The NOS announced important news this summer. Literally. They are coming with the NOS Journaal in Easy Language. This news bulletin can be seen every workday at 17:00 from September 9. The NOS Journaal in Easy Language is supposed to be calmer and contain more explanation than other news bulletins.
Fortunately, in recent years we have seen more and more initiatives around understandable and inclusive language. But how do you approach this? And what is actually understandable language?
I would like to take you through some possible pitfalls and give you tips for understandable communication. Not only for the newsroom of the NOS, but for every organization that wants to get started with this.
Pitfall: One message that is understandable to everyone?
In principle this is a nice initiative and I always applaud the use of understandable language. However, under the announcement, on LinkedIn for example, the necessary criticism was immediately placed. This criticism mainly concerns the fact that it concerns the announcement of a separate news bulletin, because why wouldn’t you always want to bring the news in understandable language?
If your goal is for your message to be understandable to everyone, you can also make it one message. With a separate news bulletin, you also immediately insinuate that the 8 o’clock news bulletin is the NOS News in Difficult Language. Although there are many misunderstandings about it, even people who have no difficulty with reading and writing appreciate understandable language. For example, check this research about ‘higher educated people’ who appreciate simple texts.
Side note: what I think about the use of ‘highly educated’, you can read here.
Understandable language
The editors of NU.nl have for example, chose to to write all the news as much as possible in language level B1, to reach as many people as possible. They want to help readers understand what is going on in the country. If you do choose 2 communication expressions at different language levels, make sure that it is a well-considered choice and that you have your target groups sharp.
I am curious what the considerations of the NOS news editors were in choosing a separate daily news bulletin. On the website of the Reading and Writing Foundation we read that the NOS feels responsible to investigate how they can better reach and serve people who have difficulty following the Dutch language. The public broadcaster wants to make news accessible to everyone. Together with the Stichting Lezen en Schrijven they have already experimented with weekly news bulletins for low-literates. Tailor-made for a specific target group.
Pitfall: simple language?
In many language schools that teach Dutch to non-Dutch speakers, the Jeugdjournaal is recommended. In general, this is easy to follow if you have a command of the language at A2 level or higher, but for adult learners it can sometimes be a bit dull. And that is precisely a pitfall of understandable language. Be careful to avoid childish language, and to see your viewers or readers as a serious conversation partner and show that. Understandable language does not have to be in simple language, as Nicol Tadema once wrote about this: an understandable text does not have to be in simple language.
If you want to inform your viewers or readers about complex matters, such as important events in the Netherlands or the world, you need to be able to add nuances. You also need to make connections, highlight multiple perspectives and explain context. This cannot be done effectively with just short words and short sentences. And it does not have to be. In the weekly news bulletin mentioned earlier, difficult words are used, but explained. The pace is not too high, so that all information can be processed.
Pitfall: Don’t forget your target group?
As is often (rightly) said in the communications profession: test, test, test! We can be so busy with our texts and good intentions that we forget the target group. Involve them in creating your expressions. The NOS already has a lot of experience and has certainly received a lot of feedback, thanks to their experience with the weekly news bulletins.
You can find the episodes (and reactions to them) here: NOS News in Easy Language – YouTube
The public broadcaster has actively involved people who have difficulty reading and writing themselves and the Stichting Lezen en Schrijven. An organization with a lot of knowledge and experience in-house, as a specialist in the field of low literacy in the Netherlands. The editor-in-chief of NOS News, Giselle van Cann said the following about this:
The editors have had a lot of contact with this target group. We noticed how much they enjoy being able to follow the news well. We journalists found their feedback very educational and inspiring.
They can therefore take all feedback from previous tests into account and hopefully they will continue to do so in the near future.
Tips
So actually they are already doing very well at the editorial office in Hilversum. Do you also want to get started with understandable communication in your organization? Then I will give you some tips in addition to the pitfalls, for a flying start:
- Start with a zero measurement. How is your organization doing now in the area of understandable language? Many organizations have little insight into this. Here too, your target group is important. For example, you can combine an expert opinion with a reader survey.
- Ensure sufficient support. Explain clearly why understandable communication is important for the organization, for your customers, residents and tenants. Otherwise, initiatives like this will have a hard time getting beyond the Communications department. You can do this, for example, by sharing the conclusions of your research with everyone. I often hear from departments with a lot of customer contact that they are already so busy, and then they have to delve into this as well. But if you then send understandable letters, and because you delve into your reader, they contain the information that the reader is waiting for, then that same department will also receive fewer questions. Win-win!
- Choose a positive approach. Award prizes, for example for the most accessible text, put employees in the spotlight, share good examples and compliments.
- Make sure you have the right tools. Because what about your fixed formats and writing guide? What is understandable language for your organization? Without the right handles in the right place, it is very difficult to get this theme off the ground within your organization. You do not have to reinvent the wheel, there are enough organizations that can give you advice.
Getting Started
And what is understandable language? How do you get started with it? How do you test with your target group? Fortunately, there are countless sources of information with practical information for the application. So much that sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees. I’ll list a few.
From Monday 9 September you can watch the NOS Journaal in Easy Language every working day, from 5:00 PM to 5:08 PM on NPO1.
In any case, I’m going to sit down and see what I can learn from it.
What do you think of this initiative? And how is your organization doing with understandable and accessible language? Let us know in the comments!
Source: www.frankwatching.com
