News gathering and dissemination

particular translations become accepted as the 
equivalent of the original text as they move 
along the chain of information transfer. Thirdly, 
it illustrates the relationship between in extenso 
translation and summary, since the phrase in 
question was only a small part of an extensive 
text which was already summarized in the trans-
lations referred to here. Fourthly, it indicates 
the multifarious nature of the transfer process, 
where a small number of original translations 
give rise to a large number of quoted reports, 
due to the insertion of translation into other 
editorial processes. And finally, it shows – by 
being the exception that tests the rule – how 
rarely translation in news is questioned. This 
translation was questioned, and as a result it 
was seen to be problematic. It is impossible 
to know to what extent news translation is 
the source of problematic language transfers, as 
such questioning is rare – but see Radin (2004) 
for another problematic example. 
See also:
globalization; institutional translation; 
strategies.
Further reading
Hess 1996; Boyd-Barrett and Rantanen 1998; 
Hamilton and Jenner 2004; Bielsa 2005; Orengo 
2005; Schäffner 2005; Tsai 2005; Valdeón 2005; 
Ackerman 2006; Kang 2007; Palmer and Fontan 
2007. 
JERRY PALMER
Norms
The notion of ‘norms’ was first introduced by the 
Israeli scholar Gideon Toury in the late 1970s to 
refer to regularities of translation behaviour 
within a specific sociocultural situation (Toury 
1978, reprinted in Toury 1980a). The concept 
proved influential during the 1980s and 1990s 
and has supported an extensive programme of 
research in translation studies, though mainly 
in the domain of written translation (see 
conference interpreting, sociocultural 
approaches). 
Historical and theoretical 
background
The impetus for Toury’s work, including his 
notion of norms, came from the polysystem 
approach developed in the early 1970s by his 
colleague Itamar Even-Zohar. Prior to the 
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