Presentation at the Berkman Center on Project Lingua

What Project Lingua can tell us about the future of news Chris Salzberg Global Voices / The University of Tokyo Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Outline of Presentation 1. Background • Media attention, bridgeblogging, Global Voices 2. Translation in Global Voices • Languages in GV, Project Lingua, collaborations 3. Discussion • Challenges: lost context, sense of community • Shifting research context Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

1. Background Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

How do we get our daily news about the world beyond borders of nation, culture and language? Media Broadcast media Telecommunications media Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Global Media Attention Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Attention Bias ● Traditional news media have constraints: ● Physical constraints (size of printed page, length of radio broadcast or television program, etc.) ● Personnel constraints (limited number of news gatherers, reporters, gatekeepers) ● Attention of major media strongly biased: ● Most accurate indicator of media attention is GDP ● Economy more important than language, culture Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

From Global to Local ”The Changing Newroom: What is Being Gained and What is Being Lost in America's Daily Newspapers?” Project for Excellence in Journalism (2008) Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

What happened to “Global News”? Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Blogs as Media ● Bridgeblogging ● Blogs “that reach across gaps of language, culture and nationality” to enable communication ● Community is small, but may be essential in connecting separate parts of the global blogosphere ● Use of blogs by journalists ● 47% of correspondents in China read blogs daily for story ideas (but only 16% read Chinese blogs) Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Global Voices Online ● Citizen media project founded at Harvard University's Berkman Center in late 2004/2005 ● International group of bridgebloggers, original focus on regions with low media attention ● Aggregate/introduce conversations in cit. media Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

The World is Talking Blog conversations as primary source material: ● Articles introduce conversations through aggregation, contextualization, translation Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Focus on Listening ● Objectives ● Convey conversations in citizen media ● Maintain close relationship with blogging communities ● Not a traditional “news site”: ● Complementary relationship with mainstream media ● Articles often used as source (NYT, BBC, CNN) ● New model for communitybased journalism Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

...in many languages Engl i sh Chi nese Spani sh Japanese Fr ench Ger man Ar abi c Por t uguese Kor ean I t al i an Ot her Language of Internet Users (Internet World Stats, 2008) Blog posts by language (Technorati, 2007) Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

2. Translation in Global Voices Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Bridgeblogging and Translation ● Bridgeblogging often involves translation: ● Some bridgebloggers translate content (e.g. ESWN) ● Many bridgebloggers “translate” between languages in a broader sense (as in news translation) Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

GV Translation into English Contextualization Translation Blogs on topic X in Chinese Blogosphere Article in English Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

And into 15 other languages ● Project Lingua ● Cluster of 15 language teams, formed in 2006/2007 ● Translate Englishlanguage Global Voices articles into other languages ● One of the largest and most active translation communities in the world Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Translation Flow GV 日本語 GV 全球之声 / 全球之聲 GV en Español GV en français GV in Italiano GV amin´ny teny malagasy GV em Português GV në Shqip GV на македонски Global Voices article GV ‫بالعربية‬ Blog entry GV োোোবোল ভেেেেে অনলোইন: বোংলো ভোেসন Regional Blogosphere Global Voices in English Project Lingua Lingosphere Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Map of Lingua translators (Map courtesy GV French editor Claire Ulrich) Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

A shifting focus Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Active teams (October 2008) Number of posts Number of contributors Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Largest translation teams Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Regional Focus of Lingua Teams ● Distribution of regional coverage by Lingua teams varies by language ● Language and region linked, in some cases strongly so ● Some languages cover multiple countries/regions: Spanish, French, Portuguese, Swahili Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

GV Spanish Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

GV French Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

GV Malagasy Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Partnerships and Collaborations GV Arabic GV Chinese GV French + + + Al Jazeera Talk China Times Rue89 Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

3. Discussion Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Communication and Coordination ● Main methods of communication in Lingua: ● Mailing list + editor review (most common): Translators announce article to translate, one or more editors proofread translations ● Wiki + peer review (GV Chinese team): articles proofread by other team member, sent back for confirmation, then published ● Direct publication: minimal communication, experienced translators can publish directly Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Challenges (1): Lost Context ● Major challenge of lost context: ● Assumptions of background knowledge not appropriate for nonEnglishspeaking audiences ● Links to Englishlanguage references are not accessible in translated article (sometimes replaced) ● Choice of subjects assumes English audience, not always suitable for readers of a different language ● Presentation may evoke unintended response Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Examples of Lost Context ● Article about Mauritia (Andriamanajara, 2007) ● Mentions genital excision, a foreign concept to Malagasy audiences ● When translating to Malagasy, translator had to consult other people for advice ● Final compromise: “circumcision for young girls” ● Through translation, translator introduced a new concept to a language community (Malagasy) Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Challenges (2): Sense of Community To which online community do you feel the closest attachment? (Online survey conducted in January 2008) A: All bloggers across the world (2) 9 8 B: Bloggers in your language or region (8) 7 6 5 C: Global Voices (7) 4 3 D: Lingua (0) 2 1 E: Lingua community for your language (5) 0 A B C D E Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Bloggers and Translators ● Bloggers ● Connected to local blogosphere / lingosphere ● Wellversed in blogging software, web services ● Speak language of “web 2.0”, conversationoriented ● Translators ● Typically work as individuals, professionoriented ● Lack of knowledge about blogging technology, need for training Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Context of Global Voices/Lingua Translation Studies Research on Journalism Studies Internet and Society Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Languages and Global Voices ● History of Global Voices: ● Began as a regionoriented, not languageoriented ● Translation embedded in organization at an implicit level (no mention in manifesto, etc.) ● English bridgebloggers, translation not essential ● This approach was not sufficient: ● Began hiring translators to cover “lingospheres” ● Growth of Project Lingua, region/language overlap Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

From Region to Language ● “In the next century, [...] the definition of proximity [will change] from geographic to linguistic: two countries [will] border one another if and only if they have a language they can use in common.” (Shirky, 1999) Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Shift of Context Translation Studies Community Translation News Translation Fan translation (Díaz Cintas and Muñoz Sánchez, 2006) Translation in Global News (Bielsa and Bassnett, 2008) Examples in (Baker, 2006) and (Salzberg, 2008) Project Lingua Research on Internet Global Voices Journalism Studies and Society Participatory Media / Citizen Media / Citizen Journalism Many references, e.g. MacKinnon (2007, 2007a), Zuckerman (2003) Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

News Translation ● Resent research has shown: ● Drastic reorganization in news translation (Hursti, 2001) ● News translators see themselves as “international journalists”, not translators (Bielsa and Bassnett, 2008) ● Translation plays a critical role, Translation in Global News but is invisible (Bielsa and Bassnett, 2008) Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Community Translation ● Translation in communities of anime fans (Díaz Cintas and Muñoz Sánchez, 2006): ● Networks of fans collaborate to translate anime subtitles (typesetters, translators, editors, encoders) ● Frequent use of detailed translator notes ● English as pivot language, translation into English often conducted by nonnative speakers ● Translators translate for a specific community of anime fans (not a general news audience) Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Translation Communities ● Cucumis ● Parisbased, no linguistic pivot ● System of administrators, similar to Wikipedia ● Open translation ● Translation of opensource software, documentation ● Spontaneous emergence of communities: ● e.g. translation of Harry Potter into Chinese Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Translation and Globalization Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Translation and Participatory Media Translation Studies Community Translation News Translation Research on Internet Participatory Media Journalism Studies and Society Studies Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

4. Summary Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Main Points ● Global Voices: bridgeblogging across nation, culture, language ● Lingua: translating GV into many languages ● Challenges: lost context, sense of community ● Bloggers and Translators ● From region to language ● References: news translation, fan translation Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Open Questions ● Should a translation be considered “news” because it is new to a linguistic community? ● How many other translation communities are there out there? ● Opensource tools for translation communities? ● Translation communities around nonEnglish pivots? Background adapted from image by Flickr user nofrills (2005)

Presentation at the Berkman Center on Project Lingua

by chrissalzberg on Dec 20, 2008

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Presentation at the Berkman Center on Project Lingua — Presentation Transcript