Dutch broadcaster launches news bulletin in easy-to-understand language

The Dutch public broadcaster NOS has launched an evening news programme using “easy language” aimed at 2.5 million people in the Netherlands who struggle with the language.

English speakers may joke about “double Dutch”, but foreigners are not the only ones who sometimes fail to comprehend the west Germanic language of long words, convoluted sentences and guttural sounds.

The Netherlands audit office calculated in 2016 that one in seven people in the the country struggles with literacy and numeracy, and language skills among teenagers have plummeted. The 5pm NOS Journaal in Makkelijke Taal (news bulletin in easy language) is aimed at older people, non-native speakers, and those with learning problems or disrupted education.

Onno Duyvené de Wit, a spokesperson for NOS, said: “This is not just about newcomers to the Netherlands but also people who were born here and for one reason or another missed the boat with language. We have the legal task of making news, sport and national and international events available to all of the residents of the Netherlands, and this is part of it.”

The broadcaster has been experimenting with simple, weekly round-ups on YouTube, developed with the literacy charity Stichting Lezen en Schrijven. Its daily service will have fewer images, simpler sentence structure, easier language and fewer topics, explained at a slower tempo. Interviewers will also encourage people to avoid jargon.

The Netherlands did not have a “plain” language movement like the UK in the 1970s and 1980s, but there is increasing recognition that institutions have a duty to communicate clearly. A government study in 2021 found that 62% of local government communication was impossible to read for people with a lower level of education. Since then, a “straight-talking brigade” of language coaches has attempted to train civil servants in clear communication. The Dutch tax office is trying to write simpler letters and public information was also produced in “simple” language during the pandemic.

Jan-Willem Heijkoop, a spokesperson for Stichting Lezen en Schrijven, said there was still a long way to go. “For those 2.5 million adults, it is just too difficult to understand information from municipalities, hospitals, housing corporations, but also primary schools, if they have children,” he said. “We have also become very complex in our language: if you write, ‘that’s what we do’, then the reader knows someone is going to do something. But if you write ‘that’s how things are done’, it’s much more tricky to understand. It all makes it very difficult for a lot of people to function in our society.”

Sonja Verbaarschott, editor of the Jeugdjournaal, said many adult Dutch learners watch its youth news programme as a way to improve their skills. “We know that many people who have come to the Netherlands and learn Dutch as a second language are recommended to watch, although we don’t have hard figures,” she said.

Dr Mark Boukes, an expert in journalism at the University of Amsterdam, said typical adult television news in the Netherlands is fast-moving and assumes background knowledge, while consumers are often multitasking too.

“Most journalists are highly educated themselves and in that regard it’s good that they take a step back and think: how can we make this easier and more digestible for an audience that is not used to consuming news programmes?” he said. “From a democratic perspective, it’s good that more people have access.”