The dumbing down of American English as a PR tool?

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/31/washington/31voice.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

"July 31, 2006
A Language to Air News of America to the World

By HOLLI CHMELA

WASHINGTON, July 29 ?- Voice of America, the government-sponsored news organization that has been on the air since 1942, broadcasts in 44 different languages ?- 45 if you count Special English.

Special English was developed nearly 50 years ago as a radio experiment to spread American news and cultural information to people outside the United States who have no knowledge of English or whose knowledge is limited.

Using a 1,500-word vocabulary and short, simple phrases without the idioms and clichés of colloquial English, broadcasters speak at about two-thirds the speed of conversational English. But far from sounding like a record played at the wrong speed, Special English is a complicated skill that takes months of training with a professional voice coach who teaches how to breathe properly and enunciate clearly.

Mario Ritter, a Special English writer and producer, arrived at Voice of America five years ago with many years of experience. Mr. Ritter has been training for six months to be a Special English broadcaster. In August, he said, he will be ready to go on the air live.

"It's kind of ironic that I normally speak slowly, but it doesn't give me a leg up in being a Special English broadcaster," Mr. Ritter said.

Shelley Gollust is chief of Special English at Voice of America. "People in this country have likely never heard of Special English," Ms. Gollust said, "and, if they have, they often don't understand the significance of it to people in other countries. They hear it and make fun of how slow it is."

A 1948 law prohibits Voice of America from broadcasting in the United States, but audio and text files of Special English are on the Voice of America Web site, www.voanews.com/specialenglish. ...."

More at the linked article.