NOS, the Dutch public broadcaster, has launched a new daily news broadcast at 17:00 called NOS Journaal in makkelijke Taal or "NOS news in easy language". In 2021 they started a weekly news channel on YouTube and now they are changing to a daily format. It will be shown on television at 17:00 as well as on YouTube. They will focus on three topics per broadcast, with each broadcast lasting about 5 minutes, give or take.
It's quite similar to their Lang verhaal kort or "Long story short" podcast which I have followed for years. The podcast has episodes every weekday, about 5 minutes each, describing one topic. Each episode ends with a short summary so you can be sure of what you just heard.
Here are some news articles about the new service NOS is offering:
NOS Journaal in Makkelijke Taal van start from nos.nl (in Dutch)
Dutch broadcaster launches news bulletin in easy-to-understand language from theguardian.com
The nice thing is the service isn't just aimed at foreigners – it is also aimed at residents who don't have the required language skills to follow the news, or the elderly, or similar. The NOS also has a daily news program for children and/or teenagers (NOS jeugdjournaal) but as you can imagine, that is a different audience than the one they are trying to serve with this version.
I don't need this "easy news" service anymore, but it would have nice when I first moved here. However, the article from The Guardian mentions the letters the Dutch government sends and how hard those can be to read. I agree wholeheartedly as I find most of the letters I receive from the government annoying to read. They are too longwinded. Just get to the point already. A lot of my coworkers who don't speak Dutch well enough yet will bring the letter to the office and ask around for help translating them.
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