‭1‬

‭Benjamin Sabu Zacharia‬

‭Allison Bocchino‬

‭Writing 2‬

‭6 March, 2024‬

‭Writing for the layman: Translating research into news‬

‭Written research often demands a standard of rigor that makes most research articles difficult to‬

‭read for people outside the discipline. This is natural though, as different forms of writing are‬

‭catered towards specific interests in mind. In the case of the research article I’d chosen, it was‬

‭written to be read by other experts in the field of economics. To be specific, this research article‬

‭hoped to answer the question of how exactly student work in secondary education affected later‬

‭employment outcomes. In the process of answering this question, the researchers included‬

‭complex figures and jargon, advanced economic models, and rigorous statistical inference,‬

‭making this article challenging to get through, to a person not well-versed in economic theory.‬

‭Though research articles like this are often borderline incomprehensible in some parts of the‬

‭research, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t any value to be had in reading it. Many times, an‬

‭abstraction of the research can be made to understand parts of the bigger picture. With that in‬

‭mind, I decided to write a short newspaper article on the relationship between student work‬

‭during secondary education and later employment opportunities. In doing this, I could highlight‬

‭the key points of information to communicate to a reader. In this metacognitive reflection, I will‬

‭go over my process of translating the economic research paper to a newspaper article, addressing‬
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‭the translation of genre conventions including the intended audience and the usage of jargon to‬

‭address them, along with the change in structure.‬

‭The first challenge I’d encountered in translating the research article to a newspaper‬

‭article came in the form of acknowledging the intended audience. As aforementioned, the‬

‭research article was written most likely to cater to other economic experts. This is especially true‬

‭as research articles are often open to scrutiny in the form of peer review. This means that the‬

‭researchers must be able to rigorously communicate their ideas and findings to others in their‬

‭exclusive discourse community. Because of this, research articles are often cluttered with‬

‭complex words and figures, as the ideas being presented themselves are complex and‬

‭incomprehensible to those outside the intended field.‬‭1‬ ‭To those learned in the field, however,‬

‭such esoteric jargon expedites the process of communication, as ideas are able to be accurately‬

‭conveyed to the intended audience. Research articles are fundamentally different from other‬

‭broad forms of literature, in the sense that it is intended to record everything from the research‬

‭question, why the question was brought up, their plan on answering the question, their results‬

‭from researching the question, and their inferences drawn from the research. In this way,‬

‭research articles are meticulous in their writing, as researchers intend to convey absolutely every‬

‭part of their journey towards their research, and hence they need to use specific jargon to address‬

‭a specific topic for a specific audience.‬

‭My intended audience for writing my newspaper article, however, was starkly different‬

‭from the researchers. I intended my article to be read by anyone simply with an interest in my‬

‭topic. Hence, I had a different rhetorical purpose than the researchers. Boyd defines rhetoric as‬

‭something that “allows you to write (and speak) appropriately for a given situation, one that is‬

‭1‬
‭Rosenberg, “Reading Games,” essay, in‬‭Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing‬‭, vol. 2 (Anderson: Parlos‬
‭Press, 2010).‬
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‭determined by the expectations of your audience, implied or acknowledged”‬‭2‬‭. The rhetoric I’d‬

‭assumed in this case was to write for the broad demographic of those who sought information on‬

‭the effects of student work during secondary school. Unlike the purposes of the research article,‬

‭my article was not bound by the expectations of the rigorous academia that is Economics. My‬

‭goal in writing this newspaper article was to simply educate others on the conclusive inferences‬

‭made by the researchers of the original research article. To do this, I’d first need to learn of the‬

‭genre conventions used in newspaper articles.‬

‭To learn of newspaper article conventions, I referenced the comprehensive newspaper‬

‭writing guide created by BBC Bitesize. In it they describe the process of writing newspapers to‬

‭summarize the key points of information as concisely as possible. I began with writing out‬

‭perhaps the most important part of my article, the intro to my journal article. “‬‭At least three of‬

‭the six classic questions (5 Ws and 1 H) - Who, What, Where, When, Why and How – should be‬

‭answered in the intro. Intros should attract the reader’s attention. News reporters don’t try to‬

‭build suspense - they do the opposite and give it all away in the first sentence.”‬‭3‬ ‭Using this as my‬

‭primary reference for my intro, I summarized the data heavy research and the final findings into‬

‭a few sentences, answering what the research was about, who it was done by and why it was‬

‭important.‬‭Next was the writing‬‭of the actual news story itself. BBC writes: “‬‭A news story‬‭will‬

‭cover all of the 5 Ws and 1 H: Who What Where When Why How. News stories tell the reader‬

‭what they need to know in the shortest possible way. When writing your news story, be as‬

‭succinct and precise as possible.”‬‭4‬ ‭This process I‬‭found very similar to writing the intro to my‬

‭news article as it referenced most of the same information. Though there was of course more‬
‭2‬
‭Janet Boyde, “Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking),” essay, in‬‭Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing‬‭, vol. 2‬
‭(Anderson: Parlor Press, 2010).‬
‭3‬
‭“Writing an Intro - News Writing - GCSE Journalism (CCEA) Revision - BBC Bitesize,”‬‭BBC News‬‭, n.d.,‬
‭accessed March 16, 2024, https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zpmq9qt/revision/2.‬
‭4‬
‭“Writing a News Story - News Writing - GCSE Journalism (CCEA) Revision - BBC Bitesize,”‬‭BBC News‬‭,‬
‭n.d., accessed March 16, 2024, https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zpmq9qt/revision/3.‬
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‭information to be written in the body of my article, it was still a summary of complex economic‬

‭research. I’d concluded to using the inferences the economists in the research article made to‬

‭draw up my news stories as the inferences did more or less convey a summary of their research.‬

‭The inferences themselves weren’t nearly as complicated as the in-depth process of the research‬

‭itself, and that fact lends itself to the purposes of a newspaper article, to educate the layman with‬

‭as much information as needed.‬

‭The structure of the research article was relatively complex. It had to flow from the‬

‭abstract itself to the posing of the research question, the context, the procedure, the methodology,‬

‭all the way to the eventual conclusion documenting the findings and inferences. Each part of the‬

‭writing process was meticulous and the researchers got as specific as their research demands.‬

‭This research article was for the most part structured around data-heavy models to represent the‬

‭different relationships between the various input parameters such as‬ ‭student employment,‬

‭gender, ... and day of birth.”‬‭5‬ ‭The majority of the research article simply devoted itself to solving‬

‭these variables to accurately model the different relationships pertaining later employment‬

‭outcomes as a result of working during secondary school.‬

‭In contrast to the complex structure of the research article, my newspaper article‬

‭displayed a relatively simple structure. This is because I didn’t have to go deeply in-depth into‬

‭the topic like the research paper did. The structure of my article was made up of a headline, lead,‬

‭body paragraphs addressing the findings made by the researchers in the research article, and a‬

‭conclusion. This format sought to inform an audience that wasn’t well-versed in economic‬

‭literature, in other words, to inform the average layman. I think this structure does achieve this‬

‭purpose, as much of the research is simplified down to its essential elements and findings. It‬

‭5‬
‭By Stijn Baert et al., “Student Work during Secondary Education, Educational Achievement, and Later‬
‭ mployment: A Dynamic Approach,”‬‭Empirical Economics‬‭63, no. 3 (January 16, 2022): 1605–35,‬
E
‭https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-021-02172-7.‬
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‭doesn’t delve deeper into economic theory or methods of modeling and statistical analysis,‬

‭because newspaper articles simply don’t need to.‬

‭All in all, I decided to translate my chosen research paper into a newspaper article‬

‭because I wanted to inform a wider audience on some of the effects of student work during‬

‭secondary school on later employment outcomes. In this essay, I’ve reflected on the process of‬

‭translating from one genre to another, and how the genre conventions can change drastically‬

‭depending on the intent of the author. Throughout the process of translating the research article‬

‭to my news article, I’ve learned of newspaper conventions, why they are important for the‬

‭purposes of a newspaper and in general how to translate one type of writing into another genre.‬

‭Doing this also broadened my understanding of universally acknowledged genre conventions‬

‭such as jargon, audience along with many others. The process of genre translation is important‬

‭as all writers require the skill of translating writing as writing varies heavily depending on the‬

‭setting.‬
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‭Bibliography‬

‭Boyde, Janet. “Murder!(RhetoricallySpeaking).” Essay. In‬‭Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing‬

‭2, Vol. 2. Anderson: Parlor Press, 2010.‬

‭Rosenburg, Karen. “Reading Games.” Essay. In‬‭Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing‬‭2, Vol. 2.‬

‭Anderson: Parlor Press, 2010.‬

‭Baert, By Stijn, Brecht Neyt, Eddy Omey, and Dieter Verhaest. “Student Work during‬

‭ econdary Education, Educational Achievement, and Later Employment: A Dynamic‬

S
‭Approach.”‬‭Empirical Economics‬‭63, no. 3 (January 16, 2022): 1605–35.‬
‭https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-021-02172-7.‬

“‭ Writing a News Story - News Writing - GCSE Journalism (CCEA) Revision - BBC Bitesize.”‬
‭BBC News‬‭. BBC, n.d. Accessed March 16, 2024.‬
‭https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zpmq9qt/revision/3.‬

“‭ Writing an Intro - News Writing - GCSE Journalism (CCEA) Revision - BBC Bitesize.”‬‭BBC‬
‭News‬‭. BBC, n.d. Accessed March 16, 2024.‬
‭https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zpmq9qt/revision/2.‬