I equate it to the Mid-Atlantic (general) accent. That is, someone in LA sounds like someone in DC. Historically, it's interesting. The cities in the west were settled by people who came from the cities in the east. Education and cultural patterns are parallel.
Mid-Atlantic accent is pretty narrow these days. I'd say it stretches from Philly to Richmond, and DC to Columbus with the exception of Appalachia, Penn. Dutch, Tidewater VA. For the large part, Mid-Atlantic is an urban/suburban accent. As more of the country people move into the massively sprawling east coast suburbs, the Mid Atlantic accent is fading.
As the Beeb does with the Queen's English, Hollywood succeeds thanks to actors with generic and easy to understand American accents.
Also, thanks for using the thread I started up specifically for discussion of the front page article.
