ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, November 4, 1996 TAG: 9611040099
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA
SOURCE: ANNE GEARAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANNOUNCERS are usually partisan as well. The most popular pick one party and stick with it to avoid confusion.
That voice in political advertisements reassuring you that Senator So-and-so deserves your vote or persuading you that the senator's opponent is a bum probably believes the ad script.
Like the political consultants who produce them, most announcers who provide narration for the election year barrage of television and radio ads work only for one political party.
``I certainly think it helps if you agree'' politically with the candidate, said Mike Pengra, one of the leading Republican voices. ``Plus, the consultant makes it easy. The way the ads are written, it seems very clear that you've got the best guy.''
Pengra, who has done ads for presidential nominee Bob Dole, said narrating for one party also prevents the potentially sticky situation of the same voice touting opposing candidates.
Most of the thousands of political radio and TV ads produced in a presidential election year will be narrated by two dozen or so professional announcers, consultants said.
Pengra and other popular announcers record 30 or more spots a day in the thick of the season.
Political consultants have a stable of four or five announcers they trust, Democratic ad man Joe Trippi said. Picking from the list may be as simple as finding out who is available on a given day, although the qualities of a particular voice - age, register and especially gender - may come into play, Trippi said.
The announcer in a political ad usually sets the tone and gives the listener subtle cues. The idea is to be persuasive and invisible at the same time, Trippi said.
Lance Lewman said he is a bipartisan announcer because he hasn't been in the business long enough to turn down work.
Lewman recorded two youth-oriented spots for the Clinton campaign in 1992, but also has recorded for Republican candidates in local races in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
``It is easier for us because we are not as well-known,'' Lewman said of many younger, less experienced announcers. ``The people at the very top, they have to decide on a party and stay there. Otherwise they're in the same race on opposite sides. They do so many they can't keep track.''
His father, Larry Lewman, is one of the best-known Democratic announcers, and his mother, Nancy, also records only for Democrats.
``My parents have enough work that they can say no if they think the issue is not right,'' Lance Lewman said. Nancy Lewman will not narrate for anyone, Democrat or Republican, who does not favor abortion rights, Lance Lewman said.
Most of the announcers are based around the Washington area, although new recording technology makes it possible to do voice work from almost anywhere. Most also do what Lance Lewman calls ``civilian work'' in the off-season.
Some are actors. Pengra and others do narration for television. Some pitch cars or restaurants.
They are usually paid union scale, which means the fee is determined by the size of the audience that will hear the ad. Typical payments range from $200 for a small-market radio ad to $1,000 for a TV ad in a city the size of Washington, consultants said.
The most popular voices for political ads are male, although women announcers have made more ads this year than ever before, consultants said. A woman's voice narrates an ad for Dole questioning President Clinton's trustworthiness.
``The political consultants know that male voices are considered more effective,'' said June Speakman, a political science professor at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I. ``The male voice is the voice of God, and they are very reluctant to try something different.''
Speakman studied more than 1,000 TV ads from the 1950s through the 1992 presidential election and found women's voices were usually confined to ads about so-called women's issues. In 1992, less than 6 percent of ads used women's voices, she said.
``If you have a woman's voice, it's usually for a very specific reason. You want to talk to women in the ad,'' Trippi said.
Trippi's Alexandria firm produced a $5 million series of television ads for Virginia Democratic Senate candidate Mark Warner this year. The most negative ad featured an announcer who expressed regret that incumbent Sen. John Warner had become ``a typical politician'' after 18 years in Washington.
That ad's tone is in vogue this year, Pengra said. Harsher attacks, while effective, have fallen somewhat out of favor because voters find them distasteful, Pengra said.
``I think the operative word this year has been a more saddened voice,'' Pengra said. ```Gee, isn't it too bad that so-and-so is doing such terrible things. He's not a bad man, he's just misguided.''
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICSby CNB