07 April 2015

What is language journalism?

Michael Erard has launched a fascinating site called Schwa Fire.
The first editorial is entitled What is language journalism?


To my mind, languager journalism is clearly a special category of technical journalism and possibly one of the most interesting given the subject matter and the fact that we can assume that the writers are striving for maximum clarity and quality of expression per se.
Perhaps soon we'll hear from some translators who decide to translate Schwa Fire articles and, in so doing, join the ranks of technical journalism translators with an even more special challenges than the rest of us.

Support Schwa Fire.

On the About page, Michael Erard explains:
Why “schwa?” Because everybody likes to say “schwa.” Which, by the way, is the name of a mid-central vowel that’s usually not stressed in English, like the final vowel of “sofa.”
Why "fire"? If you’re reading Schwa Fire, it’s because you love all aspects of speech, language, and communication. “Fire” points to passion and enthusiasm.
and more.

If uou want to read more about 'schwa' you could start with the Wikipedia article here, the BBC article here, or the American English pronunciation article here.

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