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I’m Afraid We Have Good News 报喜不报忧?

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We all hope that there’s more to the news than stories of people dying in war, children starving in famines, and villages being wiped out by earthquakes and floods. But, like it or not, the bad stuff sells, and news organizations are in the business of selling a product.

我们都希望会有更多除了人们死于战争、孩童因饥荒挨饿及村庄毁于地震和洪水这类故事以外的新闻。但是，不管你喜不喜欢，负面消息才会卖钱，而新闻团队所从事的正是这类商品的贩卖。

Is there really a problem with this? Well, yes. News bias towards the negative locks us into a vicious circle of bad news begetting more bad news, with the result that the world can look like a very grim place indeed. However, it doesn’t help that journalists themselves are convinced that negative news items should get top priority.

这样真的会有问题吗?嗯，有的。偏好负面消息的报导让我们困在一则又一则坏消息的恶性循环中，结果导致这个世界看起来真的就是如此不堪。而新闻记者认定负面新闻应该优先的观念对这个状况于事无补。

Hopefuls (or is that the naïve?) the world over are proposing a countervailing force: news outlets, such as www.happynews.com, that only focus on positive events. But is this bias any better? Our world is made of the good stuff and the bad stuff. And many stories, such as the current war in Iraq, cannot be understood if only the positive side is shown.

世界各地还抱持着希望的人(或者该说他们天真?)正提出一股抗衡力量：如www.happynews.com只着重正面事件的新闻报导。但这样的偏好会比较好吗?这个世界是由好事「和」坏事组成的，若只报导正面事件，许多像是当前的伊拉克战争等事件，就无法为人所知。

News that only focuses on one end of the spectrum – whether the good or the bad – does us all a great disservice, for either way we’re not getting the complete picture. What we need is balance and we hope that news organizations will start to take their duty to inform the public into consideration as much as their desire to fatten their bank accounts.

不论是报导正面或负面，只着重在其中一个极端的新闻，都会对我们有很大的伤害。因为不管哪一边都无法让我们全盘了解状况。我们需要的是平衡，也希望新闻团体在想增加银行存款的同时，也开始好好考虑其告知大众的责任。

−By Michael Cole

Vocabulary

famine [ˋfæmɪn] n. 饥荒

bias [ˋbaɪəs] n. 偏见

grim [grɪm] adj. 可怕的，恐怖的

naïve [nɑˋiv] adj. 天真的；幼稚的

spectrum [ˋspɛktrəm] n. 范围；幅度

More Information

lock someone or something into: 把....关在... 中 

vicious [ˋvɪʃəs] circle: 恶性循环 a situation in which an attempt to resolve one problem creates new problems that lead back to the original situation

beget [bɪˋgɛt] v. 引起，招致

hopeful [ˋhopfəl] n. 抱有希望的人

countervailing [͵kaʊntɚˋvelɪŋ] adj. 对抗性的；抗衡的

news outlet [ˋaʊt͵lɛt] n. 新闻机构

disservice [dɪsˋsɝvɪs] n. 造成损害的行为

get the complete picture: 全盘了解情况 get the meaning of something

take something into consideration 考虑、顾及某事 to consider something to be an important factor in some decision

Reading Questions

1.   What should one consider when reporting the news?

A.  One should only focus on good news with a view to creating a peaceful society.

B.  One should make as many personal comments as possible in each article.

C.  One should concentrate on making money for the news agency.

D.  One should strike a balance between good and bad news.

2.   What might result from an attempt to cover only good news?

A.  Journalists will pay little attention to bad news.

B.  Our world will become a much better place to live in.

C.  Readers will not be able to understand some complex issues properly.

D.  People will be displeased with the service and look elsewhere for their news.

3.   Why is www.happynews.com described as a countervailing force?

A.  Because it opposes presenting only the negative news.

B.  Because it has no bias toward the news it reports.

C.  Because it wishes there was more to the news than war and famine.

D.  Because it does not believe news is a product to sell.

Answer