re: Are TV and other media outlets slowly destroying Southern accents?

I found it interesting that most people at LSU don't have pronounced southern accents. Perhaps because New Orlenians don't either because of its metropolitan history.

I love a southern accent.

People dig it. I'll often ham it up a bit

The Southern accent is neutralizing while the Midwestern accent is becoming more pronounced. Also, a new West Coast accent has emerged.

LINK

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Higher education waters down backwoods accents.

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Boarding school princelings have a very practiced southern accent. (Think Al Gore.)

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I recently watched some old home movies from 30 years ago and it seemed like the accents of my family members were more pronounced than today. Maybe it was just the recording medium. But I still have to wonder if our more connected world endagering or even eliminated some of the traditional Southern dialects and accents?

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I think you are right. My kids grew up in Tyler, Midland and Houston Texas and neither have any accent. When I listened to their friend I thought it was interesting that they didn't have accents either. I think throwing a bunch of kids from different backgrounds who's parents come from a variety of places kills the accent. Living back in East Texas the older folks have ETX accents but the younger folks don't. Enough from me and yes, I worked in the oil patch.

They’ll never be able to do a real Cajun accent. They can sort of do a nola Yat but it’s still kind of bad.

Yes it is, IMHO.

But, this is a natural process that occurs as mass media and mass communications connect everything and everyone.

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New Orleans Natives have their own distinctive accent which sounds much like that of New York/New Jersey, but with a southern drawl on certain words as in "Nawlins"

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Most certainly.

Saying that higher education affects people's accents is probably true. However, it's interacting with new people who are different that causes it, not influence by faculty.

My accent drew attention, not in a good way, and I changed it over time. I did not expect that to happen in my own state. I know many other people who also changed their southern accents dudd to ridicule, effectively.