The unique challenges of English journalism

OUR BRANCH coffee morning on 25 October featured Katharine Quarmby discussing "writing and reporting clearly in a second language". Nineteen members joined in.

Image © Katharine Quarmby

Katharine is an award-winning writer, editor and journalist with extensive knowledge of writing and editing across print, TV, radio and online. She is a Royal Literary Fellow at the University of West London and a freelance editor, with recent work for Investigative Reporting Denmark, where she has edited environmental cross-border investigations. She was previously an editor for the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

She highlighted the distinctive challenges faced by journalists who are not native English speakers. These include:

• Technical Language: Acquiring the specific vocabulary required for journalistic fields, such as science, politics, or finance.
• Cultural nuances: Understanding the subtle cultural references, idioms, and humour that shape English-language journalism.
• Writing Style: Adapting to the concise and engaging writing style expected in English-language news.
• Language barriers: Overcoming language barriers in interviews, research, and collaboration with English-speaking colleagues.

Practical tips for improvement

To address these challenges, Katharine offered the following tips:

• Read Widely: Consume a variety of English-language news sources, including newspapers, magazines, and online articles.
• Practice Regularly: Write regularly in English to improve fluency and style.
• Seek feedback: Get feedback from colleagues, mentors, or language experts.
• Plan effectively: Outline your articles to ensure a clear and logical structure.
• Keep it simple: Use clear and concise language, avoiding complex sentence structures and unnecessary jargon.
• Be Aware of Your Audience: Tailor your writing style to suit your target audience.

Overcoming language barriers

The session also addressed the importance of overcoming language barriers. Catherine emphasised the value of building strong relationships with English-speaking colleagues, seeking clarification when needed, and utilising language learning tools.

By understanding the unique challenges and applying practical tips, non-native English-speaking journalists can enhance their skills, improve their writing, and succeed in the global media landscape.

Links from this session:

• Universal Design for Learning Guidelines
• How English is Skewing the Global News Narrative from Global Investigative Journalism Netwwork
• Writing English as a Second Language from The American Scholar
• Language and style – the basics from Media Helping Media
• How to Break into English-Language Media as a Non-Native-English Speaker from The Open Notebook
• Writing tools for non-native English speaking journalists from International Journalsts' Network
• Functional Skills: our free courses in Maths and English from University of West London

© Mariam Elsayeh

London Freelance Branch training