Just fielded a phone call in the Radio Iowa newsroom from the 202 area code. The young woman on the other end of the line wanted to tell me about an event she’d like Radio Iowa to cover in "duh-MOYNZ" tomorrow.
Des Moines is pronounced duh-MOYN. The "s" is silent.
The event the flack was promoting? A news conference featuring Des Moines residents Mary Campos and State Representative Wayne Ford who intend to "urge" the presidential candidates to address America’s high school dropout rate. Campos and Ford, by the way, are two of the organizers of the Brown and Black Forum in Des Moines on Saturday night which will feature the Democratic presidential candidates.
About O.Kay Henderson
Kay is a founding member of the Radio Iowa network newsroom. In 1994, she became the network’s news director. She’s a featured reporter and commentator on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” and the 2002 recipient of the Shelley Award.
I am not from Iowa–but I have heard of these two. Apparently they are planning to stack the deck–fill all the empty chairs at the December Iowa debate with: get this: CLINTON SUPPORTERS.
Clinton supporters who will boo and cheer, just like in Vegas, and generally ruin a decent opportunity to hear from everyone and discuss the ‘slight’ differences in the issues.
I think it is amusing that the introduction to your news conference focused on a simple mispronunciation. It is obvious that the way you chose to present your topic at hand was a poor choice. Took away the importance of the subject at hand.