The news is, at its core, a field of linguistics. As a branch of the school of communications, the journalistic endeavor, as is the case with all media, relies heavily on transmitting a message.
This is much more complicated than it sounds. Something that may make perfect sense in Hebrew won’t make any sense at all when translated literally into English. And will the average secular reader understand some of the complex jargon associated with news involving ultra-Orthodox communities? How about civilians attempting to understand military or medical jargon?
Because of this, language is at the core of journalism: knowing what words to use, and knowing how to transmit a message in a way the audience will understand – and enjoy.
Batsheva Shulman, or Shevy as she is known to The Jerusalem Post staff, is an explorer of language, and it is her job to help make sure that information is communicated well for our readers.
Hailing from South Africa, Shulman moved to Israel and became a speech therapist, familiarizing herself with the function of language and the ability to learn it.
Eventually, she decided to shift her career to journalism, coming to the Post to work as a copy editor. In this role, she meticulously edits articles to make sure the important points come across, removing superfluous words and simplifying language as needed. Reporters may write the news, but it’s the copy editors who turn what could be a huge wall of text into a cohesive piece of journalism.
In the sea of journalism where words and language matter so much, Shulman is an explorer, helping track down exactly what to use to make our articles coherent.
Since doing that, she has also worked more on the web desk, helping translate articles from the Post’s sister publications Maariv and Walla to help our readers be informed about news that other English media may miss.
In addition to that, she is a capable writer, with several feature articles under her belt.
In Jerusalem sat down with Shulman to talk about her work at the Post.
What brought you to Israel?
I was living in Cape Town, South Africa, with my family. The Jewish community there is very small, and I felt that there wasn’t much of a future there for me socially and career-wise. I thought there would be so many more opportunities in Israel – and I was right.
Tell me about your speech therapy work and how you got into it.
As a speech therapist, I worked mainly in adult rehab with stroke patients in hospital settings. I loved everything I learned academically, but working in the field was too difficult for me – emotionally and physically.
I love languages, communication, and anything to do with health, so I thought that speech therapy would be a great combination of my interests. I also wanted to help people and make a difference. I wanted to study linguistics originally – and I still do – but many people advised me to choose a degree that was more practical so that I could get a job in it. Ironically, I don’t work in the field anymore – it wasn’t for me. I much prefer what I’m doing now.
What brought you to work at ‘The Jerusalem Post’?
I was looking for a career change but wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I knew that I loved writing and also enjoyed editing and translation. I saw the job opening and thought it would be a good opportunity, so I applied.
What’s something about working at the ‘Post’ that most people don’t know?
In addition to our daily paper and regular weekly supplements, we have a Hebrew-English-French magazine that comes out once a month.
What’s one of the most memorable anecdotes from your career so far?
I guess the first time one of my articles got published in the paper, that was cool. [Shulman’s first published article was “Spreading the light,” a feature about South African-Israeli stained glass artist Barak Uranovosky, in The Jerusalem Post Magazine, October 2024.]