Style Guides

I notice a lot of similarity in the style and delivery of the various pieces on NPR, especially among the more entertainment-oriented articles. This phenomenon--which is no doubt also true of content on PRI and other public broadcasting partners--is likely by design, intended to ensure quality and consistency of their standards.

For example, I often hear use of a trope in which a pair of words are stated and then restated in reverse. Thursday I heard the following during a piece on the Dallas Maverick's Western Conference NBA Finals victory over the Oklahoma Thunder:

In the just concluded Western Conference Finals, the oldest team in the NBA played the youngest - once you adjust for minutes played. Exciting basketball for sure, but also an interesting referendum on the age-old old age issue.

Friday I heard this in a review of Terrence Malick's film The Tree of Life:

The Tree of Life doesn't jell, but I recommend the experience unreservedly. You might find it ridiculously sublime or sublimely ridiculous — or, like me, both. But it's a hell of a trip.

Not sure, but this may be called epanados. I wonder how much of this standard-following is enforced from above, how much of it is self-regulating among peers, and how much of it comes from mechanisms of education.