where-is-the-news-leading-us

[1]NotlongagoIwasaskedtojoininapublicsymposiumontheroleoftheAmericanpress.Twootherspeakerswereincludedontheprogram.ThefirstwasadistinguishedTVanchorman.Theotherwastheeditorofoneofthenation’sleadingpapers,anewsmantothecore–tough,aggressive,andsavvyinthewaysandmeansofsolidreporting.不久前，我应邀参加了一个关于美国新闻界职责的公共座谈会。会议进程表上还有除我之外的另外两名发言人。一位是杰出的电视主持人，另外一位是一份国家重要报纸的编辑，他是位彻底的新闻工作者―在据实报道的方式上坚韧不拔、积极进取且见识过人。[2]Thepurposeofthesymposium,asIunderstoodit,wastoscrutinizetheobligationsofthemediaandtosuggestthebestwaystomeetthoseobligations.就我所理解的来看，座谈会的目的是要仔细审查媒体的义务，并提出实现那些义务的最好途径。[3]Duringtheopen-discussionperiod,agentlemanintheaudienceaddressedaquestiontomytwocolleagues.Why,heasked,arethenewspapersandthetelevisionnewsprogramssodisaster-prone@?Whyarenewsmenandwomensoattractedtotragedy,violence,failure?在公开讨论时段里，听众席中的一位先生向我的两个同事提出了一个问题。他问为什么报纸和电视新闻节目喜欢报道天灾人祸？为什么新闻工作者都如此着迷于悲剧、暴力和失败？[4]Theanchormanandtheeditorreactedasthoughtheyhadbeenblamedfortheexistenceofbadnews.Newsmenandnewswomen,theysaid,areonlyresponsibleforreportingthenews,notforcreatingitormodifyingit.主持人和编辑作出了回答，好像是自己应该为坏消息的存在而受到谴责一样。他们说，新闻工作者只负责报道新闻，而不负责制造或修改新闻。[5]itdidn’tseemtomethatthenewsmenhadansweredthequestion.Thegentlemanwhohadaskeditwasnotblamingthemforthedistortionsintheworld.Hewasjustwonderingwhydistortionsaremostreported.Thenewsmediaseemtooperateonthephilosophythatallnewsisbadnews.Why?Coulditbethattheemphasisondownsidenews’*islargelytheresultoftraditionthewaynewsmenandnewswomenareaccustomedtorespondtodailyevents?我不认为这两位新闻工作者回答了这个问题。提出这个问题的先生并没有因为世上的歪曲报道而谴责他们。他只是想知道为什么歪曲事件报道得最多。新闻媒体似乎以一条不成文的理论为原则运作着，即所有的新闻都是坏消息。为什么呢？是不是因为着重报道负面新闻是一种传统―是新闻工作者所习惯的对日常事件做出的反应方式？[6]Perhapsitwouldbeusefulheretoexaminethewaywedefinethewordnews,forthisiswheretheproblembegins.Newsissupposedtodealwithhappeningsofthepast12hours-24hoursatmost.Anythingthathappenssosuddenly,however,isapttobeeruptive.Asniperkillssomepedestrians;aterroristholds250peoplehostageinaplane;OPECannouncesa25percentincreaseinpetroleumprices;GreatBritaindevaluesbyanother10percent;atruckconveyingradioactivewastescollideswithamobilecementmixer.在此也许有必要分析华下我们给”新闻，，这个词下定义的方式，因为这就是问题的起源之处。新闻应该报导过去的昭个小时内―最多不超过24小时内―发生的事情。然而，这样突然间发生的任何事情往往具有爆发性。狙击手杀死一些行人；一个恐怖分子在飞机上挟持了250人；欧佩克石油组织声明将石油价格提高25%；英磅再次贬值10%；运输放射性废物的卡车与一部可移动的水泥搅拌机相撞。[7]Focusingsolelyonthesedetails,however,producesamisshapenpicture.Civilizationisalotmorethanthesumtotalofitscatastrophes.Themostimportantingredientinanycivilizationisprogress.Butprogressdoesn’thappenallatonce.Itisnoteruptive.Generally,itcomesinbitsandpieces,verylittleofitclearlyvisibleatanygivenmoment,butallofitinvolvedinthemakingofhistoricalchangeforthebetter.然而，单单只集中于这些细节会产生一幅奇形怪状的画面。文明的内容远远多于其灾难的总数。每种文明中最重要的成份就是进步。但进步不会立即发生，也没有爆发性。一般来说，它是以零零碎碎的形式出现的，在任何特定的时候差不多是不可见的，但是其整体会有助于历史向好的方面发展。[8]Itisthisaspectoflivinghistorythatmostnewsreportingreflectsinadequately.Theresultisthatweareunderinformedaboutpositivedevelopmentsandoverinformedaboutdisasters.This,inturn,leadstoapublicmoodofdefeatismanddespair,whichinthemselvestendtol)einhibitorsofprogress.Anunrelieveddietoferuptivenewsdepletestheessentialhumanenergiesafreesocietyneeds’.Amoodofhopelessnessandcynicismishardlylikelytofurnishtheenergyneededtomeetseriouschallenges.这就是现存的历史中大多数新闻并没有充分报道的原因的一个方面。结果导致了我们对正面的发展了解不够，而对灾难却了解得过多。继而，这将导致大众有一种挫败感和无助感，这本身容易阻碍进步。；一成不变的负面新闻耗尽了自由社会所需的基本人类潜能。无助和愤世嫉俗的情绪几乎不可能提供迎接重大挑战所需的能量。[9]Iamnotsuggestingthat“positive”newsbecontrivedasanantidotetothedisastersonpageone.NordoIdefinepositivenewsasin-depthreportageoffunctionsofthelocalYMCA.WhatIamtryingtogetacrossisthenotionthattheresponsibilityofthenewsmediaistosearchoutandreportonimportanteventswhetherornottheycomeundertheheadingofconflict,confrontation,orcatastrophe.Theworldisasplendidcombinationofheavenandhetf,andbothsectorscallforattentionandscrutiny.我并不是在建议正面新闻应该成为报纸头版灾难性新闻的解毒剂。我也不是把正面新闻解释为应对当地基督教男青年会的作用作深人报道。我只是在试着让人了解这样一个概念，即新闻媒体的责任是找出并报道重要事件―不管它们是不是关于冲突、对抗或者灾难。世界是天堂和地狱的绝妙结合，两个方面都需要关注和观察。[10]Myhopeisthattheprofessionofjournalismwillsoonseeitsresponsibilityinawiderperspective.Thetimehascometoconsidertheexistenceofalargeareaofhumanhappeningsthatlegitimatelyqualifyasnews”.Forexample,howmanynewsarticleshavebeenwrittenaboutnitrogen-fixation”@theprocessbywhichplantscanbemadeto“fix”theirownnitrogen,thusreducingtheneedforfertilizer?Scientistsallovertheworldarenowpursuingthisprospectinthehopeofcombatingfamine”.HowmuchisknownabouttherevolutionarychangesbeingmadeinincreasingthericeharvestintheFarEast?Thereareliterallydozensofsimilarimportantdevelopmentsintheworldthatareworthyofinclusioninanyroundupofmajornewsstories.我希望记者这一职业能立即从更宽广的角度审视自己的职责。是时候考虑存在着一大批人类事件是杏合格，是否能成为新闻了。例如，有多少篇新闻文章报道过固氮作用―植物通过这一过程能固定氮肥，由此降低了肥料需求量？全世界的科学家现在都在探索这一可能性，以期能对抗饥荒。关于远东粮食丰收增产方面取得的革命性变化，人们又知道多少呢？世界上确实有很多类似的重大发展，它们都值得在任何重要的新闻摘要中作出报道。[11]Theanchormanandtheeditorwererightinsayingthatnewsmenandwomenarenotresponsibleforshapingtheworld.Buttheyareresponsibleforaffectingourattitudes.Weareonlywhatwethinkweare;wecanachieveonlythosegoalswedaretoenvision.Newspeopleprovideuswiththeonlypicturewehaveofourselvesandoftheworld.Ithadbe