How false news can spread - Noah Tavlin

翻译人员: Tian Wu 校对人员: MQ L

There's a quote usually attributed to the writer Mark Twain that goes,

有一句名言常被引用

据说是作家马克.吐温说的

"A lie can travel halfway around the world

「当谎言已经绕遍大半个地球时

while the truth is putting on its shoes."

真相才刚穿鞋准备出发而已呢」

Funny thing about that.

讽刺的是

There's reason to doubt that Mark Twain ever said this at all,

到底马克.吐温到底有没有说过这句话 至今仍没个定论

thus, ironically, proving the point.

从而证明了这句名言的道理

And today, the quote, whoever said it, is truer than ever before.

不管这句名言是谁说的

它都真切道出了当今社会的情况

In previous decades, most media with global reach

几十年前 掌握全球性影响力的媒体

consisted of several major newspapers and networks

是几家主流的报纸商和广播公司

which had the resources to gather information directly.

它们有直接获得第一手资料的渠道

Outlets like Reuters and the Associated Press

专门收集、重新报导新闻的 新闻通讯社

that aggregate or rereport stories were relatively rare compared to today.

如当今的路透社和美联社

在过去时十分少见的

The speed with which information spreads now

当今资讯传播的速度之快

has created the ideal conditions for a phenomenon known as circular reporting.

大大促成了「循环报导」这种现象的发生

This is when publication A publishes misinformation,

举例来说 A出版商报导了一个错误消息

publication B reprints it,

B出版商重抄了这则报导

and publication A then cites B as the source for the information.

然后A又引用B 作为消息的来源

It's also considered a form of circular reporting

另一种循环报导则是

when multiple publications

多家出版商

report on the same initial piece of false information,

都引述报导一篇有误的资讯

which then appears to another author as having been verified by multiple sources.

让后来其他写作者 以为此篇文章被许多其他的出版物引用

For instance, the 1998 publication of a single pseudoscientific paper

例如，1998年，一篇打着科学名义 实则为伪科学的文章出版

arguing that routine vaccination of children causes autism

指出对幼儿例行施打疫苗 会导致自闭症

inspired an entire antivaccination movement,

文章一出版 马上引发一波反疫苗的抗争

despite the fact that the original paper has repeatedly been discredited

但其实自始至终

科学界都对原文的内容存疑

by the scientific community.

Deliberately unvaccinated children are now contracting contagious diseases

反疫苗声浪导致许多孩童未受接种疫苗

that had been virtually eradicated in the United States,

甚至因此染上了早在美国绝迹的传染病

with some infections proving fatal.

其中不乏会致死的严重病疫

In a slightly less dire example,

以上是比较极端的例子

satirical articles that are formatted to resemble real ones

有些讽刺文章 写得煞有其事，能以假乱真

can also be picked up by outlets not in on the joke.

竟蒙骗过出版商 被拿来当正式的材料

For example, a joke article in the reputable British Medical Journal entitled

一篇刊登在英国医学期刊上的讽刺文章

"Energy Expenditure in Adolescents Playing New Generation Computer Games,"

「青少年花在新世代电脑游戏的精力」

has been referenced in serious science publications over 400 times.

竟被许多正规的科学出版刊物引用

不下400次

User-generated content, such as wikis,

使用者可以自由撰写內容的网站

如维基百科

are also a common contributer to circular reporting.

也是导致循环报导的元凶之一

As more writers come to rely on such pages for quick information,

越来越多作者依赖像维基这类的网页

快速获取资讯

an unverified fact in a wiki page can make its way into a published article

一些未经证实的讯息 也因此流入了出版刊物中

that may later be added as a citation for the very same wiki information,

而这些存于出版刊物中的错误 又再次被维基百科的使用者引述

making it much harder to debunk.

让真相更扑朔迷离

Recent advances in communication technology

当今通讯科技的进步

have had immeasurable benefits

大大帮助了人們

in breaking down the barriers between information and people.

打破资讯与人之间的鸿沟

But our desire for quick answers

我们一心想快速得到答案

may overpower the desire to be certain of their validity.

却往往忽视了真相的重要性

And when this bias can be multiplied by billions of people around the world,

当偏见可以一传十、十传百

nearly instantaneously, more caution is in order.

眨眼间影响全世界无数人的时候

我们就该更谨慎评估资讯了

Avoiding sensationalist media,

不要轻信喜欢夸大其辞的媒体

searching for criticisms of suspicious information,

多看看别人对启人疑窦之资讯的评论

and tracing the original source of a report can help slow down a lie,

追查报导的来源 可以暂缓谎言蔓延的速度

giving the truth more time to put on its shoes.

给真相多一点时间 追过错误资讯