Bias of Russian EuroNews again and again
I just watched a new EuroNews programme about Belarus, it was called “Vilnius — a capital of Belarusian exiles”. Again and again, there are dozens of serious discrepancies between the original English and the Russian translation. Just to give you an example, here’s the most important, opening paragraph:
Original English version (video in English):
“In Vilnius, Lithuania, outside their embassy Belarusians denounce the way elections went in their country. Last March, president Lukashenka claims, four out of five voted to keep him in office for a third term. The European Union agrees with the opposition that this is false.”
Here is the Russian translation of the intro (video in Russian):
“At the building of the Belarusian embassy in Vilinius there are demonstrations of protest virtually every day (?!), protesting the results of the presidential elections, which took place on March, 19. President Lukashenka, who came to power in 1994, according to official count, received 83% of the vote. This number puzzled (caused perplexity — “vyzvalo nedoumenie”) not only opposition, but also the European Union.”
Some other previous examples I cared to write about:
• Russian EuroNews: “EU not happy”
• Russian EuroNews Coverage — and their headlines
• Shooting incident — and Russian EuroNews coverage
• Top news on CNN — no news on EuroNews
April 16th, 2006 at 6:28 pm
There is no “original English”, as there’s no “Russian translation” - it’s a common misconception of those having wrong idea of what EuroNews is and how it works. Each of the news stories in each of the seven languages is unique, there’s no translation whatsoever.
April 16th, 2006 at 6:35 pm
I’m pleased to see here someone who actually works in EuroNews. That’s great. Thanks for stopping by.
I really didn’t know about this policy regarding different languages on your TV channel.
Can you please point me to a link on the official website of EuroNews.net where it explains or explicitly warns about that?
Thanks.
April 16th, 2006 at 7:22 pm
You’re welcome. I don’t think there is - or there should be - a denial of the popular legend on the official website. The misconception appears to be a result of widespread stereotype of a global TV news channel broadcasting necessarily in English, but any such cultural discrimination would be a contradiction to the very idea of EuroNews as the pan-European, multinational news source. All the versions here are equal, there’s no leading language in the work process (apart from French used as the main communication language in the headquarters just because we’re situated near Lyon).
Since all the seven versions of a news story are created semi-independently at the same time, the texts can’t possibly correspond. They’re alike only so far since the video edits and most of the information sources used by the seven journalists are the same.
April 16th, 2006 at 8:06 pm
> The misconception appears to be a result of widespread stereotype of a global TV news channel broadcasting necessarily in English, but any such cultural discrimination would be a contradiction to the very idea of EuroNews as the pan-European, multinational news source. All the versions here are equal
I didn’t know that, thank you Denis.
This makes perfect sense, especially for a EU-sponsored channel, because if you single out English, it would appear as if you give special preference to Great Britain and/or USA.
Still, I have some concerns about this approach:
> They’re alike only so far since the video edits…
I see a dangerous line there from ethical journalistic point of view. Shouldn’t there be a common guideline, certain borders that you shouldn’t cross?
Let’s imagine a purely hypothetical example, a video of anti-Putin demonstration in Moscow.
And let’s imagine, just for the sake of this argument, that English EuroNews reports truthfully and objectively that there was a peaceful demonstration against Putin, with an estimated 20,000 participants, who were brutally dispersed by the police.
While, let’s say, the Russian version of EuroNews, for certain reasons, reports that several hundred aggressive people gathered in the center of Moscow and police protected the order by peacefully blocking and dispersing the aggressive ultras, or something…
Of course, it’s not so bad today. It is definietely not the case.
But with this Belarus-related coverage it seems to me that EuroNews might be slowly moving somewhere in that direction.
April 16th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
Товарищи журналисты, вам следует пустить бегущий рядок: “Warning, you are watching Russian Euronews which is very different from other Euronews editions. We only use the same video”.
April 16th, 2006 at 8:23 pm
Oooo someone from Euronews found this blog? As Administrator says, the differences between the various languages provided by Euronews are a cause of concernt. However I do want to give thanks to your network for providing coverage on Belarusian events as very few do.
April 16th, 2006 at 8:29 pm
}T{Reme [Q_G]: Actally br23.net is 4th, 5th and 8th result on Google for the search query “Russian EuroNews”:
* http://www.google.com/search?q=Russian+EuroNews ;)
The 2nd result is also from TOL Blogs which is about the same problem (Belarus-related coverage on Russian EuroNews).
> However I do want to give thanks to your network for providing coverage on Belarusian events as very few do.
True. I’m also quite happy that EuroNews started to pay more attention to Belarusan events during this presidential “election”.
April 16th, 2006 at 11:40 pm
I find that Euronews changing its content to satisfy the goverments of each country despicable and certainly not a normal or fair occurrence.
April 16th, 2006 at 11:53 pm
> Shouldn’t there be a common guideline
It’s the same channel, the same editorial management and the same editorial charter establishing the same guidelines - how much more common can it be? Texts differ, but not the principles.
> it seems to me that EuroNews might be slowly moving somewhere
There are no reasons for EuroNews to step away from its editorial principles now or in the future. Impartiality is what holds the thing together and makes it valuable. The channel will exist as long as its editorial policy is protected from any pressure, and I can testify that the team - including the Russian part of it - is completely free and independent in its work here. Professionally it’s extremely rewarding.
Of course, every language team is especially careful when preparing stories concerning their home regions - not because of any bias, but just because their audience knows the subject much better than viewers of other languages and needs more than sometimes rough and simplified coverage other versions have. That’s, by the way, another reason why it’s impossible to have language versions translated from a single “original” - they’re all customized, but with the common approach.
April 17th, 2006 at 1:35 am
Administrator Says: > Actally br23.net is 4th, 5th and 8th result on Google for the search query “Russian EuroNews”:
> * http://www.google.com/search?q=Russian+EuroNews ;)
>The 2nd result is also from TOL Blogs which is about the same problem (Belarus-related coverage on Russian EuroNews).
Heh, you are listed as 2nd and 3rd, followed by TOL on 4th here using the same query :) Gotta love Google’s localization.
May 3rd, 2006 at 6:07 pm
Denis wrote:
>There are no reasons for EuroNews to step away from its editorial principles now or in the future. Impartiality is what holds the thing together and makes it valuable.
Is this what you call impartial ? Or are these statements about Euronews factually incorrect ?
—
Reputation of EuroNews Jeopardized
13:27, 11/04/2006
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2006/04/11/euronews
The reputation of the television news channel EuroNews is put at risk by the Russian service of the channel: they broadcast news stories deliberately distorting the political situation in Belarus.
On April 8 Euronews aired two news stories about swearing-in ceremony of Alyaksandr Lukashenka (Alexander Lukashenko), in Russian and in English. The picture in the both versions was the same, but comments differed drastically. In the Russian version the final part was omitted. In the end the text contained a statement that international observers had not recognized the elections in Belarus either free or fair, and that the officials of the EU had ardently supported the criticism by Milinkevich aimed against Lukashenka.
—
June 24th, 2006 at 2:20 am
Well, I could answer that “the reputation of charter97.org is put at risk by profound unprofessionalism of its staff”, but - fortunately enough for the website - I never heard of it having any reputation in the first place.
Ironicaly, the same people who dare to question someone’s “moral right for following the profession of a journalist” haven’t even thought about making a phone call to EuroNews before jumping into the comparative analisys. As a result, they built their accusation speech on a false argument: the Russian service, they say, is “translating the original news of the channel”. Well, it doesn’t, and the differences between all the seven language versions are natural and omnipresent. The biased website is fighting windmills here, and its revelations are nothing more than paranoid and unethical speculations.
November 8th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Interesting subject matter. I agree with Denis Loktev.
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:04 am
Thanks for sharing
February 7th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well. But it was interesting! Look for some my links:
March 24th, 2008 at 6:18 am
I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well.
August 13th, 2008 at 11:28 am
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!