In reply to:

Part of this trend is due to actors and broadcasters being encouraged to "lose" their accents and practice "clear" diction and enunciation...


This may be the case in the US, but the BBC seems to be encouraging the use of regional accents by its newsreaders. None of the accents I hear from the presenters on its world TV service are particularly hard to understand despite the considerable variety.

Bingley



Bingley