There's no such thing as a 'British' accent

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

Today's horrible news about the apparent death of a US journalist is not being improved for me by the chronic news reports pointing out that one of the people responsible had a 'British' accent. It's bad enough when American networks use the meaningless expression. The man has an 'English' accent, surely?

Cog, I have a lot of respect for you as a regular poster, but this thread is in very poor taste. I can see the point you are making, but this is not the time to be making it.

funnyossity (love that, reminds me of DM who used to tell me i was one, most of the time) investigators will indeed need to narrow the accent down to be able to investigate fully.

However, the ops gripe is with news networks reporting the accent as British. They should do. They cannot afford to narrow it down based on amateur guesswork. It could be catastrophically misleading.

Bowlersarm to be fair to OP the Telegraph website did narrow it down quite quickly, it really didn't take top forensics tbh.
BBC Radio were poor on this imo. They said accent was perhaps Southern English or Midlands at one point. It did make me (yet again) doubt the calibre of their reporting tbh. So against the rest of the posters on this thread I do get the point OP is making.

It is important to try to identify this murderer, because he is an unapologetic murderer who has threatened to murder other hostages in his custody.

Whether he was the one who did it, or he merely boasted about it, makes no difference now. He is implicated in a murder.

It's not a legitimate execution sanctioned by a state on an international court; it's not an act of war by one soldier on another in battle, it's the murder of a helpless prisoner.

The man had a London/SE accent with an inflection that I identify as being as from an Asian background - probably Pakistani or Bangladeshi. I imagine the security services will be all over it. What they might be able to do about that is limited, but why should it be wrong to try to pinpoint it and report it as such?

It's not an episode of Crimewatch but at the same time, who does it hurt? Maybe by broadcasting his voice, someone might recognise it.

Do you not think it's appropriate to do everything to bring to justice the person who has murdered an innocent man and then boasts about doing it to other innocent prisoners?

I meant or an international court

but at the same time, who does it hurt?

Who does it hurt to refer to his accent as British?

Do you not think it's appropriate to do everything to bring to justice the person who has murdered an innocent man and then boasts about doing it to other innocent prisoners?

Precisely zero people have said anything of the sort.

Because it appears to be a London accent or one of the wider South East that one which appears to be influenced by a particular ethnic background. Why does it bother you to admit that?

It is what it is.

now that the accent has been identified by experts, it is indeed relevant, and it's fine to mention it.

before we knew that? it was only guesswork, and inaccurate one at that (I didn't see anyone mention the hint of possible ethnic background before it was pointed out by the experts). So better for the journalists to stay general until they actually knew what they were talking about.

Do you not think it's appropriate to do everything to bring to justice the person who has murdered an innocent man and then boasts about doing it to other innocent prisoners?

Precisely zero people have said anything of the sort

Erm owlcapone

Speaking of accuracy.... he is not 'wanted for murder'. No one has any idea who he is yet or who might have jurisdiction, no charges have been filed anywhere, etc.

It is being called murder by Obama and Cameron and if they have not filed charges they and other political leaders are assiduously trying to find this murderer.

I'd argue most people by now call someone who forces a terrified prisoner to make a speech and then cuts off his head a murderer at the very least.

What do you call someone who would subject another human being to that? Or dreamingbohemian who was the person who posted that?

Saying it's English is the same as saying it's British. It is an accent that is found in Great Britain.

Now, if it was (one) a Scottish accent, and they said it was an English accent, then they would be unreasonable.

At this point, I'd be more worried that the person seems to have come from GB, rather than what they call the accent.

Yes, I think he's a murderer. But 'wanted for murder' means that some legal entity has filed charges and is actively seeking to bring him to court. If he's, for example, a Pakistani citizen on ISIS territory, the UK and the US have no jurisdiction. Having a British accent doesn't mean he's a British citizen.

I only mentioned it because you were going on about being a journalist and how important accuracy is. I think 'wanted for murder' is not accurate.

Of course I think he should be brought to justice but that's not likely going to happen. I don't expect he'll be alive much longer though.

When American's say British accent they do actually mean English accent. I have never heard a Scottish accent being described as a British accent.

At this point, I'd be more worried that the person seems to have come from GB, rather than what they call the accent.

I agree. It's perfectly legitimate to report this as "British" first and foremost. The precise geographical location isn't relevant.

Brabra I've never had anyone other than London taxi drivers identify my accent as Scottish. I've had it called English or British but apart from London cabbies furth of UK , not Scottish.