title: Voice Needs and Voice Demands of Professional Newsreaders in Southern India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Newsreaders are elite vocal professionals who are highly dependent on their voice quality to meet professional commitments. Globally, the voice needs and demands of newsreaders could vary depending on technology and cultural variations. This study documents voice demands, voice needs, and vocal and nonvocal habits of professional newsreaders in Chennai, southern India through a questionnaire-based interview.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, case-control study design.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-seven professional newsreaders and 47 non-newsreaders participated in the questionnaire-based interview that elicited information relevant to their profession and voice use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Majority of the newsreaders were not formally trained for newsreading. A significantly larger percentage of female newsreaders felt their jobs to be vocally demanding. Most newsreaders also had other full-time jobs that required a lot of speaking. Ninety-four percent of newsreaders consciously altered their voices while rendering news, and majority of them reported their voices to have changed considerably since they began newsreading. When compared with non-newsreaders, a significantly larger number of newsreaders were aware of voice problems, and many experienced some type of vocal technical difficulties. Seventy-seven percent of newsreaders took active measures to conserve their voice as opposed to non-newsreaders. Majority reported that sitting upright and erect while reading news helped produce the best vocal output for newsreading.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings on voice needs and vocal and nonvocal habits among newsreaders in Chennai, India, provide valuable first-time information from this part of the world. These have potential application for voice professionals, voice trainers, and prospective aspirant newsreaders in developing strategies for voice care and in preventing voice problems.
authors.affiliation: Wickramarachchi Institute of Speech & Hearing, Kandy, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Nishanthi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gunasekaran
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, India. Electronic address: praxb77@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Prakash
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boominathan
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, India.
authors.forename: Jayashree
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seethapathy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006184:Habits; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007587:Job Description; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D016272:Occupational Health; D009790:Occupations; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011845:Radio; D012307:Risk Factors; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D013060:Speech; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013690:Television; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D014833:Voice Quality; D000066477:Work Performance
keywords: Newsreaders; Nonvocal habits; Vocal habits; Vocal practices; Voice care