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EASIT. Easy Access 
for Social Inclusion Training.

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This is unit 3C. 
Easy to understand language

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and audiovisual journalism.

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Element 3. Technical Aspects. 
Editing and voicing

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easy to understand
audiovisual journalistic content.

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I am Andrej Tomažin,
from RTV Slovenija,

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and in this video lecture I will focus 
on how editing and voicing E2U AVJ content

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differs from standard editing and voicing
practices in audiovisual journalism.

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In this lecture you will become
familiar with special practices

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in easy to understand audiovisual
journalism with regards to editing

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and voicing easy to
understand content.

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In any audiovisual content production,
whether it is done for television or radio,

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voicing plays an important part.

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As a clearly mediated narration 
is an essential part

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of the audiovisual
journalistic content.

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The voices we usually hear on radio 
or television are rich, crisp, resonant

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and free from certain impediments
that could make it harder

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for the listener to understand.

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“The Electronic Reporter” 
by Barbara Alysen lists the common errors

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with voicing in audiovisual journalism.
These are: placing stress or emphasis

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on the wrong words;

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speaking in a ‘sing-song’ voice;
using upward or downward inflections

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in inappropriate places.

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Using a tone of voice 
that is inappropriate for the story;

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speaking in a monotone voice;
speaking too fast or babbling;

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slurred speech, where syllables
or even words are left out.

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Speaking too slowly;
poor enunciation.

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The book “Broadcast journalism” 
by Andrew Boyd

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adds that minor speech impediments
in English speech such “as weak ‘Rrs’

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could be barriers 
to an otherwise promising career.”

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In any case, 
the foremost quality of a voice we hear

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in audiovisual journalism,

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regardless of language, is its capability 
to clearly convey a message.

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Voicing for easy to understand 
audiovisual journalism

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must make a few adjustments 
but has to stay true

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to the standard voicing
practices for radio or television,

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which promotes 
the clarity of the message.

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In this sense, easy to understand voicing
must be slower and well enunciated.

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John Charles Herbert in
his article ”Broadcast speech

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and the effect of voice quality on the
listener” argues that the broadcasted voice

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also needs to contain
inflection and rhythm,

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since no one would
listen to a monotone voice,

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which is devoid of feelings,

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nor to a voice which
is overindulgent.

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Voicing for easy to understand
audiovisual journalism

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basically goes another step further
in providing users with greater clarity

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and understandability
of the content.

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At the same time, 
a less monotone voice

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makes it possible 
for the listener to understand

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the narration as more familiar.

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Analogous to the principle of proximity
from the book “Leichte Sprache”

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by Ursula Bredel
and Christiane Maass,

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which argues for the necessity
of using the I-Here-Now forms

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to make the Easy-To-Read
language closer to the user,

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one could argue that proximity 
in an audiovisual journalistic context

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and especially voicing might work
inside the dichotomy of monotone

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versus non-monotone delivery.

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Although this might lead us to think
that a more dynamic voice would seem

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more familiar and appropriate
for easy to understand

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audiovisual journalistic
content, we still have

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to consider the standards
of broadcast voicing.

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The main purpose of E2U AVJ 
is that the images, narration

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and additional graphics
convey the same message.

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For that reason, edited moving images
and voices should go hand in hand.

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In this sense editing 
is the most important process

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as it mixes different aspects
of audiovisual journalistic practice.

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When producing easy to understand
audiovisual journalistic content,

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the images should not address themes
or contexts beyond the original content,

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provided within the narration.

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For example: when the journalist 
talks about a monsoon

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and the damage created by it,

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the images need to correspond
to that particular narration.

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The images should not, 
for example,

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show an undamaged landscape 
as a contrast to the narration.

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When editing audiovisual journalistic
content for standard news bulletin shows,

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the cuts tend to be shorter in length 
and change within 3-5 seconds.

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The images don’t always correspond 
to the cuts and edits,

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but create a parallel story,

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which is then united 
in the mind of the viewer.

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In this sense, when producing 
easy to understand

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audiovisual journalistic content, 
the editor should edit the video material

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according to the narration
and allocate the viewer

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more time to comprehend
the moving images.

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This means the edited cuts 
with easy to understand AVJ content

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tend to be longer 
than the norm.

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Since there is not much actual
audiovisual journalistic content available,

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which would define itself
as easy to understand,

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we chose to briefly analyse news
bulletins from Yle Uutiset Selkosuomeksi,

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a department from the Finnish
national broadcaster YLE,

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which produces
news in Easy Finnish

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in both textual, audio
and audiovisual format.

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Their edits and cuts
tend to be longer,

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around 6-8 seconds and the speed of speech
is slower than on the standard news.

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They have also introduced
elements that do not exist

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in standard language news.

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They use, for example, a core sentence 
which is repeated half-way

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through the news item.

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This repetition in narration
also corresponds to the repetition

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in the moving images 
or graphics.

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The core sentence enunciates
the central theme of the news item,

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and with the use of repetition
makes it more memorable.

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This is how journalists and editors
at Yle Uutiset Selkosuomeksi

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from the Finnish National Broadcaster YLE 
made the video news bulletins

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more available to the user.

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One of the areas of news bulletins 
and the editing process

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which are often used 
are certain graphical elements.

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Graphical elements 
in most cases explain new information

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or deliver some
additional information.

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When producing easy to understand
audiovisual journalistic news items,

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we can also encounter
certain words or concepts,

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which need explanation.
We can explain these

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with the help of narration and enrich
the explanation with the aid of graphics.

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Analogous to the explanations
in easy to understand language,

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the explanations should be distinguished 
from the core elements of the news item itself.

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With this, the viewer can distinguish
what serves as an explanation

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and what is the information
conveyed by the news item.

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When producing easy to understand
audiovisual journalistic content,

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a journalist should lean
on the pre-learned formats,

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but at the same time adapt 
these formats according to the audience.

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When creating easy to understand
audiovisual journalistic content,

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this can be most easily done with the help
of validation and tests with the audience,

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making sure 
it is understandable to them.

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I hope this information 
was useful.

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This video lecture was prepared 
by Andrej Tomažin from RTV Slovenija.

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You can reach me 
at andrej.tomazin@rtvslo.si.

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Partners of the EASIT project:
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona,

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Universita degli studi di Trieste,
Universida de Vigo,

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Stiftung Universität Hildesheim,
SDI München,

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Dyslexiförbundet, RTV Slovenija,
Zavod Risa.

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EASIT.
Easy Access for Social Inclusion Training.