfort with someone’s voice is.
Eleanor Beardsley’s sing-song phrasing and random emphasis of syllables makes her reports nearly unintelligible.
It is not her voice that is the problem, but her exaggerated regional accent that only someone from the south could appreciate. (I am a New Yorker and would not expect the rest of the country to appreciate a correspondent with an unadulterated New York accent.) It is interesting that Beardsley has been able to learn to speak French with a French accent, but has not been able to learn standard English pronunciation. She is smart, well-informed, articulate, but annoying to most of the English-speaking world!
The fact that we are here discussing her speaking her voice demonstrates the problem. Radio commentators should be noted for their content and not noticed for their speaking style. Whenever the delivery distracts from the content there is a problem. I fault NPR for not realizing this.
If this were her normal speaking voice, I would just assume that she was unable to respond to speech therapy. But since it is clearly her “radio voice” I agree that NPR should acknowledge the problem and either guide her corrective training or tell her to stop using the cartoon voice as a condition of continued employment at NPR.
Her reporting voice belongs on The Daily Show, not NPR.
I love listening to Elanor Beardsley. When I hear her I really stop what I am doing and pay attention. She is one of my NtPR favorite treats. Her delivery is distintive and delightful! NPR don’t change anything!
Yesterday, I happened to hear Beardsley when she called in to another NPR program to give a live report. I don’t understand the technology at NPR, but this sounded like a regular phone call rather than her usually previously recorded reports. On the phone call, her accent was so much toned down that at first I did not even realize it was Beardsley – quite pleasant to listen to. Apparently, when she gives her recorded reports she slips into an overly-enunciated, heavily-accented voice that so many people find distracting. The phone call reveals that she can do better on her recorded reports.
I find her voice surprisingly refreshing, unique, and interesting. It is an inimitable complement to her outstanding reporting.
It would be good if her voice were inimitable, as we could take comfort that she is Ted Baxter’s sole heir. I think, however, that her voice is quite imitable, to the point that even written imitation is quite easily done.
I, too, am in love with her voice. When she speaks French in that buttered grits accent I get fluttery inside.
That fluttery feeling is better known as nausea.
it’s worth distinguishing between voice and delivery. i’ve got no problem with the voice. the delivery is laughable, for the reasons already stated by the naysayers. i won’t pile onto that, but just to say that the voice itself is fine. although, honestly, it’s hard to decide which is more ridiculous, hers, or luisa lim’s, or the occasional npr effort to pedantically pronounce pakistan with unaspirated p, or greek names like papandreou with fricative d, while making no effort to pronunce mexico or france like the indigenes.
I prefer the sound of a dentist’s drill personally. I just heard her and decided to write to npr to let them know how much I hate that voice….when I found this “I love her voice” blog. The classic To Each his Own I guess. Though I wouldn’t dare ask you what music you listen to. I might have to kill myself.
To dare compare Ms Beardsley’s voice with Susan Stamburg! How diametrically opposed they are… Stamburg is like a warm kitty cat, while Beardsley makes me go in search of a chalkboard, so I can scratch my fingernails on it, just for aural relief! Granted, mine is not good, but I’m not on the radio.
Beardsley’s and Stamburg’s voices are different in sound, yet the same in the ability to annoy.
NPR seems not to care how irritating their correspondents sound on the air. I am all for political correctness, but when it comes to radio broadcasts, I do think that the manner in which correspondents speak is relevant. I realize that ones’ speaking manner or regional accent should not generally be a consideration in employment, but I do think it should be for radio broadcasting.
Does anyone know the best email address or forum to voice these grievances with NPR?
Absolutely the most annoying voice on NPR.
Well, perhaps. I would put Susan Stamberg at the top of the anoying NPR voices.
One of the many things I like about NPR is that they don’t require all of their on air people to have voice coaching to lose what makes them distinctly original. There are quite a few northeastern accents on the air and I don’t hear any complaining about them. Think about the Car Talk guys for instance. Whether you like the accent or not, I think she’s perfectly understandable and very good at what she does. I just listened this morning to her report on the situation in Algeria. There probably will not be better reporting in America on this situation.
Fred, I agree with you regarding having voices unscathed by the training process. It is nice to have unique voices. However, there is also a place for trained voices. I love NPR and listen to it every day. The do have professional voices as well as untrained voices. The have voices that are annoying. They have voices that are very good. They have people with speech impediments. They have a great mix. The fact is that if people did not find at least one of the on air talents annoying, I would be very surprised.
I love Eleanor Beardsley! For years I’ve listened to her unique voice and delivery with awe; wondering what she looked like. Only recently have I thought to Google her and I am not disappointed! What a many talented gal!! And she is one of the things that keep me from dropping my association with NPR. PS There is one voice on NPR whose beer bass tenor is excruciating. Can’t find out what his name is. He just does station break type inserts like “support for NPR comes from…”.
This is certainly an evergreen discussion! I am amazed by the volume of whiny, intolerant, narrow-minded critics posting here who apparently experience Ms. Beardsley’s voice and/or style of speaking as a personal affront to their otherwise serene, well-ordered lives.
Commenters “Will Creed” and “Lucia”, in particular, based on the sheer number and critical tenor of their posts, seem especially exercised that NPR doesn’t take some kind of action (presumably radio correspondent “re-education camp”) to strip Ms. Beardsley of her unique style that so irritates them.
“Lucia” in particular seems to made this a personal crusade. Her tone suggests a shadow of personal engagement somewhat deeper than simply another anonymous listener. Perhaps Ms. Beardsley stole her boyfriend—or maybe beat her out for the lead in their high school senior play.
In any case, Ms. Beardsley, nonpareil that she is, seems to me to be the perfect conduit to report on the French, who are well known to present a disturbing challenge to American cultural insularity.
Who’s next on the “hit list”? Sylvia Poggioli?
Mr. Black’s conjectures as to possible reasons for my point of view are as valid as if I were to suggest that his positive review of Ms. Beardsley’s reporting must be the result of money changing hands or sexual favors being given or the existence of a family relationship.
Black totally misses the point. NPR is a medium that is listened to and the listening quality of the commentators is highly relevant. The obvious Boston accent of the Car Talk guys is very much part of their persona. However, if they were reporting on world affairs from London or Paris they would be totally out of place, and yes I would complain. Sylvia Poggoli reports from locations in Europe where her accent provides some authenticity. Someone with a heavy Brooklyn or Jersey accent might do just fine reporting on Hurricane Sandy damage, but inappropriate reporting on events in Georgia or California.
Regional accents are fine when the are appropriate to the location. It is what we expect. But when the regional accent is a misfit for the region, it becomes a mismatch and a distraction for the listener.
I know that voice and he never says his name.
I like Eleanor’s voice. I always thought she sounded like a North Carolinian (Raleigh area), and have always appreciated her for it. Keep up the good work and know that some old boys at home can’t get enough of you!
I also love Eleanor’s voice! I always enjoy listening to her reports. At first I thought it was funny because it was so exaggerated and monotone, but now I love it.
Ms. Beardsley is on a par with Dick Vitale and Howard Cosell.
I hate how she sounds like she is really bored with her job or something. “Go fuck yourself, Paaaaris.”
LOL……I’ve noticed that sound in her delivery, but I still like her. She’s unique. 🙂
I do enjoy Eleanor’s reports, concise and practical. She gives a great understanding of the viewpoint from France. Being an ignorant Southerner myself it helps me to have someone that I can understand what she is saying. I hardly even hear her accent, I’m sure she has gone to great lengths to learn to speak more bland so those eloquent folks from up North know what she is saying. Thank you Eleanor.
As my son enters his teens, there are fewer and fewer ways we connect. Which is why I’ll always love Eleanor, whose southern-infused French accent for the way it draws my son and me together. On the ride to school we listen to NPR, it’s a great day when Eleanor’s voice fills the air. We laugh and lock eyes. Nothing is better
OMG. Beardsley’s voice is terrible! Her reporting has gotten better over the years. But she is no top notch reporter by a long shot. Some of her observations are rather amaturist. She does, however, cover some very interesting stories. I often wish that someone else was reading her stories because I have a tendency to turn off the radio or start immitating her voice in a mocking way. The times that I do hear her entire stories are when I’m listening to the radio while showering. At those times, I feel like I’m hopelessly trapped . Whe may be a very fine person. But her voice is extremely grating and her delivery is very amaturish. I wish her only the best. But I have to find a way to get her out of my shower.
I am sorry, but her voice is terrible! I just skip or turn off NPR is she is reporting on something. It’s so sad, because she usually reports on interesting things, but I just can’t stand to hear her voice.
I love her voice, never realized it was southern just thought it melodic. Was she french speaking English? American speaking French? I wasn’t sure, I just know I love the way she says” Eleanor Beardsley, Paris” and everything before.
I fall in love with the voice with each report.The voice communicates the necessary disdain due Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. Dry, acid it’s a voice that reflects a world seen by the eyes. I enjoy hearing about the French. It’s a culture that I feel happier knowing about. But I believe the culture requires scrutiny.
Let’s face it: Her voice is horrible. The rhythm of the speech is off putting, a weird mix of southerner and bad french. Not professional radio material. And they must have told her, as she has considerably changed accent and cadence over the past summer. She is really trying hard. Love the new Eleanor much better, at least i can listen to her and what she has to say without being distracted….ah, what a few hours of voice and diction class can do!
I live in Maine and love radio. Lenny Megliola of WEEI has a distinctive, raspy, Boston accent, odd, halting cadence which can descend to a fumble, then a stutter, but all of it combines to make him one of the great voices on radio. But E. Beardsley might be the very best: her voice suggests movement, crispness, it brings to mind the term con brio, with a poised, piquant purposive tension, which knows its’ echo- hold on the listener like Keith Jackson’s, Lindsey Nelson’s, but still it holds close to itself, and away, many details, so you just cannot stop listening. Eleanor is authenticity underlying intentional professional style to her radio character.
As opposed to: 1) Kai Risdal, the odious sing song conviction-devoid yuppie who needs some struggling contractor to give him an elbow in the ear; and 2) Diane Rehm, whose ego tells her she is irreplaceable after her disability has rendered unfit for the fundamental duties of her job, and changes her from an radio interrogator to something closer to a passive TV emcee.
Eleanor Beardsley has a southern accent? Really? Which hemisphere? I’d substitute accent with what the NYT refers to as the female vocal fry. I think NPR just keeps her on because people listen in wtf disbelief. Her vocal cadence and modulation fly in the face of conventional broadcast journalism. That’s fine with me. But does she have to sound like she stuffed expensive Brie and a $200 bottle of wine down her throat?
I am happy to see that I am not the only one that has feelings (mine are mixed now) about Eleanor Beardsley’s voice. I brought her voice up at work and, after listening to her online, my coworkers agreed that she does do something different. I think that her recent stories have been really great. She has added some stories about the French people and not just politics.
No one has questioned her content. It is her inappropriate regional accent that is in question. It is more than just “different.”
it’s the first time I googled someone because I loved the sound of her voice. The rhythm and tone are no-nonsense. Listening to her made me want to meet her.
More like nails on the chalk board
Where are you people getting any hint of southern in that god-awful, nasally pseudo-franco accent? She sounds exactly like Tricia Takanawa, the Asian cartoon news reporter on The Simpsons! I fully suspect that character’s voice was modeled on Beardsley’s ear-piercing drone. Now that I’ve chosen that word, I realize that’s exactly what Beardsley’s voice reminds me of – the drone note of a bagpipe. I’ve lived in The South almost all my life and I’ve never met anyone down her who sounds remotely like Eleanor Beardsley. Certainly no one from SC, where I’ve actually lived.
I love her voice! But, I admit I’m shallow. She’s smart. But, I always picture a sad, cartoon bird holding a microphone, with the other wing half-heartedly gesturing to the scene she’s describing.
I think Eleanor’s delivery is wonderful. Somehow, the phrase “Cute as a button” springs to mind whenever I hear her reports. I wasn’t at all surprised to learn that she’s from South Carolina; she’s sort of got that southern finishing school mojo going on. A little creepy to learn that she worked for Strom Thurmond though . . .
Oh, and her reporting is thoughtful, intelligent and engaging. That’s nice too.
I like Ms. Beardsley’s voice and her journalistic style. She must live an interesting life.
I never realized that Eleanor Beardsley could evoke such strong emotions, though, now that I think about it, I LOVE HER VOICE!!! She is also a very intelligent and insightful reporter.
This is obviously an attempt by NPR or perhaps Eleanor herself to make it look like there are people who enjoy her voice. There are not. It’s a nasal screeching vocal fry. Please get off my radio. You can’t drink enough coffee to power thru listening to that voice.
Eleanor Beardsley’s voice is irritating and affected and I turn off the sound when she reports but Zoe Chace for NPR’s Planet Money is even worse!! It is excruciatingly bad; nails-on-a-chalkboard is a more melodious sound. The inflection, pronunciation, and vocal fry are an affront to the ears. Noise pollution personified. I love NPR but please get your people proper training or take them off the air.
Seriously obnoxious voice, cornpone with pretension. No no no.
I absolutely love to listen to Eleanor. Hearing her say ‘arrondismont’ or Francois Hollande (pardon the spelling – French wasn’t my best subject) would be the highlight of a newscast. I don’t care what the others say – she’s fabulous.
Love her voice. Sounds like a younger Bailey White which brings with it sweet memories.