News translation in a bilingual context: the case of news outlets in Kazakhstan

Abstract

Based on interviews with journalism community members in Kazakhstan, this study examines the practical challenges the journalism community faces in news translation and reporting in a bilingual context and discusses how the findings relate to broader journalism practice. This article contributes to growing scholarship on news translation, especially in a bilingual context, a scholarly area still under-explored. This study took place in Kazakhstan, where the Kazakh and Russian languages are official and have equal legal status. News translation makes it difficult for some people to immediately access news in their native language. Journalists either have to delay the circulation of news until translation is available in both languages or circulate news in the initial language of news production and speakers of the other language wait. News delays happen because of the translation hurts some news businesses.