Linguistic analysis of translated news: an insight into the concept of news value

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.A. in Translation Studies, English Translation Department, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant professor of Translation Studies, English Translation Department, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

As the aftermath of globalization and the increased demand for localized information, translation assumed a significant position in the world of news. Due to this close connection, in recent years, journalistic concepts such as gatekeeping and framing contributed towards much interdisciplinary research in the field of translation studies. Nevertheless, many other topics have remained untouched by translation scholars, one of which is the seminal concept of news value manifested in the linguistic and semiotic dimensions of news products. Exploring news values and their relation to translation offers potentials for a better grasp on the nature of translated news and the process of news translation in newsrooms worldwide. Consequently, the headlines of 120 translated news pieces related to two international conferences were analyzed using Bednarek and Caple’s (2017) discursive news value analysis framework. These news headlines were published on four renowned Iranian news websites from 2021 to 2023. The results revealed that these websites construct similar patterns of news values and establish eliteness, negativity, and superlativeness more than other news values in their translated headlines. This was an indication of the lack of originality among news websites in reporting international events and also their orientation toward following a predetermined ideological positioning. As a whole, the present research is a true interdisciplinary one attempting to learn about the construction of news values in the context of Iran and translation discourse and unveil news agencies’ motivation in linguistically constructing and establishing these values.

Keywords

References

Ameri, S., & Khoshsaligheh, M. (2018). Voice-over Translation of News Programs on Television: Evidence from Iran. Hikma(17), 9-32. https://doi.org/10.21071/hikma.v17i0.11029
Azodi, J., & Salmani, B. (2015). The Impact of Ideology on Translation of News Stories. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 6, 163-171. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.1p.163
Ban, H., & Noh, B. (2018). The Role of Evaluative Language in News Translation: Focusing on Soft and Hard News. International Culture and Technology Promotion Agency, 6(2), 65-71. https://doi.org/10.17703/IJACT.2018.6.2.65
Bednarek, M., & Caple, H. (2013). Delving into the Discourse: Approaches to News Value in Journalism Studies and Beyond. University of Oxford, 1-29. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2018-01/Delving%20into%20the%20Discourse.pdf
Bednarek, M., & Caple, H. (2014). Why do News Values Matter? Towards a New Methodological Framework for Analysing News Discourse in Critical Discourse Analysis and Beyond. Discourse and Society, 25(2), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926513516041
Bednarek, M., & Caple, H. (2017). The Discourse of News Value: How News Organizations Create Newsworthiness. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190653934.001.0001
Bednarek, M., & Caple, H. (2019). News Discourse. Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/news-discourse-9781350063716/
Bednarek, M., Caple, H., & Huan, C. (2021). Computer-Based Analysis of News Values: A Case Study on National Day Reporting. Journalism Studies, 22(6), 702-722. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2020.1807393
Bielsa, E. (2009). Globalization, Political Violence and Translation: An Introduction. In E. Bielsa, & C. W. Hughes (Eds.), Globalization, Political Violence and Translation (pp. 1-21). Palgrave Macmillan. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230235410
Bielsa, E. (2016). News Translation: Global or Cosmopolitan Connections? Media, Culture & Society, 38(2), 197-211. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443715613635
Bielsa, E., & Bassnett, S. (2009). Translation in Global News. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Translation-in-Global-News/Bielsa-Bassnett/p/book/9780415409728?srsltid=AfmBOoq1GO_UMAN8B8QqxUnBHYvz3XvWzbDXmlAbGvaMz9k4YpV8O62p
Conway, K. (2010). News Translation and Cultural Resistance. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 3(3), 187-205. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2010.487219
Cotter, C. (2010). News Talk: Investigating the Language of Journalism. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511811975
Cronin, M. (2003). Translation and Globalization. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Translation-and-Globalization/Cronin/p/book/9780415270656?srsltid=AfmBOoosZUBD6PS6keJhgZySMhhmKYMs7H4xsdy91hgrnv8ew6FAUX65
Darwish, A. (2006). Translating the News: Reframing Constructed Realities. Translation Watch Quarterly, 2(1), 53-94. https://www.translocutions.com/turjuman/papers/darwish_twqvol2issue12006.pdf
Deuze, M. (2005). What is Journalism? Professional Identity and Ideology of Journalists Reconsidered. Journalism, 6(4), 442–464. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884905056815
Deuze, M. (2008). News Ideologies. In W. Donsbach (Ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Communication (pp. 1-3). Wiley-Blackwell. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781405186407.wbiecn022
Falkenhayner, N. (2019). Media, Surveillance and Affect: Narrating Feeling-States. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Media-Surveillance-and-Affect-Narrating-Feeling-States/Falkenhayner/p/book/9780367582180?srsltid=AfmBOooTmFawNfum1gvn8oITW6Gvq68-hi8rzndxWS9R1wBJ_6_Nl9Ka
Floros, G. (2012). News Translation and Translation Ethics in the Cypriot Context. Meta, 57(4), 924–942. https://doi.org/10.7202/1021225ar
Gambier, Y. (2006). Transformations in International News. Translation in Global News. Coventry: University of Warwick. https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-27075
Guerrero, M. J. (2022). News Translation Strategies. In E. Bielsa (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Media (pp. 232-249). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003221678
Harcup, T., & O’Neill, D. (2017). What is News? News Value Revisited (Again). Journalism Studies, 18(12), 1470-1488. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2016.1150193
Jalalian Daghigh, A., & Amini, A. (2022). Ideological Manipulation in Political News Translation: An Actor-Network Perspective. Journalism, 23(7), 1530-1547. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849221074493
Josephi, B. (2012). How Much Democracy does Journalism Need? Journalism, 14(4), 474–489. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884912464172
Khanjan, A., Amouzadeh, M., Eslami Rasekh, A., & Manoochehr, M. (2013). Ideological Aspects of Translating News Headlines from English to Persian. Meta, 58, 87–102. https://doi.org/10.7202/1023811ar
Kristensen, L. (2021). Audience Metrics: Operationalizing News Value for the Digital Newsroom. Journalism Practice, 17(5), 991-1008. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2021.1954058
Lewis, J. (2006). News and the Empowerment of Citizens. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 9(3), 303-319. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549406066075
Neighbour, S. (2011, August). The United States of Chris Mitchell: the power of a Murdoch man. https://www.themonthly.com.au/august-2011/essays/united-states-chris-mitchell
Orengo, A. (2005). Localising News: Translation and the ‘Global-national’ Dichotomy. Language and Intercultural Communication, 5(2), 168-187. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708470508668892
Rampton, B., Tusting, K., Maybin, J., Barwell, R., Creese, A., & Lytra, V. (2004). UK Ethnography: A Discussion Paper [Unpublished manuscript]. 1-24. https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fss/organisations/lingethn/documents/discussion_paper_jan_05.pdf
Scammell, C. (2020). Translation and the Globalization/Localization of News. In E. Bielsa, & D. Kapsaskis, The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Globalization (pp. 293-305). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003121848
Schäffner, C. (2017). Language, Interpreting, and Translation in the News Media. In K. Malmkjær, The Routledge Handbook of Translation Studies and Linguistics (pp. 327-341). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315692845
Valdeón, R. (2022). Gatekeeping, Ideological Affinity and Journalistic Translation. Sage, 23(1), 117–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884920917296
van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Translation, Adaptation, Globalization: The Vietnam News. Sage Publication, 7(2), 217-237. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884906062606
Weaver, D. H., Beam, R. A., Brownlee, J. B., Voakes, P. S., & Cleveland, W. (2009). The American Journalist in the 21st Century: U.S. News People at the Dawn of a New Millennium. Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410614568
Wendelin, M., Engelmann, I., & Neubarth, J. (2015). User Rankings and Journalistic News Selection: Comparing News Values and Topics. Journalism Studies, 18(2), 135-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2015.1040892
Williams, W., & Martin, F. L. (1911). The Practice of Journalism: A Treatise on Newspaper Making. E.W. Stephens Publishing. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Practice_of_Journalism_a_Treatise_on/dzE4AQAAIAAJ?hl=en
Xia, L. (2019). A Discourse Analysis of News Translation in China. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351021463
Zanettin, F. (2021). News Media Translation. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/ 10.1017/9781108568364
Zeng, W., & Li, D. (2023). Exploring an Interdisciplinary Interface between Journalistic Translation and Journalism Studies: Insights from Discursive News Values Analysis. Perspectives, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2023.2215935
 
Applied Linguistics Inquiry
Volume 3, Issue 2
September 2025
Pages 118-130

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 26 April 2025
  • Revise Date: 11 June 2025
  • Accept Date: 28 July 2025

Share

How to cite

Statistics