大英二 unit 4课文

Making the headlines 1 It isn't very often that the media lead with the same story everywhere in the world. Such an event would have to be of enormous international significance. But this is exactly what occurred in September 2001 with the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York. It is probably not exaggerated to say that from that moment the world was a different place. 2 But it is not just the historical and international dimension that made 9/11 memorable and (to use a word the media like) newsworthy. It was the shock and horror, too. So striking, so sensational, was the news that, years after the event, many people can still remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first heard it. They can remember their own reactions: For many people across the globe their first instinct was to go and tell someone else about it, thus providing confirmation of the old saying that bad news travels fast. 3 And so it is with all major news stories. I remember when I was at primary school the teacher announcing pale-faced to a startled class of seven year olds President Kennedy is dead. I didn't know who President Kennedy was, but I was so upset at hearing the news that I went rushing home afterwards to tell my parents (who already knew, of course). In fact, this is one of my earliest memories. 4 So what exactly is news? The objective importance of an event is obviously not enough —there are plenty of enormous global issues out there, with dramatic consequences, from poverty to global warming—but since they are ongoing, they don't all make the just international, but odd, unexpected, and (in the sense that it was possible to identify with the plight of people caught up in the drama) very human. 5 Odd doesn't mean huge. Take the story in today's China Daily about a mouse holding up a flight from Vietnam to Japan. The mouse was spotted running down the aisle of a plane in Hanoi airport. It was eventually caught by a group of 12 technicians worried that the mouse could chew through wires and cause a short circuit. By the time it took off the plane was more than four hours late. 6 Not an event with momentous international consequences, you might say, (apart from a few passengers arriving late for their appointments in another country), but there are echoes of the story across the globe, in online editions of papers from Asia to America, via Scotland (Mouse chase holds up flight, in the Edinburgh Evening News). 7 Another element of newsworthiness is immediacy. This refers to the nearness of the event in time. An event which happened a week ago is not generally news—unless you've just read about it. "When" is one of the five "wh" questions trainee journalists are regularly told that they have to use to frame a news story (the others are "who", "what", "where" and "why"); "today", "this morning", and "yesterday" are probably at the top of the list of time adverbs in a news report. Similarly, an event which is about to happen ("today", "this evening" or "tonight") may also be newsworthy, although, by definition, it is not unexpected and so less sensational. 8 When it comes to immediacy, those media which can present news in real time, such as TV, radio, and the Internet, have an enormous advantage over the press. To see an event unfolding in front of your eyes is rather different from reading about it at breakfast the next morning. But TV news is not necessarily more objective or reliable than a newspaper report, since the images you are looking at on your screen have been chosen by journalists or editors with specific objectives, or at least following set guidelines, and they are shown from a unique viewpoint. By placing the camera somewhere else you would get a different picture. This is why it is usual to talk of the "power of the media"—the power to influence the public, more or less covertly. 9 But perhaps in the third millennium this power is being eroded, or at least devolved to ordinary people. The proliferation of personal blogs, the possibility of self-broadcasting through sites such as YouTube, and the growth of open-access web pages (wikis) means that anyone with anything to say—or show—can now reach a worldwide audience instantly. 10 This doesn't mean that the press and TV are going to disappear overnight, of course. But in their never-ending search for interesting news items—odd, unexpected, and human—they are going to turn increasingly to these sites for their sources, providing the global information network with a curiously local dimension 新闻头条 世界各地的媒体都以头条报道同一新闻的情形并不很常见。这样的事件得具有巨大的国际影响力。但是这正是2001年9月恐怖分子袭击纽约世贸中心双塔之后发生的情形。从那一刻起世界改变了模样,这样说也许并不夸张。 但是,使9/11值得纪念并(用媒体喜欢的话来说)具有新闻价值的不仅仅是它的历史性和国际性。还有震惊和恐惧。这一消息极度震撼,极具爆炸性。事发多年以后,许多人还能清楚地记得他们第一次听到这一消息时身在何处、当时正在做什么。他们能记得自己的反应:对世界各地的许多人来说,他们的第一本能是去把这一消息告诉别人。这就证实了那句老话:“坏事传千里”。 一切重大新闻都是如此。我记得上小学的时候,老师脸色煞白地向一班吃惊的七岁孩子通报说,肯尼迪总统死了。我并不知道肯尼迪总统是谁,但是我听到这一消息后非常不安,后来就跑回家去告诉了父母(当然,他们已经知道了)。事实上,这是我最早的记忆之一。 那么,新闻到底是什么?一个事件光有客观重要性显然还不够——世界上有大量全球性的大问题,都会造成戏剧性的后果,从贫困问题到全球变暖问题——但由于它们都是进行中的,并不都会在同一天成为头条。对比之下,9/11不仅具有国际性,而且奇特怪异、出人意料,还(可能使读者对身陷那场悲剧中的人们的痛苦感同身受,从这个意义上讲)极具人性。 奇特怪异并不意味着重大。就拿今天的《中国日报》上关于一只老鼠延误了一架从越南飞至日本的航班这条消息为例吧。在河内机场有人发现那只老鼠在一架飞机的过道里奔跑。它最终被12 名技术人员合力逮住,他们怕它会咬破电线,造成短路。飞机晚点了四个多小时才起飞。 你也许会说,这并不是具有重大国际影响的事件(除了少数乘客到另一国赴约迟到以外)。但是全球却颇有反响,从亚洲经苏格兰到美洲的电子版报纸都有转载(《爱丁堡晚报》的标题是《捉老鼠延误航班》)。 新闻价值的另一个元素是即时性。这是指事件发生的时间近。一周前发生的事件一般来说就不是新闻了——除非你刚刚读到它。“何时”是受训记者常被教导用以勾勒新闻故事的五个“何”问题之一(其余是“何人”、“何事”、“何地”和“何故”);今天、今晨、昨天很可能在新闻报道所使用的时间副词中名列前茅。同样,即将发生的事件(今天、今晚或今夜)也可能具有新闻价值,虽然,从定义上讲,它不出人意外,也就不那么耸人听闻了。 说到即时性,能够实时播报新闻的媒体,如电视、广播和互联网,就比报纸的优势大多了。眼看着事件在你眼前展开与次日早餐时在报上读到它的感觉大不相同。但是,电视新闻未必比报纸报道更客观或更可靠,因为你在屏幕上看到的图像是经记者或编辑根据特殊的目的,或至少是按照预定指示筛选过的;它们是从一个独特的视点展现给观众的。如果把摄像机移到别的地方,你就会看到另一番景象。这就是为什么人们通常会谈到“媒体霸权”——或多或少地暗中影响公众。 但也许在第三个千年,这种权力正在减弱,或至少下放给普通民众。个人博客的大量出现,通过像YouTube 这样的网站自我广播的可能性,以及权限开放网页(wiki网)的增长都意味着任何人有任何话要说——或有任何东西要展示——现在都能立刻让全世界的观众看到。 当然,这并不意味着报纸和电视即将在一夜之间消失。但是,在它们永不休止的搜寻有趣新闻——奇特怪异、出人意外和极具人性的新闻——的过程中,报纸和电视将越来越多地借助网站来收集资料,为全球信息网络提供极具地方色彩的视角。 The death of the newspaper? 1For years it started the day for millions of people: the sound of the newspaper hitting the front door, the window or the neighbor's dog. With a cup of coffee, maybe some breakfast, the ritual of reading the newspaper was the quiet before the storm, a moment of pleasure and peace before the working day began. 2 But all over the English-speaking world, newspaper editors are facing the same problem: Circulation has declined, as more and more readers turn to the Internet for their news. This means that the revenue from advertising is also declining, and the cover price of the newspaper is rising, so they can make the same amount of money. And of course, a price-sensitive product like a newspaper could lose readers, and the vicious circle continues. So what does the future hold? Is it the death of the newspaper? 3 The decline is a long-term trend of 20 or more years, predating the Internet. Four-fifths of Americans once read newspapers. Today, it seems that fewer than half do. Among adults, between 1990 and 2000, daily readership fell from 52.6 per cent to 37.5 per cent. Among the young, the situation is even worse: Only 19 per cent of those between the ages of 18 and 3 4 claim to read a daily newspaper. A mere nine per cent trusted the information the newspaper contains. 4 Advertising on the Internet works differently than in print. The advertiser can monitor minute by minute if their ads are working, and no longer has to rely on circulation figures. The greater number of outlets which the Internet can offer encourages ferocious competition for advertising revenue, while printing and production costs have risen remorselessly. As a result, The New York Times Company has downsized by 700 jobs among its various papers. The Baltimore Sun is closing down its foreign news bureaux. In the UK most newspapers have reduced the newspaper to tabloid size, in a bid to capture younger readers, although because "tabloid" has a connotation of "downmarket", some of the papers refer to the new size as "compact". 5 All large circulation newspapers have established strong websites. The Internet provides an easy outlet for anyone with an opinion, and there's nothing a newspaper editor likes more for reassurance about their work than feedback and opinions, as diverse as possible. Teenagers today don't remember a time when they didn't have the Internet, and reading a newspaper is something they only do if they have an assignment to write about the specific medium of print journalism. 6 It's hard to deny the environmental impact of newspapers. Nearly four billion trees worldwide are cut down annually for paper, representing about 35 per cent of all harvested trees. It has to be said that many of the trees used for paper come from special estates where they're planted and replaced on a regular basis. Furthermore, yesterday's newspaper is often recycled and turned back into today's. Nevertheless, paper mills are among the worst polluters to air, water and land of any industry in the US. 7 But the daily or weekend newspaper is still a great tradition for many people. "Sunday wouldn't be Sunday without the Sunday newspapers," is a comment which occurs regularly in UK-based surveys. Other opinions draw attention to the convenience of the paper over the laptop: "My newspaper's battery never dies," "If I drop my newspaper, it doesn't break," "The flight attendant has never told me to put my newspaper away," and, reminding us of the traditional wrapping of the UK's national takeaway food, "You can swat flies with them, and they can still be used to wrap fish. 8 So maybe the newspaper won't die without a struggle. Trends for the future of newspaper include an increased demand for local news, and the continued exploitation of lifestyle journalism, which began in the late 1980s, especially within personal finance and travel, will create new revenue streams. Some commentators recommend that, instead of dumbing down, which is the usual way of increasing one's market share, newspapers should smarten up, that is to say, honour the principles of integrity and impartiality of their coverage. A newspaper with editorial positions which are respected by its readers will surely have more influence and prestige than the same reports read one by one on the Internet. 9Moreover, the small-town newspaper will always be meaningful for the parents whose child's photo is news for a few days. And reading the traditional Sunday newspapers in an armchair while everyone else takes the day off is going to be a hard habit to break. 10 But is it enough? Or will we one day see the death of the newspaper? 报纸的末日? 多年来,数以百万计的人在报纸击中前门、窗户或邻居的狗的叫声中开始了一天的生活。对着一杯咖啡,也许还有早餐,看报的仪式是风暴之前的平静,是工作日开始之前的愉快安宁。 可是,在所有讲英语的国家,报纸编辑们正面临着同一个问题:发行量下滑了,因为越来越多的读者转向互联网阅读新闻。这意味着同时下滑的广告收入,以及随之上涨的报纸定价,因为只有这样他们才能挣到一样多的钱。当然,像报纸这样价格敏感的产品可能会失去读者;恶性循环会不断加剧。那么将来会怎样?报纸是否走上了末路? 这种下滑是20多年来的长期趋势,在互联网问世之前就已出现。从前,五分之四的美国人看报,而如今似乎只有不到一半。1990至2000年间,成年人每天看报的人数从52.6%下降到37.5%。年轻人中,情况更糟: 18至34岁的年轻人只有19%自称每天看报。而仅有9%的人相信报纸上的信息。 互联网广告的运作方式与报纸广告不同。广告商可以逐分逐秒地监视广告是否在起作用,而不再需要依赖报纸的发行量。互联网可提供的更多的窗口使广告收入之战更加激烈,印刷和生产成本却不可遏制地上涨。结果,《纽约时报》公司旗下各种报纸已裁减了700份工作。《巴尔的摩太阳报》即将关闭其驻外新闻机构。在 英国,多数报纸都缩版成为小报开本,意在吸引年轻读者,但是因为“小报”有“低档廉价”之嫌,有些报纸就称新开本为“缩编版”。 所有发行量大的报纸都建立了强大的网站。互联网为任何有意见的人提供了一个便利的窗口;报纸编辑最喜欢的莫过于给他们提供各种不同的反馈和意见,他们能从中得到安慰。如今十几岁的少年已不记得曾经没有互联网的日子了;只有在写关于印刷新闻这一特定媒体的作业时他们才去看报纸。 不可否认报纸对环境的影响。世界上每年有近40亿棵树木被砍伐用来造纸,约占全部木材砍伐量的35%。但必须承认,许多用来造纸的树木是在特别的种植园出产的,它们是定期砍伐和栽种的。而且,旧报纸常被回收利用,变成新的报纸。尽管如此,在美国,造纸厂是对空气、水体和土地污染最严重的行业之一。 但是,对于许多人来说,日报或周报依然是个伟大的传统。“没有周日版报纸的周日就不是周日,”这样的评语常见于在英国所做的调查。其他评语则提到报纸比笔记本电脑更方便之处:“我的报纸永远不会没电,”“假如我的报纸掉到地上,它不会摔破,”“空姐从来不会叫我把报纸收起来,”此外,还有评语让我们想到英国全国的外卖食品的传统包装方式,“你可以用它们来打苍蝇,还可以用来包鱼。” 如此看来,报纸是不会轻易消失的。未来报纸发展的趋势包括对本地新闻需求的日益增长,而始于20世纪80年代后期的对生活方式新闻的持续开发利用——尤其在个人理财和旅游方面——将会创造新的收入来源。有些评论者建议,报纸不应粗制滥造(尽管这是增加市场份额的通常做法),而应该精工细作。也就是说,尊崇以正直、诚实和不偏不倚的态度从事新闻报道的原则。具有为读者所敬重的办报立场的报纸肯定比互联网上零散阅读的同类报道享有更大的影响力和声望。 此外,小城镇报纸对于为人父母者总是意味深长,因为其子女的照片也许会在上面刊登,几天都是新闻。人人都放假的时候,坐在扶手椅上看传统的周日版报纸,这将是难以打破的习惯。 但是这样是否足够?或者,有朝一日我们一定会看到报纸的消亡?