Awards have positive plain English impact

Awards have positive plain English impact

Media release: WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust

Winners of the 2009 WriteMark New Zealand Plain English Awards will be announced this Friday, and judges say the Awards are clearly lifting plain English standards in New Zealand. Some winning entries were described as being “as good as it gets”.

Jacquie Harrison, a Senior Lecturer in Communication at AUT University and Awards judge, said this year’s entries show that many New Zealand communicators are using plain English techniques to a remarkably sophisticated level.

“One of the most gratifying things is the holistic approach many writers are now taking. They’re moving beyond simplified language and are thinking about structure and the context in which their documents will be read.

“Plain English is about much more than just language. It’s also about attractiveness in presentation, being engaging, and recognising you’re writing for a diverse audience.”

The standard of this year’s entries was so high that judges had to increase their focus on document design and structure to help decide winners.

International judge Neil James of the Sydney-based Plain English Foundation said he was particularly impressed with the standard of the public sector documents submitted for awards.

“There were many genuinely world-class documents from a range of government agencies that showed a real commitment to plain English. The public sector in New Zealand is clearly leading the way and the private sector could learn a great deal from its public sector colleagues.”

Agencies entering documents in public sector categories included a number of ministries, local authorities and academic institutions. Those shortlisted for public sector awards include the Department of Labour, the Department of Corrections, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.1

Lynda Harris, who founded the WriteMark New Zealand Plain English Awards in 2006, said she was pleased they were having such a positive impact in so short a time.

“To have international experts of this calibre praising New Zealand organisations for their writing is really something to celebrate,” she said.

However, some high-profile organisations will be hoping they don't win. Ten organisations were nominated by the public for “Brainstrain” awards, which are reserved for documents that are hard to understand or full of jargon and gobbledygook. Those shortlisted for “Brainstrain” awards include ASB Bank, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, the Department of Internal Affairs and Vodafone NZ.

Altogether, the Awards attracted 138 entries from 111 different organisations. There were 12 award categories covering printed documents, websites and even single-sentence transformations.

A $10,000 top prize will go to the winner of the Champion—Best organisation Award. Winners will be announced on 18 September at a ceremony and cocktail function at the old museum building in Wellington.

1. Full Awards shortlists are published at www.plainenglishawards.org.nz/2009-awards-shortlist/ .

ENDS

This year’s judges were:
David Russell, former CEO, Consumers' Institute
Kristina Halvorson, Founder of Brain Traffic (USA) and web content expert
Jacqueline Harrison, Senior Lecturer, School of Communication Studies, AUT University
Neil James, Plain English Foundation, Australia
Melua Watson, Co-founder and Director, Writeclick

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