Methodical Media Translation

Media translation is translating what a newsroom puts out - copy, scripts, packages, press releases and wire material. The work is produced by people and not by software, and what shapes it here is translation across documents, websites, media and software from one supplier, so the deliverable fits how you actually work instead of a generic template. Every file is checked by a second reviewer before it is sent.

Mostly news desks, broadcasters and press offices publishing to a deadline in two languages. What they have in common is material that has to be exact and not roughly right, which is why every file is checked against the source before delivery. Most of the work here ends up in front of someone with the authority to reject it.

Transcription starts at $1 per audio minute and translation at $0.10 per word. Media translation is quoted from the material you send, so a short job and a long one are worked out the same way. Translation is priced per word and certification per page, so you can see which part of the figure is which. Nothing starts before you approve that figure in writing, and the invoice matches it exactly.

It depends on length and on how difficult the source is, and the time is in the quote before you commit. Rush delivery within 2 to 24 hours covers the urgent end. Media translation is scheduled against the people who actually do this work, not against a general pool.

The 99+% accuracy standard applies to every file, and it holds because each finished file is produced by a person and then checked against the source by a second reviewer. Dates, figures and proper nouns are checked separately from the prose, because those are the details a reviewing office compares first. What gets checked on media translation is the detail a reader would otherwise have to verify alone: names, figures, terms and anything the source left ambiguous. Anything genuinely unclear is flagged for you, never guessed at.

It is handled by restricting access, not by promising discretion. Media translation often involves material people would not want circulated, so the file is closed to everyone except the pair working on it. Personal records, contracts and pre-filing material arrive daily, so access is closed by default and opened only to the pair on the job. Everyone on the job is under NDA, transfer is encrypted, and your own confidentiality agreement is signed before work starts if you have one.

You choose: editable Word or Google Docs, a searchable PDF for filing, or Excel where the content belongs in a table. The format for media translation is agreed at order stage, so the first delivery is the one you can file, send on or publish. Editable files come back editable - a Word document returns as Word, not as a PDF you cannot amend. Send a template once and every later order follows it.

The practical part is this: a name, place or number is checked against the original source, because an error travels once the story is picked up. It is agreed with you before anyone starts, because the alternative is a first delivery built on a guess and a second round of work to undo it. The translator works into their own first language, which is what keeps long text readable instead of merely correct.

Worth asking for: broadcast copy is written to be read aloud, with figures and names set out the way a presenter needs them. It is easier to set at order stage than to retrofit, and it costs nothing on top of the quoted rate when it is part of the original brief. A certified version and a plain working copy can be issued from the same job.

Yes, in 100+ languages, each handled by a native speaker and not by someone working from a dictionary. What media translation involves does not change with the language, and the same independent check happens before delivery. Rarer languages are confirmed as available before the quote goes out, not after you have paid.