Who determines the correct way to pronounce an acronym if the creator never specifies (if the acronym can be pronounced in multiple ways)?

This is more to settle an argument between a buddy and I. There is a program we use that goes by the acronym PRDA (Personnel Records Display Application) which I pronounce as "per-duh" and my friend pronounces as "prah-duh". Most people will refer to it using the latter pronunciation but there has never been anything published that clarifies how it is supposed to be pronounced. Is the latter the more correct way to pronounce it since that is how most people refer to it, or is it just a matter of preference since it is ambiguously spelled?

Solution 1:

Even established English words have variant pronunciations. Medicine is a famous one - two syllables vs three.

If the acronym has a lot of consonants and no canonical pronunciation, you have some freedom to choose how you pronounce it.

What matters more is communication. So if an acronym is pronounced one way in the industry, or perhaps just by the practitioners in the area, and you don't have a strong reason to pick something else, then adopting the common pronunciation makes for less head-scratching. If you're not convinced, compare yum-ka with wye-em-see-ay.