News Translation and News Translators
پرستو دری منش
1
(
Ph. D. Candidate in TEFL
Department of Foreign Languages, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
)
سید وحید عقیلی
2
(
Department of Communication and Media, Central Branch, Islamic Azad University,
Tehran, Iran.
)
فردوس آقا گل زاده
3
(
Department of Linguistics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Visiting Professor
Department of Foreign Languages, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
)
الکلمات المفتاحية: News Translation, Attributes of news translators, global/international news, news translation process, news translators, teaching news translation,
ملخص المقالة :
AbstractThis article surveys the process of news translation, the role of news translators in this process and the skills, knowledge, and attributes necessary for them with the aim of establishing an understanding of the nature of news translation. It is also intended to ascertain whether news translation university courses are adequately designed and delivered in consonance with the requirements of the profession. To achieve this, 12 journalist-translators working for eight news agencies in Iran were invited to participate in this study. Through in depth interviews and a Likert scale questionnaire, some questions were put to the interviewees, the responses to which indicated that news translation process consists of five major steps, very much common to all agencies. However, who are the actors, what happens in between the steps, and where do news translators stand in this process all depend on the news agency’s policies and the competencies of the translators. The interviewees also identified a total of 31 traits as the necessary attributes of competent news translators. Finally, in regard to the relevant university programs, the experts had a unanimous negative opinion and believed that the programs are due for major revision. It is expected that examining these issues will illuminate some under-attended aspects of news production and make a constructive contribution to development of news translation syllabuses and design of the courses taught in journalism and media colleges and universities.
NEWS TRANSLATION AND NEWS TRANSLATORS
This article surveys the process of news translation, the role of news translators in this process and the skills, knowledge, and attributes necessary for them with the aim of establishing an understanding of the nature of news translation. It is also intended to ascertain whether news translation university courses are adequately designed and delivered in consonance with the requirements of the profession. To achieve this, 12 journalist-translators working for eight news agencies in Iran were invited to participate in this study. Through in depth interviews and a Likert scale questionnaire, some questions were put to the interviewees, the responses to which indicated that news translation process consists of five major steps, very much common to all agencies. However, who are the actors, what happens in between the steps, and where do news translators stand in this process all depend on the news agency’s policies and the competencies of the translators. The interviewees also identified a total of 31 traits as the necessary attributes of competent news translators. Finally, in regard to the relevant university programs, the experts had a unanimous negative opinion and believed that the programs are due for major revision. It is expected that examining these issues will illuminate some under-attended aspects of news production and make a constructive contribution to development of news translation syllabuses and design of the courses taught in journalism and media colleges and universities.
Keywords: Attributes of news translators, global/international news, news translation, news translation process, news translators, teaching news translation
Introduction
News media brings to the public what happens in the world. This role of the media is especially useful when audiences lack direct experience or knowledge of the occurring events. In such cases, they usually tend to rely particularly on the media for obtaining information. As Lippman (1921) stated, the media is the most significant means of making connections between the public and the unseen environment. In this process of news dissemination, translation plays a decisive role. As a matter of fact, news agencies these days can be viewed as huge translation agencies with the task of translating vast amounts of information quickly and at the same time reliably. Translation as Bielsa and Bassnett (2009) believe intervenes from the outset in the process of news gathering, and is often the starting point for international journalists in writing about a foreign reality. Therefore, translation is of great importance in news production and forms an inherent part of journalistic works of writing up and editing. It is done to facilitate the flow of communication between different cultures and to reach audiences across the globe quickly and efficiently (Bielsa, 2007), and in doing so, news translators play the crucial role of transforming the source text and creating a target text with a significantly different content. This transformation is done through a process not much different from that of editing which entails checking, correcting, modifying, polishing up and preparing news texts for publication, indicating that news translation is more complicated than knowing the literal meaning of words and having knowledge of grammar and requires expertise and experience on part of the translator. As a matter of fact, news translation is part of the gatekeeping process which along with trans-editing (a term coined by stetting, 1987) is a widely used operation when journalists communicate news from one side of the world to the others (Cheeseman et al., 2010).
In brief, news translation is a complicated matter and should be treated as such. However, this is not the case, and despite the fact that translation constitutes an absolutely indispensable part of news production process and that most news writing depends on language transfer to some degree, its nature and realities remain unrevealed to many of us. Please note that some research has been conducted to investigate how the original news text is “restructured, shaped, transformed or even merged with other news sources into a different target text that better suits a different linguistic, cultural and geographical context” (Troqe & Marchan, 2017, p. 278) but most of these studies have mainly focused on the product of news translation and not the process. Particularly, the position, duties and qualities of news translators, the often invisible gatekeepers, have not been receiving the attention they deserve. Consequently, many of us lack a clear understanding of the features and place of news translation and news translators in the production of international news. The adverse effect of this negligence can be seen in the educational programs designed for journalism and news translation courses at universities and colleges. Moreover, Generally speaking, there is a lack of sufficient understanding of news translation not only on part of the students, but also some of the instructors of news translation and syllabus designers as well, an aftermath of which can be seen in news translation syllabuses, teaching and learning practices.
The personal experiences of the researchers indicate that news translation programs in Iran do not satisfy the actual demands of the real world market, and this belief is supported by the findings of some studies such as that of Molanazar and Kamyab’s (2014, p. 209) signifying that “there is no consistency between academic courses and market demand in media field”. The researchers believe that the prerequisite to training competent news translators is a careful examination of the requirements of the profession and adapting the current training programs and syllabuses offered at universities, accordingly.
Furthermore, as deficiency in skill and knowledge of translators can vastly impact their news translation work, teaching the fundamentals of news production process, the role of news translation in this process, the distinctive features of news translation and factors affecting it is vital. By this, it becomes possible to guide the news translation students towards the process of becoming qualified news translators for the real world work-places.
In this study, four research questions were formulated with the aim of raising awareness of news translation process as it is actually practiced in the real world. Furthermore, it was intended to reveal the significant role and attributes of proficient news translators as gatekeepers in this process and to discover who decides what news is published or broadcasted and who gives the final approval. In addition, since improvement of related educational programs is a desired goal, the last question is dedicated to the quality of related university programs in Iran. To attain the goals of the study, the following research questions were developed:
1) What is the process of news translation?
2) What is the role of news translators in the process of news production?
3) What attributes should a news translator poses?
4) Are university programs of news translation designed and delivered based on the real requirements of the profession?
In the discussion of the findings from the interviews and questionnaire, the above research questions will be addressed in details.
Methodology
This study1 inspects the research questions through a Likert scale questionnaire and in-depth interviews, with the purpose of advancing our knowledge and insight into news translation process and the related issues. Any search for realities should be done by taking into consideration the users and the main directions of the study including the fundamental, applied and developmental directions. Given the audience of this study and the fact that it intends to uncover what goes on behind the scenes of international newsrooms, this study becomes an applied type of research. Moreover, since this study aims to create a comprehensive image of news translation and tries to reveal the unknowns of news translation, it falls into the category of exploratory studies. In addition, in terms of time and its nature and method of data collection, it can be classified as a cross-sectional study. In this study, which is a qualitative one, first the literature was studied to obtain an understanding of the status quo of the field. Then, through interviewing 12 experts of the field, consisting of four females and eight males, of whom nine were practicing news translators, one was a retired news translator and a current university instructor of news translation, one was a retired news translator and editor in chief, and one was a university instructor of news translation, their views on news translation were obtained and then analyzed using a thematic analysis. In doing so, the relevant themes were extracted from the interviews.
Table 1. Overview of the interviewees’ particulars
Position in the Agency | Years of Experience | Academic Degree |
Journalist-Translator | 17 | B.A. |
News Anchor & Senior Translator | 21 | M.A. |
News Translation Instructor | 5 | Ph.D. Candidate |
News Room Director | 24 | Ph.D. |
Editor in Chief | 30 | B.A. |
Editor in Chief | 10 | Ph.D. Student |
Journalist-Translator | 2 | B.A. |
Managing Director | 30 | Ph.D. |
Senior Translator | 20 | B.A. |
Translator-Editor | 17 | M.A. |
Translator-Editor/Producer | 10 | M.A. |
Editor in Chief | 25 | Ph.D. |
Table 1 displays academic education level of the participants and their related work experiences, with a mean of 17.6 years.
Considering that news agencies formed the target population of this study, eight news agencies were systematically chosen as the available sample. Next, members of the sample, that is the participants, were selected through several stages adopting the theoretical sampling method. In this type of sampling, the researcher purposefully selects people who help to form her theory, and in this way, it is possible that some of the participants be selected from outside the population under study (Creswell, 2012). In qualitative studies, sample selection is carried out as purposive sampling and with maximum variety. In this method, individuals with diverse views on the topic are selected. Regarding the size of the sample in qualitative research, there is no consensus among researchers. Some have reported having six to 40 participants; however, experts of the field believe in theoretical saturation. Selecting participants, interviewing them and gathering the data continues through a zigzag method until the theoretical saturation is attained, that is, until the researchers come to the conclusion that the content of the interviews and the information derived from them have become repetitive and no new information is obtained (Creswell, 2012). Considering this issue and conducting interviews with 10 translators and experts in a zigzag manner, theoretical saturation was achieved, but for more certainty, two more interviews were conducted, and the total number of participants reached 12 people. The interviews were audio recorded and then implemented as a text file.
In this study, to collect the needed data a semi-structured interview protocol was designed. In this protocol, the interviewees were asked the relevant questions and the needed data were collected. However, considering the zigzag manner of process of interviews and data collection, after each interview was conducted, some modifications were made to the interview questions and manner of posing them to the interviewees which were then added to the interview protocol. In other words, the process of the next interview complemented the previous interviews. This approach resulted in obtaining more data with more reflection and reaching a theoretical saturation sooner.
Figure 3.1 Zigzag data collection and analysis to achieve saturation of categories (Creswell, 2012).
In this study, the content of the interviews were analyzed qualitatively, that is, Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) was performed. TCA is a descriptive presentation of qualitative data, in our case, interview transcripts collected from the interviewees. A satisfactory TCA, according to Anderson (2007), identifies common themes in interview transcripts under analysis and by doing so it depicts the thematic content of the text. Referring to TCA as the most foundational of qualitative analytic procedures, Anderson asserts that TCA somehow informs all qualitative research methods. Moreover, she believes that in carrying out a TCA, the researcher’s epistemological stance is objective or objectivistic. Braun and Clark (2006), referring to thematic analysis as a method that offers an accessible and theoretically-flexible approach to analyzing qualitative data, provide a six-step thematic analysis framework, based on which the interview data were analyzed.
Figure 3.2 Phases of Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006, 77-101)
The above figure summarized the six steps of thematic analysis as explained by Braun and Clark in their article. The first phase, that is familiarization with the data, refers to activities such as transcribing the data, reading and re-reading the data and noting down the initial codes. The second phase deals with coding interesting features of the data in a systematic way across the data-set, collating data relevant to each code. The third phase involves collating codes into potential themes and then gathering all the data relevant to each potential theme. The fourth phase encompasses checking if the themes work in relation to the coded extracts and the entire data-set and generating a thematic map. After this phase, an ongoing analysis is performed to refine the specifics of each theme and generating clear names for each theme. The sixth and last phase of analysis is the final opportunity for analysis by selecting appropriate extracts, discussing the analysis and relating back to research questions or literature and producing the report.
In the present study, following the above framework, first, each interview was carefully listened to, its content was transcribed and the transcriptions were examined carefully. Based on the sentences, phrases and key points mentioned in the interviews, conceptual labels were selected for them, and this was done in a zigzag manner for the 12 interviews, as mentioned above.
Findings and Discussion
To answer the fifth research question, that is, to find out about the procedures and process of news translation and the translators’ roles in this process, the researcher asked some questions from the interviewees, following which a thematic content analysis was conducted of the responses. The interviewees were mainly requested to explain the process of news translation and elaborate on the role news translators play in this process. The participants elaborated on the steps involved, what each step entailed, and what was the task of news translators.
The step identified as the first one, was monitoring and searching the news. Concerning this step, the interviewee 1 stated that it starts with monitoring and searching for the news items in the area of interest. After this step, the news items to be translated are selected. Eleven out of 12 interviewees said that the selection of news is carried out by the translator provided that they have the competencies and experience to do so. Nevertheless, in some cases, as the interviewee 7 put it, the editor selects the topics and the translators search to see whether it has been covered by English news agencies or not and then communicate that to the editor.
The point common between 11 of the interviewees’ statements was that the involvement of the translators in selecting the news depends on the experience and competencies of the translator. Interviewee 2 stated that the selection and presentation of news might be different depending on the agency the translator works for. In knowing which news to choose and which parts to translate, translators must know the macro policies of the country they work in; based on this they decide what should be translated, and must know how to do the gatekeeping. This interviewee continued that not all translators can select the news for translation. Only those who are sufficiently knowledgeable can do so, that is, their superior trusts their political instincts. A new comer is not allowed to do this. Only when they have proven they are aware of the political atmosphere, of the macro policies of the society, of the media policies, and know how to do the gatekeeping, they are allowed to do the above. This knowledge and skill result in the trust of the editor in chief and the translator’s credit.
Interviewee 6 stated that selecting and gathering the news is the duty of the translator-editors themselves and not the editor-in-chief. The editor-in-chief only sometimes searches for news. But the main responsibility lies with the translator-editors. So, we have one phase of gatekeeping here and the translator must cope with the task of choosing the news from among thousands of items and recognize which ones are to be used.
Interviewee 10 explained that the translator-editors choose some news item, but the final decision is made by the editor-in-chief. There are some daily meetings with the editor-in-chief in which the editors share the news they have found through searching and the chief decides which ones should be worked on. The decision is made by considering time limits and the chief’s mission for that news section. I have not seen a newsroom that the translators or editors select the news to be worked on. It should be noted that even in this case, the translator-editors are involved in selection of news to some degree.
Table 4.52
Selection of the News Items
Selection Procedure | Interviewees |
Translators can select the news | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 |
Translators do not select the news | 10 |
After selection of the news is accomplished, it is translated by the translators. Regarding this step, interviewee 11 stated that in practice, we write a new item using the facts from the source text. By this, the interviewee implies that news translators’ job goes far beyond simple translation of news items; what they do in reality is writing news in another language.
Results of the interviews indicate that the editing part of the job is different in various news agencies, depending on their policies toward the editing stage of the work and the authority they give to their translators. Ten of the interviewees affirmed that the translators do not just translate the news but edit it at the same time. Only interviewees 9 and 10 who work for the same network, stated that translators are not supposed to edit the news. In this respect, interviewee 9 maintained that the translator is not allowed to add or remove anything unless there is ambiguity, in which case we can write something in parentheses to clarify it and we should mention in a bracket that this is the translator’s note. Other than this, we do not add or delete anything. The editor-in-chief decides what should be deleted and how much of it be used. No matter how experienced the translator is, they do not have the authority to edit the news.
Contrary to the above, the other experts asserted that translators are editors as well, that is, they select the news, translate and edit it at the same time, unless they lack enough experience. In relation to this issue, interviewee 2 went so far as to say that the translator must be able to do the editor-in-chief’s job as well. They should know whether the text they translate will be used by the agency or not. They should only translate the parts that will be used and if they translate the whole text, which is not a professional practice, the agency will not use it. Interviewee 1, in this regard, commented that I look for the clues that better serve the policies of the agency and provide me with a tool to translate using a new approach by relying on the facts, implying that translators have the authority to edit the news in line with the policies of the agency they work for, but the interviewee also points out that he is faithful to the facts, a matter with which all the interviewees concur.
To gain a better understanding of the role of news translators, the interviewees were asked whether news translators were among gatekeepers, that is, whether they were allowed to make decisions as to what information reaches the audience as part of their job. The following table summarizes the interviewees’ responses.
Table 4.53
News Translators / Gatekeepers
News translators are gatekeepers | Interviewees |
Yes | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 |
No | 9, 10 |
As seen in the table, only two of the interviewees did not consider news translators as gatekeepers. As stated earlier, translators 9 and 10 worked for a news network that limits the work of news translators to translation. Nevertheless, the other experts believed differently. For instance, expert 5 stated that it depends on the translator. If they are novice they cannot. If they are mature enough to make decisions and recognize which strategies to use and not distort the news, they can. This expert explained what he meant by ‘strategies’ stating that the main intention of Iranian news agencies and foreign agencies, for example IRNA and BBC, respectively, is the same and that is information dissemination. However, there are differences in the frame that we use or standards we consider in writing the news. He continued that considering our policies, red lines, ideology, interests of the agency, we see whether it (a news item) suits us. We use the facts and write the news and use it. For example, in covering the presidential election of Iran, there were many foreign reports, each one reporting from their own angle. So, it all depends on the expertise of the translator.
Expert 6 described the situation saying that in broadcast news they have to shorten that news to fit a broadcast item of 30-40 seconds. For example, Guardian may have written a detailed long report, but the trans-editor must translate it into two paragraphs. Therefore, again they have to do gatekeeping here, that is, to decide which parts should be translated and which should be eliminated, which part should come first, that is, priming and ordering should be decided about. News trans-editors must be able to write in concordance with our policies by, for instance, reordering the facts.
When asked what are the deciding factors, interviewee 8 asserted that ideology and policies of the employer and your own have an effect based on which you can filter or do the gatekeeping.
According to the 12 interviewees, after news items are prepared, they are checked by the editor-in-chief before the final stage. They affirmed that the editor-in-chief is the one held responsible for what is aired, posted, or published. Interviewee 5 stated that in all cases the chief checks the translated news because that is his duty and the translator has to send the translated news to the chief’s computer. When the chief is not available, she/he can delegate their duties to an editor.
In response to the question that what happens when the editor-in-chief cannot decide, Interviewee 5 answered she/he goes to general manager of foreign news and if she/he isn’t available, she/he would go to the deputy for foreign news. If they have an opinion different from mine (the editor-in-chief) I ask them for justification. There are times that you are not convinced but you have to accept it.
Interviewee 6 stated that the trans-editors send their translation to the editor-in-chief and he/she checks it and edits it in terms of the language and policies. However, the more experienced trans-editors’ works need no editing in terms of policies, since they are very well aware of them and their work may only need some linguistic editing. In terms of knowledge of the policies, our translators are all at the same level, but in terms of knowledge of language they may not be and are not.
Based on the interviews, it can be said that the last phase of the work is Broadcasting or publishing the trans-edited news or posting it on the site, depending on the type of agency.
Putting all the interviewee’s responses together, the process of international news production can be summarized in the following steps:
1. Monitoring and searching the news
2. Selecting the news
3. Translating (in most cases translating and editing at the same time)
4. Editing / Final check
5. Broadcasting or publishing the news or posting it on the site
All the interviewees named the above as the main steps; however, who performs the above and what happens in between depends on two main factors: 1) the news agency’s policies by which we mean the role that the agency assigns to its translators and the authority it gives them, and 2) the competencies of the translator.
The next research question sought to give insight as to the qualities of competent news translators. In responding to the related questions, the experts identified a total of 31 attributes that make a successful news translator. However, the point to remember, as interviewee 4 noted, is that some attributes are acquired and some are instinctive.
List of news translators qualities:
Ø Knowledge (political/social/economic)
Ø Good command of the source and target languages
Ø Awareness of the mainstream media/ international/ organizational policies
Ø Working with Speed
Ø Advanced oral and written communication skills
Ø Knowing the structure of the news
Ø Ability to find the right word
Ø Stress control
Ø Being a good Persian news writer
Ø Knowing about the importance of background and its role
Ø Teamwork skills
Ø Accuracy
Ø Awareness of biases
Ø Being a good journalist
Ø Critical thinking
Ø Discipline
Ø Experience
Ø Familiarity with different accents
Ø Good command of English
Ø Good command of Persian
Ø Having a character of cultural work and translation
Ø Knowledge of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)
Ø Living with the news
Ø News intuition
Ø Passion and Motivation
Ø Professional Ethics
Ø Technical words knowledge
Ø Time management
Ø Translating in a way that is clear and comprehensible
Ø Translating whatever he/she is referred to
Ø Using the facts provided by the source, and necessarily following the same approach
As the above list suggests, one of the commonly referred to attributes, specified by the participants, was knowledge of the field the translator translates in. Nonetheless, since in most news agencies the translators translate all news types, they need to have knowledge of different fields such as politics, society, culture, economy, sports etc. In this connection, interviewee 10 affirmed that the first and most important attribute of a news translator is having enough knowledge of the field (science, culture, art …) she wants to translate in. You should have enough knowledge to be able to translate in that field. Interviewee 9 believed that news translators should have knowledge about everything, so they can translate whatever they are referred to. Interviewee 3, talking along the same line, asserted that knowledge helps the translators to analyse news texts, to react and translate better.
Another mentioned attribute was good command of the source and target languages. That is, the participants considered the competency in both languages as very important. Relating to this issue, expert 7 maintained that news translators must have a good command of the source and target languages and should not translate based on guesses and should find out the exact meaning of the word they want to translate. Interviewee 9 explains that if for example their Persian is not good, they cannot find suitable equivalent, cannot divide the sentence into small segments, or cannot transfer the message completely. Interviewee 10 stated that I see translation as a bridge that if not strong enough, you won’t dare to step on it. To me, knowledge is as important as skill.
Awareness of the policies (i.e. mainstream media, international and organizational policies) was another attribute mentioned by the interviewees. In this connection, interviewee 1 stated that being aware of the policies followed by the mainstream media and trying to serve the policies of the agency or the news outlet the translator is working for are very important. Talking about this same issue, interviewee 8 said that being aware of the policies (this relates to the Bureaucracy in the agency), knowing the policies of the organization he/she works for, and knowing the macro/grand policies of their country are all very significant matters, as far as news translation is concerned. Interviewee 2 asserted that Based on the intentions and macro policies of the country, which their accuracy is not relevant to us, we make some changes such as changing ‘State of Israel’ to ‘the Zionist Regime’. Another example: we change the ‘leader of the revolution’ to ‘the supreme leader’ and this is not manipulation; it is being respectful and ethical.
Interviewee 6, in response to the question “Are the policies communicated to the trans-editors?” replied saying that: first, it is expected that trans-editors watch the news on the IRI news network throughout the day and know what has been covered that day. At the same time, if something new happens which we do not know how to deal with, an instruction will be given to us to clarify what position should we adopt and for example, bold a point or vice versa. There are general instructions too. Then the editor-in-chief of the monitoring puts the news online for the newsroom which will then put it on the conductor and he/she may change it a bit there again or combine several items and then broadcast editor-in-chief will check it again. But generally speaking, the chief will not make changes to your news and you will usually hear what you have written because there is not much time. For this, it is very important that the trans-editors translate the news accurately because the facts are not going to be double checked; this is the duty of the trans-editor.
Being able to work with speed was also referred to as being a significant quality for news translators. Interviewee 11 stated that working with a high speed is necessary especially if you are working for television news, where the stress is much higher. She explained that this is because when you are working for TV news deadlines are very short, as opposed to when you are working for a newspaper.
In this relation, interviewee 3 stated that the speed of work affects the news translation in that news translators do not have enough time to search the background of the news. As a solution to this problem, the interviewee recommended that news translators need to have good background knowledge, so they can readily use it when needed. It should be noted that having background knowledge was another feature mentioned by 16.7% of the interviewed experts as being significant.
In addition to the above attributes which were referred to by the experts as the most important attributes of a competent news translator, there were others that have been provided in the list as important features but not as important as the ones mentioned above. As it can be seen, ‘advanced oral and written communication skills’, ‘knowing the structure of the news’ ‘ability to find the right word’, ‘stress control’, ‘being a good Persian news writer’, ‘knowing about the importance of background and its role’ and ‘teamwork skills’ were identified by the interviewees. In addition, there were 20 other attributes mentioned by the experts which can be seen above.
The next research question related to the effectiveness of education that news translation students receive at universities in Iran. To obtain the needed information, two statements were presented to the experts and they were asked to rate the statement on a scale of 1 to 5. The responses of the experts are presented in the following table.
Table 4.55
Experts’ Opinions on the Quality of University News Programs in Iran
Row |
Interviewees
Statements | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Total Scores (out of 60) |
1 | Universities in Iran provide students of journalism in general and students of news translation in particular with proper training. | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 |
2 | News translation students have the ability to apply their theoretical knowledge to real-world settings. | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 21 |
*5 indicates strong agreement and 1 indicates strong disagreement
The responses to the above two statements with scores of 20 and 21 (out of the maximum possible score of 60), respectively, indicate a consensus of opinion among the experts on the inappropriateness of training provided by universities to students of news translation in Iran to a large extent and on how insufficient it is in meeting their needs in the real-world workplaces. The experts believed that when news translation graduates come to news rooms, they lack the necessary skills and experiences required of a news translator and need to undergo training or learn by gaining experience (Interviewee 7, 11 and 12). It is our belief that this inadequacy stems from the unfamiliarity of the syllabus writers in this field with the unique nature of news translation, its features and peculiarities.
Conclusion
In this study, with an eye to creating a clear and real picture of the essential place of news translation and news translators in international news dissemination, some of the pertinent issues were addressed. This was done by obtaining data from a sample of 12 news translation experts from eight different Iranian news agencies who through responding to the research questions provided us with a better perception of the news translation process, tasks and necessary attributes of news translators, and quality of news translation university programs in the country.
The available literature along with the findings of the present study indicate that what happens in news translation is far more complicated than a simple transfer of information from one language or culture to the other. What happens in reality is creation of a news item founded on the source text and in this process the content is determined by a complex mixture of power relations such as continental, national, linguistic, political and ideological considerations based on which important decisions and choices regarding news selection, news translation and news editing are made. As Hatim and Mason (1997, p. 142) put it, “text type constantly functions as a carrier of ideological meaning”.
As it can be inferred, what news translators actually do is rewriting the original texts (Lefevere, 1992) to make them suit their new context of use, and in doing so, they must adhere to the rules and practices of the place and medium for which they work. News translators transform the source text significantly through a process similar to that of editing. Accordingly, the final product of the news translation process is the creation of a new text; a text intended to function as a new news item for a different readership in compliance with the textual conventions and culture of the target language, among other factors. As Schäffner (2004) affirms, after information is transferred through translation from one language into another, it is edited, rewritten, reshaped, and repackaged in a new context, and this calls for simultaneous engagement in translation and editing processes. Similarly, Aktan and Nohl (2010) maintain that every time a piece of local news is transmitted to global readers, rather than simply being translated from one language into another, it becomes part of intercultural communication. José Manuel Vidal also believes that due to the nature of the medium, the translators are re-creators or writers with some limitations. They are limited by the idea of recreating and the journalistic genre they have to work with (2005, p. 386, as cited in Bielsa, 2007). Regarding the editing component of the work, Sara Bani (2006) emphasizes the point that a distinction should be made between translation strategies performed by the translators, such as cutting, summarizing, inclusion of explanations, generalization, and substitution, and textual manipulation performed by the editorial board, such as addition, deletion, and rearrangement of the text. However, it is not always clear which strategies are adopted by the translator and which ones by the editors. Putting the responses to the research questions together, one can conclude that depending on the news agency’s policies, the authority assigned to the translator and its extent might differ. That is, in some agencies translators are permitted or even required to act as editors as well, while in others, there is a clear distinction between what translators and editors do.
To sum up, the findings indicate that the process of news translation demands some kind of intervention in the original text by the translators, and this, in turn, modifies the role traditionally assigned to them in relation to both the source text and the author. In other words, their role is regarded to be the same as that of journalists. As a matter of fact, journalists do not perceive translation as a task dissimilar to that of news production or as a process distinct from text edition, and this is why they are usually surprised when someone asks them about their job as news translators (Bielsa, 2015). Furthermore, one can see that the status of the journalist and the translator do not differ much by definition (Bielsa & Bassnett, 2009); nevertheless, one should realize that different news agencies, depending on their policies, might approach the process of news translation and production in somewhat different manners. In addition to the above, after delving into the process of news translation, one comes to appreciate the sensitive and complicated nature of news translation whose role in information dissemination is vital but usually ignored. Furthermore, by realizing how critical the work of news translators is and the characteristics required of them referred to by our experts, we will understand how skilful and knowledgeable they must be, if they are to perform their duties rightly.
Pedagogical Implications
Looking at the issue from a pedagogical perspective, we realize that in addition to enlightening us of news translation as a unique form of communication production and acknowledging the responsibilities of news translators and significance of their role in facilitating intercultural communication, the findings of the present study can assist the educators in designing news translation courses and delivering them to the trainees. The researchers believe that once the special characteristics of the field become known to curriculum and syllabus writers, course designers and instructors, this uniqueness should be reflected and emphasized in the instructional and internship programs provided for the students. That is, the educational and training courses should be designed based on the skills and knowledge required of news translators in the real-world work places, the special features and purpose of news translation, and all the powerful factors that affect news production. These programs should teach students translation skills in general and translation of news texts in particular. It should be so, because as future news translators, the students must know ways of expressing ideas in two languages and know how to both transfer and transform the meaning from one language and context to the other as required of them by the agency or organization for which they work. In other words, instructors should not suffice to teaching translation skills, but should also teach and implement the relevant concepts of gatekeeping, agenda-setting, news brief, news policies, framing, discursive strategies, etc. in practice, and acquaint the students with factors that influence or constrain the work of translators and teach them how to deal with these challenges and obstacles in practical terms.
Furthermore, news translation and journalism professions have a lot in common, and this issue is also pointed out by Gambier (2006), stating that both news translators and journalists have socio-cultural obligations that go beyond the mere production or reproduction of instantaneous and short-life texts. Gambier believes that in both professions, learning how to learn and knowing how to know are more significant than just gaining knowledge, and these attributes help them to become more capable in their journalistic endeavours. The commonalities between the two professions mentioned by Gambier such as speedy decision-making and the organizational considerations among several other factors call for development of news translation syllabuses with more common educational and training courses with journalism syllabuses.
All the above can be summarized in the following sentence: The curriculum should be designed with the intention of helping students to prepare for the great weight that will soon fall on their shoulders as news people.
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Disclosure statement
The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.
[1] This study reports some findings of a larger study carried out as in depth interviews with experienced news translators asking them a variety of questions regarding news translation as it is practiced in reality. However, due to the large body of the obtained data and space limitations, the responses of interviewees to three four main questions are presented here and the remainder are provided in other articles. As a result, some overlap between the articles, especially in the method sections, might be found.
