Difference between revisions of "Decentralised Publishing"
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Latest revision as of 22:13, 15 June 2015
This post has moved to: http://community.globalvoicesonline.org/guide/editorial-guides/decentralised-publishing/
Related posts: Lingua Editors Guide | Lingua Content
This wiki explains the circumstances in which a post can be published first in a Lingua site and then translated for Global Voices in English, or not translated, as well as the policy regarding this process.
Please note that this is a different process from Lingua Content, in which Lingua sites are allowed to publish their own content, requiring no translation into English.
Contents
Introduction
Decentralised publishing is a process whereby we publish posts in a non-English language before they are translated and published in Global Voices in English. It started in 2010, as a resolution of the Global Voices Summit in Santiago.
The primary purpose of Lingua websites is to translate posts, but decentralised publishing can be especially helpful in moments of breaking news. The purpose of decentralised publishing is to develop more collaboration between the regional and translation teams and instil a greater sense of immediacy for writers and readers of non-English languages.
It also boosts the ability of authors who lack English skills to participate of Global Voices, and has helped editors to recruit more volunteers and improve our coverage in general.
Here is an example of a post that was published in Spanish first:
... and then translated into English:
Policy
Decentralised publishing is not compulsory: no authors are obliged to write in non-English language. No editors are obliged to edit in non-English language. No translators are obliged to produce original content.
We need to have both, Lingua and newsroom editorial capacities for a given language to be part of the experiment.
All stories must be revised, edited and approved by a Content Editor before they are published on any site, following the same guidelines for English posts. Content editors are Regional Editors, Language Editors, Subject Editors, and, in the absence of them, Managing Editor and News Editor.
Content Editors are fully responsible for original posts. Lingua Editors are not accountable for errors or mistakes in original posts published in Lingua sites.
Posts must be translated into English as soon as possible and preferably immediately after publication on the Lingua site for the sake of global dialogue. For breaking news, translations must be published within 48 hours. For other current affairs posts, translations must be published within a week. Ever-green type features can be published with flexibility.
Starting in 2013, content editors working with Bangla, Spanish and Portuguese languages will be allowed to publish 'Lingua only' content, and chose stories to be translated into English.
In the event of any disagreement the Multi-Lingual Editor is to be notified.
Preparation
Different regional and Lingua groups should discuss openly what they prefer to do, and whether they would like to work in collaboration or individually (separating Lingua tasks of Newsroom tasks).
A Lingua site and community should reach some maturity before engaging in decentralised publishing. The Multilingual Editor should be communicated of the intension of publishing original content before commencing. Managing Editor has final say over when its appropriate.
It is the responsibility of the Content Editor and/or Lingua Editor to facilitate the translation into English, to be decided at local level.
It is encouraged to build a team of Lingua into English translators and have a separate group to coordinate related tasks.
Content Editors need to have accounts in Lingua dashboards with at least the following capabilities: Create user, edit posts, edit others posts, publish posts, edit published posts.
Guidelines
For content editors
Decentralized posts should be thoroughly edited upon publication in original language, and should preferably include as much context as possible keeping in mind that the stories will be translated into multiple languages and that many Lingua sites have readership across a number of countries.
Editors should use the support provided by the sub-editors group after posts are translated into English.
Additional contextualization for sake of understanding ("global version") may be added to English version in sub-editing process: eg. explanation of names, places, expressions. Headlines and excerpts may also differ for sake of clarity.
Very complicated or controversial stories, or those that have not been thoroughly edited, should WAIT for their English translation and sub-editing before publication in the Lingua site, in anticipation of changes to the original. We rely on Content Editor's best judgement here.
If the Content Editor decides to wait for the English translation and sub-editing, they will need to copy the post from the Lingua dashboard and paste it in the English dashboard, so that it can be translated and sub edited. It can then be assigned to a volunteer translator.
Any corrections, deletions or additions to an English translation of an original post should be reported back to editor/author of the original. Relevant (especially factual + attribution) changes should be made to the original in a timely manner and reported to Lingua through the Edit Request Form (http://bit.ly/EditRequest) so that all translations are also updated.
To coordinate posts in translation, editors and translators may make use of the Lingua into English Translations Tracker
For translators
A post that is published on a Lingua site first can be translated directly into other languages.
It is preferable to translate into your mother tongue and whenever possible, translate from the original language, but have a look to English translation when already up for confirmation.
In case of discrepancy between posts, translator should ask or use personal judgement. In case of language or phrasing, original may be better, in case of context or clarity of argument for global audience English might be better.
If the discrepancy between a post and its translation is confusingly or unreasonably big we can assume there has been a missing link in communication that should be clarified and updated on either version of the post. Please report it.
Headlines and excerpts may be adapted to Lingua local audience, and either follow the original post or the English translation, or differ from both of them.
Additional contextualization for sake of understanding ("local version") may be added to Lingua version: eg. explanation of names, places, expressions. Headlines and excerpts may also differ for sake of clarity.
If you are fluent in the language of a quote, feel free to translate directly from it. If you find the English translation of the quote is wrong or misleading, please report it.
Please report any errors, mistakes and unreasonable discrepancies mentioned in these guidelines through the Edit Request Form (http://bit.ly/EditRequest)
Suggested Workflow
This workflow aims to set the golden rules for the decentralised publishing process.
Content and Lingua editors will need to adapt their work style and current process to this workflow, after having decided among themselves on their own level of engagement with the process (individually or in collaboration).
An efficient collaborative editorial workflow will put everyone’s role in perspective and allow editors to be devoted to the quality of the work and time to publish.
While it is critical that these guidelines are followed, it is equally important that you do not apply them so rigidly that you sacrifice user-friendliness for the sake of editorial purity.
See what works for your group as long as it meets the guidelines and policy above, it will be fine.
- Translator/Author (Writer) has an idea for a post and pitches the story to the relevant Content Editor before they start working on the piece, regardless of urgency of the subject;
- If the Content Editor approves story, he/she agrees on a estimated delivery date with the writer;
- Writer puts the article into production in the Lingua dashboard, taking care to adhere to the GV Style Guide and delivers a link to final draft in the Lingua dashboard to Content Editor;
- Content Editor edits and revises the post in the Lingua dashboard and:
- if the post needs further work, he/she proposes fixes to the Author - back to step 3;
- if the post is OK, using their own judgement:
- Content Editor publishes the post directly; OR
- Content Editor publishes the post or communicates to the Lingua Editor that it is ready to be published
- Content or Lingua Editor sends the published post's Lingua URL to the English translator and either:
- sets a maximum of 48 hours deadline for translation in case of breaking news or one week in case of current affairs;
- adopts a more flexible approach in case of time sensitive and non-breaking news;
- adopts an open deadline according to translator or Lingua convenience in case of non-time sensitive stories;
- English translator uses the ‘Fetch Post Data’ tool and translates it on the GV in English dashboard and delivers draft link to the Content Editor;
- Content Editor does the final check on the English version and publishes post on GV in English. Please remember to check the categories and untick the "featured" for the post in English in case it was featured in the original post.
According to this workflow, Content Editors are responsible for approving stories suggestions from the translation community, editing posts and for signing off posts for publication on the Lingua sites.
Content or Lingua Editors (to be decided at group level) publish posts on the Lingua sites that are not breaking news; Content editors publish breaking news stories as they will be working on it at the moment it is fresh.
Content or Lingua Editors (to be decided at group level) coordinate Lingua to English translations. Content Editors double check translated posts before publishing it on the Global Voices in English site.
The person in charge of publishing a post – Lingua or Content Editor – should make sure the post is error free (grammar, punctuation, spelling) before publishing.
Practical Examples
See below some practical examples on how this workflow can be applied to stories ideas with different degrees of urgency. Our character is Chico, a new translator in the Portuguese Lingua group, and and The Portuguese language editor is Sara. Debora and Diego are Portuguese Lingua Editors, and Marta, Janet and Melissa are English translators. The Portuguese group have chosen to work in collaboration.
Scenario 1 - Breaking news
New translator in the Portuguese Lingua group Chico wants to write about the flooding that have suddenly caused damage in his city today. He pitches this story to Portuguese language editor Sara, showing that there are already some blogs talking about it.
Sara accepts the story and agrees that he will deliver the piece later on the same day.
As Chico starts writing, Sara contacts her Portuguese into English volunteers to book one of them to translate the post with delivery deadline the day after. Marta says she is available and accepts the job.
Sara receives the article on the same night, edits it in Portuguese and publishes it in the GV in Portuguese site. She then sends the link of the Portuguese post to Marta, who uses fetch data and starts translating it straight away.
Marta finishes in the following morning and communicates with Sara, who reads the English translation and publishes it on the GV in English site.
Scenario 2 - Time sensitive news and current affairs
The Brazilian elections will happen in Brazil on October the 3rd. New translator in the Portuguese Lingua group Chico writes to Portuguese language editor Sara a week before to check that nobody else is writing about this and shows interest in running a story to be published on the morning of the polling day.
Sara shows him previous posts on the election campaign and agrees with him on the angle for the upcoming post, as well as for the delivery on the morning of October 1st.
As Chico starts writing, Sara contacts Portuguese to English translator Janet, who has been following the elections closely, to check if she would be available to translate Chico’s article on October 1st with deadline for the evening of October 2nd. Janet agrees with the proposed deadline.
Sara lets Portuguese Lingua Editors Debora/Diego know that they will have a post to be published on October 3rd morning, the day of the elections. In this case, as translations may begin before the Lingua article is published and the fetch data tool will not be working, the Content Editor may need to copy and paste the edited content in a new post in the GV in English dashboard or use Google docs for the translation.
Scenario 3 - Everything else
New translator in the Portuguese Lingua group Chico wants to write a piece about homeless people blogging in his city. Portuguese language editor Sara agrees on the post and the proposed delivery date, two weeks after.
When Chico delivers the post, Sara takes her time to edit it and when finished, she sends the piece to Portuguese to English translator Melissa, who enjoys translating this type of subject. Sara asks when Melissa would be able to deliver the translation, according to her own convenience.
As with the case above, the fetch data tool will not be available, so the Content Editor may need to make the text to be translated available to Melissa by copying and pasting the edited content in a new post in the GV in English dashboard or using googledocs.
When the translation is ready and checked, Sara agrees together with Portuguese Lingua Editors Diego/Debora on the best day for publication on the Lingua site with subsequent publication on GV in English.
Quick Glossary
Please see below a list of terms used in this wiki, for clarification when necessary.
For more terms, visit the general GV Glossary of Terms.
- Authors
- Anybody who is not a Content Editor and who would like to run a story for Global Voices in any language. This can be a current translator, a Lingua Editors, or regular authors.
- Breaking news
- These are unanticipated events developing during the publication cycle (natural disasters, breaking conflicts, strikes, crime, war).
- Content Editor
- Content editors (Regional, Language and Subject Editors) are those who coordinate production and publication of original posts in any language. Content editors coordinate a team of authors, edit and publish posts, and ensure overall quality of news pieces. The posts their teams produce may be written in English or in a different language (in which case the concept of decentralised publishing described above applies). Content editors are also responsible for recruiting and approving authors.
- Current affairs
- Recent news and discussion of stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of publication (political decisions, polemic discussions, law, science, or technology reports of note, etc).
- Fetch Post Data
- A tool for importing content from source. You need to provide a link to a published post in order to have all fields populated with the source text for translation (title, categories, excerpt and main post). It is also the way to tell the system a post was written in another language and link author and translator. See how the system works here.
- Lingua Content
- There are two types of Lingua Original: Lingua Announcements and Quick Reads (starting in June 2013). The first are non-editorial posts that help build relationships with Lingua readers and translators. The second are short posts that follow Global Voices policy and link to citizen media in the language of the site. As opposed to decentralised publication, these posts do not need to be translated into English, and can be edited and published by Lingua editors.
- Lingua Editor
- Lingua editors are those who coordinate production and publication of translated posts in a Lingua site. Translations can be from English or from another Lingua site. Lingua editors coordinate a team of translators, edit and publish translations, and ensure overall quality of translations. Lingua editors are also responsible for recruiting and approving translators.
- Multilingual Newsroom
- The multilingual newsroom is a concept presented in the Global Voices Summit 2012 for the future of the Decentralised Publishing. As of Aug 2012, it has not been presented to the community or implemented yet, so the Decentralised Publishing is still the workflow in place for production in any other language than English.
- Original content
- An original news piece; a post that is not a translation of any other Global Voices post. It can be produced in any language with the supervision of Content Editors, but will eventually have a translation in English.
- Regular stories
- Everything else and soft news in general; all stories for which there is no precipitating event triggering them and that can be published at any time (arts and entertainment, sports, lifestyle, anniversaries, food, entertainment, bloggers interviews)
- Time sensitive news
- News about anticipated events that have time to be published; these are always known in advance but do have time to be published (upcoming elections, referendum, annual festivals, competitions)
