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 to establish 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 the 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, regarding the relevant university programs, the experts had a unanimous negative opinion and believed that the programs were 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 the development of news translation syllabuses and the design of the courses taught in journalism and media colleges and universities.