Wednesday, March 05, 2003

More CBS Wingnuttery
According to Elizabeth Jensen in the LA Times, Fake accent for 'voice' of Hussein? :
Steve Winfield is a listed member of the Screen Actors Guild and, according to the owner of the "Fabulous Voices" Web site on which he once appeared, a translator with a particular flair for foreign accents.

Last week, for 17 million TV viewers, he was also the voice of Saddam Hussein during Dan Rather's exclusive CBS News interview of the Iraqi leader. Apparently putting on an Arabic accent, Winfield -- who spoke with a seemingly everyday North American accent when he talked briefly to a reporter this week -- read Hussein's answers to Rather's questions.

The translation was "100% accurate," CBS News said in a statement, describing Winfield as one of four translators it hired. The accent, CBS said, was meant to provide "a voice compatible with the piece." A network spokeswoman said Winfield was supplied by a translation service; she said she does not know whether Winfield in fact speaks Arabic.
In a word: Why?