VOA常速英语2014--News Business in US Faces Big Challenges 美国新闻业遭遇巨大挑战

News Business in US Faces Big Challenges 美国新闻业遭遇巨大挑战

HOUSTON — The business of providing news and current affairs commentary in the United States is facing big challenges as the older audience diminishes and new digital services struggle to gain a foothold with younger people. The future of journalism 1 may depend on the success of income diversification 2 in media companies.

休斯敦-如今，随着老龄读者的逝去，而新兴电子服务在年轻一代中方兴未艾，美国新闻和时事评论业正面临巨大挑战。也许，新闻业将来需要仰仗传媒公司各式各样的收入。

Newspaper readership is in a steep decline in the United States as younger people seek news on the Internet.

在美国，随着年轻一代转向网上浏览新闻，报纸读者的数量每况愈下。

Newsweek magazine went exclusively digital in December 2012, but last month started printing again under its new owner, IBT Media.

2012年12月，新闻周刊已经全部数字化，但是换了新东家美国数码新闻（IBT Media）后，上个月又开始纸质化出版。

But IBT’s director of audience engagement, Kate Gardiner, says the print magazine’s target audience is not young.

但是，IBT受众互动的经理，凯特·加德纳（Kate Gardiner）说，出版的杂志的目标读者并非年轻人。

“Those people are going to be an older demographic, they are going to be wealthier, they are going to be much more engaged in international policy and economics and things like that, but our main users on social media are going to be much younger," said Gardiner.

“那些人都是老人，他们会更富有，他们会对国际政策和经济诸如此类更感兴趣，但是我们在社会传媒上的主要用户却更年轻化”，加德纳（Gardiner）说。

Gardiner was one of the many news company representatives promoting digital online products at the recent South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas.

（Gardiner）曾是在德克萨斯奥斯丁召开的西南会议上众多推崇数字在线产品新闻公司代表之一。

The Knight 3 Foundation’s Michael Manness says digital journalism is still in a wild development stage.

骑士基金会的迈克尔·曼尼斯（Michael Manness）说数字新闻业的发展依旧狂乱无序。

“Anyone can publish, anyone can produce, anyone can have a voice in it, so it is a lot of noise right now," said Manness.

“任何人都可以出版，任何人都可以创造，任何人都可以在网上发声，因此现在上面有很多噪音”，曼尼斯（Manness）说。

Younger people tend to grab news in short bursts, showing little patience for long format 4, in-depth stories.

Still, Maness thinks news organizations with serious content can win them.

但是，曼尼斯依然认为带有严肃话题的新闻杂志可以赢得他们的支持。

“They may not go in depth, but they have a general sense of what is going on, so I think there is a real opportunity for news brands to build out depth, context and think about those new narratives 5 in different ways," he said.

“他们也许不会涉及多深，但是他们对即将发生的会有一个大概的认识，因此我认为对于新闻品牌而言，打造深度有意义的文章，标新立异的思考会给他们带去新的机遇”他说。

Some online news companies have found their niche 6 by focusing on particular issues or news beats, often on a local or state level.

即聚焦于特定的议题或新闻事件，通常是当地或州内新闻。

One of the most successful is the Texas Tribune, which covers public policy and politics in the state with funding that includes private donations and sideline business ventures.

《德克萨斯论坛报》就是最成功的一个例子，它涵盖德州公共政策和政治，其资金来源包括私人捐款和副业经营。

This could be a model for other news sites, according to Jake Batsell, who works under a fellowship at the Texas Tribune. He spoke 7 to VOA via Skype.

得到《德克萨斯论坛报》资助并为该报工作的班特塞尔通过网络电话对美国之音说，这能成为其他新闻网站的一个样板。

“You are basically trying to find five or six streams of revenue that almost operate as mini-businesses that collectively combine to generate enough revenue to keep you in business," said Batsell.

班特塞尔说：“你基本是要寻找五、六种收入来源，它们是微小企业，但加起来就能产生足够让你维持正常运转的资金。”

The Texas Tribune has won acclaim 8 for its stories and is slowly building a statewide audience through what Batsell says is integrity based on financial diversity.

《德克萨斯论坛报》因其报道而赢得赞誉，并慢慢在全州内凝聚了一个读者群，班特塞尔说，这就是基于资金来源的多样性。

“If a donor 9 were to try to exert influence and control the news content, they have more backing and more standing 10 to go back to that person and say, ‘Here is your donation back'", he said.

班特塞尔说：“如果捐赠者试图控制或影响新闻内容，他们会有更多底气找到那个人说，‘这是你的捐款，还给你。’”

Batsell says such news organizations keep a watchful 11 eye on government, but their effectiveness ultimately relies on a large audience among the citizens whose interests they serve.

班特塞尔说，这类新闻组织会时刻关注政府事务，但是它们的效益最终取决于它们为其利益服务的大量受众。