Whither the Southern Accent? (Not Really)

COMMENTARY
The story below seems to say there is a decline in a regional Southern accent in American english. The writers obviously haven't reported any news from ground zero of the Katrina disaster or spent any time in the Gulf states. So much for their ignorance. The real Southern accent is alive and very well in L.A. (Make that lower Alabama as the natives call it.) I was juz a-thinkin' y'all shud know.

NEWSBYTE
Whither the Southern Accent?
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- "Y'all" isn't welcome in Erica Tobolski's class in voice and diction at the University of South Carolina. And forget about "fixin'," as in getting ready to do something, or "pin" when talking about the writing instrument.

Tobolski's class is all about getting rid of accents, mostly Southern ones in the heart of the former Confederacy, and replacing them with Standard American Dialect, the uninflected tone of TV news anchors that oozes authority and refinement. Read full story. Updated link.

TENSION: Drawn out
GRAVITY: Southern

Tags: News, Gulf Coast, Hurricane, South, Southern, Alabama, Georgia, Carolina, Louisiana, New Orleans, Mississippi