The presenter speaks relatively slowly. Her sentences are short. Her pauses a little longer than usual. Difficult terms are absent from this bulletin and if necessary are explained below. It is the so-called “Simple News Bulletin”, which aims to reach everyone and be understood by everyone. The ARDthe first channel of German public television has established it since mid-June in an effort, which concerns not only young children or those with hearing problems, but mainly the 17 million adults in Germany, who have difficulty understanding complex concepts, but also sentences .

Structural illiteracy is a problem that has grown in many countries in the age of the Internet. This gradually excludes many from valid and cross-referenced information. Even if they try, they need help to understand a news story, as Sonya Vilov, Editor-in-Chief of Plain Language News, explains: “We start by saying where what is happening, who it is about, if he is known or if we need to explain something about him, to interpret some more unusual terms and in this way we gradually pass from the known to the new”.

Difficulty speaking simply

Those who have tried, know that it is not at all simple to write in plain language. To tell the same news of the regular bulletin, but to make it “liana”. Especially when you’re talking about events, which are complex in nature, happen in far away places and often have unknown protagonists. In addition, in recent years, authoritative journalism has had to deal with the scourge of fake news.

Markus Bornheim, news editor of the first public television channel, sees this initiative as a shield against the barrage of lies that ordinary people have to contend with on the internet: “Especially in this area it is important for us to intervene as providers of important information , well-verified news. For a democracy to be functional, all citizens need to be properly informed, that’s why we consider it important to reach them.”

A bold step

It is a bold step, debated and frowned upon by some “readers”, but its promoters insist that it is a contribution to the strengthening of democracy, an attempt to defend against conspiracy theories and far-fetched scenarios. However, the newsletter is not only for those who do not know German well, but also for those who feel that after a long day at work they want to hear the news simply, quickly and comprehensively. Without having to make any special effort.

In other words, the goal is to reach a new audience, who might want to be informed, but didn’t have the time or couldn’t and maybe even were embarrassed to ask things, which in the slang of journalists are considered self-evident and used without a second thought.

The bulletin is broadcast daily by the news channel ARD24 and is of course also available online. The first report is positive, although it is still too early for safe conclusions. Let’s wait. The task is not that simple. It reminds me of what Johan Cruyff used to say about football: “it’s a very simple sport. But the difficult thing is to play simply.”