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Media Meltdown 媒体崩解的危机

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繁體中文譯本

（译注：meltdown 原指核能电厂反应炉核心熔毁，引申为崩溃、瓦解）

Is today’s news trading in quality for quantity?  现今的新闻是否变得重量不重质了呢？

Every election season seems to introduce us to a slew of new pundits, even if many have resumes that don’t add up to the title on the screen underneath their television images.

每次大选季节来临，似乎都会见到一大批所谓权威人士，即使其中有很多人实际的资历累积起来其实并不等同于他们上电视露脸的影像下面字幕所亮出的那行头衔。

Take, for example, Martin Eisenstadt, a self-described neoconservative who found his opinions in demand during the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign. Eisenstadt made waves by outing himself as the source of the rumor that Sarah Palin thought Africa was a country, not a continent. That Eisenstadt would know such information would not seem unusual given that the “bio” section of his blog identifies him as “an expert on Near Eastern military and political affairs.”

以自称是新保守派人士的马丁．艾森史塔为例，他发表的高论在二００八年美国总统大选期间可说是炙手可热，艾森史塔自曝是散播裴琳以为非洲是国家而非一个洲的传闻的始作俑者。看看艾森史塔在自己部落格「个人经历」栏里所写的头衔：「近东军事与政治事务专家」，就会以为，他会知道这类消息，根本不足为奇。

However, there is just one problem: Eisenstadt is a fictitious character created by a pair of aspiring filmmakers, Eitan Gorlin and Dan Mirvish, in their quest to get a TV show. Now, plenty of media outlets have egg on their faces.

只不过，问题出在：艾森史塔其实由两位相当具有企图心的制作人艾坦．葛林和丹．莫维许打造出来的虚构人物，只是为了推出电视节目的宣传花招罢了。不过，那些引用艾森史塔说词的众家媒体如今可糗大了。

“I think we’ve learned that often in the 24-hour news cycle, bloggers – and even mainstream media – work so quickly that they don’t really have the chance to check [whether or not a story is true],” Gorlin said. “I think ….. news has become entertainment. …. Political news is almost following, now, celebrity news …. where it doesn’t matter what you say about [a person], as long as something was said. Basically, [it’s] gossip posing as news.”

「我想，大家都已经了解到，由于新闻二十四小时一再循环回放，部落客──或甚至是主流媒体──由于作业速度飞快，根本就没有机会去再次查证（所报导的故事是否属实），」葛林表示，「我感觉…新闻已经俨然沦为余兴了…现在政治新闻几乎都沦落到排在名流动态消息之后…反正有新闻看就好，即使是泛泛空言也无所谓，是否言之有物已经不重要了。基本上，这简直就像是为八卦穿上新闻的外衣。」

Does more information mean more news?  消息更多代表新闻量变大？

This incident speaks to a larger problem of what happens in an age of newsroom downsizing. It reminded me of something I read months ago in the entertainment magazine Variety about the “domino” nature of today’s media.

上述事件意味着（译注：speak to指意味、表明、显示），在新闻媒体（译注：newsroom指新闻编辑室，引申为新闻媒体）纷纷裁员缩编之际，其实引发了更大的问题。这让我回想起几个月前在《综艺》娱乐杂志里读到的文章，里头提到了今日媒体界的「骨牌效应」。

There, columnist Brian Lowry observed: “Shrinking print coverage threatens to trigger a ‘domino effect’ as news operations downsize, feeding the strange Internet age conundrum where there’s more information – courtesy of blogs and the web – but less real news.”

在文中，专栏作家布莱恩．罗利观察到：「随着新闻媒体纷纷缩编，平面媒体（译注：指报纸等印刷媒体）版面日益缩水的结果，恐怕会引发『骨牌效应』，而且持续喂养着网络世纪中一个匪夷所思的怪现象，那就是虽然信息暴增了──这是拜众多部落格和网络之赐──但真正的新闻却变少了。」

单词发音

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trade in 以交换方式购入 to surrender or sell (an old or used item), using the proceeds as partial payment on a new purchase

pundit [ˋpʌndɪt] n.【谑】博学（或自称博学）的人；真实（或自命为）权威者

add up to 含义是, 表示; 意味着 consistent; make sense

resume [ˈrezəˌme] n.〈美〉履历

neoconservative [ˌniəkənˋsɝvətɪv] n. 新保守主义者 a conservative who advocates the assertive promotion of democracy and United States national interest in international affairs including through military means

in demand 受欢迎的; 非常需要的 greatly desired

make waves 制造麻烦, 兴风作浪 to shock or upset people with something new or different

given [ˋgɪvən] prep.（表示原因）考虑到（表示假设）倘若，假定 specified, particular, specific

identify [aɪˋdɛntə͵faɪ] v. 确认；识别；鉴定，验明[（+as）]

Near East 近东地区

fictitious [fɪkˋtɪʃəs] adj. 虚构的；非真实的

quest [kwɛst] n. 寻找；追求；探索[C][U][（+of/for）]

media outlet 媒体

outlet [ˋaʊt͵lɛt] n. 经销店；专营店

have egg on one’s face  丢脸; 出丑; 形象受损 to seem stupid because of something one has done

pose [poz] v. 假装，冒充；装腔作势[（+as）] to pretend to be or present oneself (as..)

speak to 提醒; 提及 indicate, or signal something

downsize [ˋdaʊnˋsaɪz] v. 裁减（员工）人数

domino [ˋdɑmə͵no] n. 骨牌

feed [fid] v. 满足（欲望等）；加深（恶感等）; 供给；提供 to support or promote; encourage

courtesy of (用来表示感谢)承蒙…的好意，蒙…提供

courtesy [ˋkɝtəsɪ] n. 殷勤，好意; 谦恭有礼的言辞（或举动）

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“I am one such domino”  「我就是骨牌之一」

Every morning at 3:40, at a local convenience store, I greet a truck arriving to deliver The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. Two hours, 20 minutes later, I begin a live, current-events-driven radio show that lasts three hours. I will use those newspapers and a variety of other news sources available in the studio to plan the remainder of the morning.

每天早上三点四十分，我都会在本地一家便利商店迎接一辆载有《费城询问报》和《费城每日新闻报》的卡车，而两小时又二十分之后，我会开始在电台主持一个以时事为主的直播节目，长达三小时。我利用上述报纸和电台内其他新闻来源，来规划当天早上其余时间的节目内容。

If something leads the local newspaper, it most certainly makes my broadcast. I always offer attribution, and I attempt to expand on a given story with personal opinion. As a radio or television talking head, I don’t do reporting. I repeat. I analyze. I offer my opinion, and I gauge the opinions of others. There are many like me in today’s media world.

凡是本地报纸的头条新闻，一定会收录进我的广播节目中。我总是会注明新闻来源，并试图透过我个人的观点来阐述某则新闻。身为电台或电视名嘴的我，本身并不播报新闻，而只是复述，并加以分析。我发表个人的意见，并对其他人的论点加以评论。在当今媒体领域里，有很多人都和我一样。

The end of the professional news writer?  专业新闻作者之死？

It seems like hardly a week goes by without a headline about a major publication trimming newsroom staff. Last year, The New York Times succumbed to “growing financial strain” by cutting 100 newsroom jobs – despite reported earnings of $209 million in 2007. And Time Inc. began the process of cutting 600 jobs across several magazines, including Time, Sports Illustrated and People.

如今似乎每个礼拜都会看到某家主要报纸裁减新闻人员的头条新闻。去年，《纽约时报》也屈服于「愈来愈大的财务压力」，而裁减了一百个新闻相关的工作职务──即使该报二００七年公告盈余高达两亿九百万美元。无独有偶，「时代集团」也展开了裁减六百名员工的过程，他们分属于《时代杂志》、《运动画刊》和《时人》等旗下各家杂志。

Unfortunately, those who report the news are a dying breed, even in the Internet world. The dearth of hard news and investigative journalism leaves the always-expanding number of outlets – 24-hour cable networks, satellite radio stations, blogs, podcasts – scrambling for anything they can parrot to a hungry audience.

令人遗憾的是，真正能报导新闻的人才已经濒临绝种了，就连网络媒体也是如此。由于硬性新闻（译注：如政治、财经新闻等比较重大的新闻）和调查报导的不足，使得一些永远都在扩张版图的信息管道──如二十四小时不间断的有线网络、卫星电台、部落格和播客等──都抢着随声附和任何消息，以喂养求知若渴的广大读者或观众群。

The result? People eager for the next piece of news are easily taken in by characters such as Martin Eisenstadt. And those bad habits will continue to inch their way into cash-strapped, understaffed traditional news-gathering outlets where legitimate reporting is falling by the wayside.

那么后果是什么呢？结果就导致迫切渴望取得最新消息的人，很容易就会被如马丁．艾森史塔之流所蒙混，而且这些恶劣的习惯仍会持续缓缓侵蚀缺钱又人手不足的传统新闻搜集管道，而在此同时，正统新闻报导的岗位则纷纷被弃守。

－by Michael Smerconish

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driven [ˋdrɪvən] adj. 由…造成的; 以…为主的 motivated- provided with a motive or given incentive for action

attribution [͵ætrəˋbjuʃən] n. 归属; 归因; 属性; 归属物 assigning to a cause or source; ascription

talking head 播音员; [口](电视中发言者的)头部特写 a talker on television who talks directly into the cameras and whose upper body is all that is shown on the screen

go by (指时间) 过去, 消逝

trim [trɪm] v. 削减，缩减；切除[（+off/away）]

newsroom [ˋnjuzˋrum] n. 新闻编辑部

strain [stren] n. 负担，沉重压力

dearth [dɝθ] n. 缺乏，不足[S][（+of）]

hard news 硬新闻即“纯新闻消息报道”，指题材严肃、具有一定时效性的客观事实报道 news, as in a newspaper or television report, that deals with formal or serious topics and events

leave [liv] v. 招致；造成 to have as a result, consequence

podcast 播客（一种类似于广播节目的音频文件，可下载到计算机或MP3播放器收听）

scramble [ˋskræmb!] v.（乱糟糟地）争夺，抢夺[Q][（+for）] to struggle or contend frantically in order to get something

take in 欺骗 to deceive or swindle

inch one’s way into something 慢慢前进..  to creep slowly into something

cash-strapped [ˋkæʃstræpt] adj. 缺乏现金的 not having as much money as you need

understaffed [͵ʌndɚˋstæft] adj. 人手不足的；人员配备不足的

单词发音

Vocabulary Focus

slew [slu] n. 大量 a large number of something

out [aʊt] v. 公开揭露（公众人物、名人等）to make something known publicly that was previously a secret

domino effect 骨牌效应（指一事件连锁性地引起一系列类似事件）when something, usually something bad, happens and causes other similar events to happen

conundrum [kəˋnʌndrəm] n. 复杂难解的问题 a problem that is difficult to deal with

gauge [gedʒ] v. 评估，判断 to make a judgment about something

succumb [səˋkʌm] v. 屈服；委弃；听任[(+to)] to lose the determination to oppose something; to accept defeat

parrot [ˋpærət] v. 鹦鹉学舌般地重复；机械地模仿 to repeat exactly what someone else says, without understanding it or thinking about its meaning

fall by the wayside 半途而废, 中途停止; 因失败而放弃 when people stop doing, making or using something