David Puttnam: What happens when the media's priority is profit?

翻译人员: Justine Bai 校对人员: Yuanqing Edberg

I'd like to start, if I may,

我想先从

with the story of the Paisley snail.

佩斯利蜗牛案说起

On the evening of the 26th of August, 1928,

1928年8月26日晚上

May Donoghue took a train from Glasgow

梅·多诺霍乘火车从格拉斯哥

to the town of Paisley, seven miles east of the city,

前往向东七英里外的小镇佩斯利

and there at the Wellmeadow Café,

在镇上的一家叫Wellmeadow 的咖啡馆里

she had a Scots ice cream float,

她喝了一杯雪顶苏格兰

a mix of ice cream and ginger beer

这是一种混合了冰淇淋和姜汁啤酒的饮料

bought for her by a friend.

是她朋友给她点的

The ginger beer came in a brown, opaque bottle

姜汁啤酒的酒瓶是棕色的 ，且不透明

labeled "D. Stevenson, Glen Lane, Paisley."

上面有“D. 斯蒂文森, 格林巷,佩斯利"的标签

She drank some of the ice cream float,

她喝了一些混合冰激凌饮，

but as the remaining ginger beer was poured

但当她把剩下的姜汁酒倒到

into her tumbler,

玻璃杯里时

a decomposed snail

一只腐烂了的蜗牛

floated to the surface of her glass.

从杯子里浮了上来

Three days later, she was admitted

三天之后 她住进了

to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary

格拉斯哥皇家医院

and diagnosed with severe gastroenteritis

被确诊为严重肠胃炎

and shock.

并伴有休克

The case of Donoghue vs. Stevenson that followed

之后发生在 多诺霍和斯蒂文森公司之间的官司

set a very important legal precedent:

开创了一个重要的法律先例：

Stevenson, the manufacturer of the ginger beer,

姜汁啤酒的生产商斯蒂文森

was held to have a clear duty of care

对梅·多诺霍女士负有

towards May Donoghue,

明确的责任

even though there was no contract between them,

即便他们之间没有签订合约

and, indeed, she hadn't even bought the drink.

甚至连这杯饮料都不是她自己买的

One of the judges, Lord Atkin, described it like this:

一位法官 阿特金爵士解释道：

You must take care to avoid acts or omissions

人们应该尽力避免

which you can reasonably foresee

那些可以合理地预知

would be likely to injure your neighbor.

会伤害到邻居的行为或疏忽

Indeed, one wonders that without a duty of care,

的确， 我们无法想象， 如果没有慎独义务

how many people would have had to suffer

在斯蒂文森公司倒闭之前

from gastroenteritis before Stevenson eventually went out of business.

还会有多少人得忍受肠胃炎的侵扰

Now please hang on to that Paisley snail story,

请记住佩斯利蜗牛案

because it's an important principle.

因为此案包含了一条重要的原则

去年 一个无党派的慈善组织 伦敦汉萨德学会(Hansard Society)

Last year, the Hansard Society, a nonpartisan charity

为了加强议会民主

which seeks to strengthen parliamentary democracy

and encourage greater public involvement in politics

鼓励公众更广泛的参与政治

published, alongside their annual audit

他们在出版年度政治参与度审计年报时

of political engagement, an additional section

增加了一个专门讨论

devoted entirely to politics and the media.

政治和媒体的章节

Here are a couple of rather depressing observations

以下是这次调查中

from that survey.

一些令人沮丧的观察结果

Tabloid newspapers do not appear

小报并没有的提高

to advance the political citizenship of their readers,

读者们的政治公民权的迹象

relative even to those

他们甚至和那些

who read no newspapers whatsoever.

从不看报的人没什么两样

Tabloid-only readers are twice as likely to agree

只读小报的人

with a negative view of politics

持有负面政治观点的可能性

than readers of no newspapers.

是不读报纸的人的两倍

They're not just less politically engaged.

他们不仅仅在政治生活中不作为

They are consuming media that reinforces

还通过媒体的报道来

their negative evaluation of politics,

强化他们负面的政治观点

thereby contributing to a fatalistic and cynical

从而对民主和 他们自身在民主中所扮演的角色

attitude to democracy and their own role within it.

产生一种宿命论和愤世嫉俗的态度

Little wonder that the report concluded that

很少有人会怀疑 这些报道得出这样的结论：

in this respect, the press, particularly the tabloids,

在这个方面，出版方 ，尤其是这些小报

appear not to be living up to the importance

明显地没有起到它们

of their role in our democracy.

在民主中所扮演角色的重要性

Now I doubt if anyone in this room would seriously

我想这个房间里应该没有人会严肃地

challenge that view.

质疑这个观点

But if Hansard are right, and they usually are,

但如果汉萨德学会没有错， 通常如此

then we've got a very serious problem on our hands,

那我们就遇到一个非常棘手的问题

and it's one that I'd like to spend the next 10 minutes

一个我在接下来的十分钟想要

focusing upon.

探讨的问题

Since the Paisley snail,

自从佩里斯蜗牛事件以来

and especially over the past decade or so,

尤其是在过去十年间

a great deal of thinking has been developed

关于慎独义务的概念

around the notion of a duty of care

产生了非常多的观点

as it relates to a number of aspects of civil society.

它和公民社会中的很多方面息息相关。

Generally a duty of care arises when one individual

通常，当一个个体

or a group of individuals undertakes an activity

或一群个体从事一项

which has the potential to cause harm to another,

对他人可能造成伤害的活动

either physically, mentally or economically.

无论是身体、精神还是经济上 这就牵涉到慎独义务

This is principally focused on obvious areas,

这主要体现在比较明显的方面

such as our empathetic response to children and young people,

如我们对儿童和青少年

to our service personnel, and to the elderly and infirm.

对服务行业员以及老人和弱者的同情和理解

It is seldom, if ever, extended to equally important arguments

它很少会企及

around the fragility of our present system of government,

关于政府现有体系的脆弱性 这一命题的重要性，

to the notion that honesty, accuracy and impartiality

而诚实、准确和公平的概念

are fundamental to the process of building

是建立和植入

and embedding an informed,

一种（公众）知情并

participatory democracy.

积极参预民主的基础。

And the more you think about it,

你越仔细思考

the stranger that is.

就会越觉得奇怪

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure

几年以前 我很荣幸

of opening a brand new school

在英格兰的东北部开了

in the northeast of England.

一所新学校

It had been renamed by its pupils as Academy 360.

学校学生们把它重新命名为360学院

As I walked through their impressive,

在我穿过让人印象深刻

glass-covered atrium,

有着玻璃外观的门廊

in front of me, emblazoned on the wall

在我的前方的墙上

in letters of fire

以金色字体装饰着

was Marcus Aurelius's famous injunction:

马可奥利斯伍斯(Marcus Aurelius)的名言：

If it's not true, don't say it;

不对的，就不要说出来

if it's not right, don't do it.

不正确的 ，就不要去做

The head teacher saw me staring at it,

校长注意到我在盯着这行字看

and he said, "Oh, that's our school motto."

告诉我说 这是我们的校训

On the train back to London,

回伦敦的火车上

I couldn't get it out of my mind.

这句话在我脑海里一直挥之不去

I kept thinking, can it really have taken us

我一直想 ，难道我们真的需要

over 2,000 years to come to terms

2000多年才能总结出

with that simple notion

这一简单的主张

as being our minimum expectation of each other?

作为我们对彼此的最低期望？

Isn't it time that we develop this concept

难道现在不是我们该发展

of a duty of care

慎独义务这种观念

and extended it to include a care

并把它延伸成一种我们曾拥有

for our shared but increasingly endangered democratic values?

但日渐消亡的民主价值？

After all, the absence of a duty of care

毕竟，在

within many professions

很多行业都缺失的慎独义务

can all too easily amount to accusations of negligence,

可以全部归咎于失职

and that being the case, can we be really comfortable with the thought

那就是上面的案例。 我们是否能够真的认同

that we're in effect being negligent

我们实际上忽视了

in respect of the health of our own societies

尊重我们自身社会的健康

and the values that necessarily underpin them?

以及所有支撑它们的价值？

Could anyone honestly suggest, on the evidence,

谁能实事求是，有凭有据地指出，

that the same media which Hansard so roundly condemned

汉萨德学会极力谴责的媒体

have taken sufficient care to avoid behaving

已经采取了足够的小心来避免

in ways which they could reasonably have foreseen

那些可以显而易见地

would be likely to undermine or even damage

可能逐渐蚕食或侵害

our inherently fragile democratic settlement.

我们与生俱来的脆弱民主的建立

Now there will be those who will argue

现在可能有些人会反驳

that this could all too easily drift into a form

这很容易变成

of censorship, albeit self-censorship,

检查制度或自我检查，

but I don't buy that argument.

但是我不同意。

It has to be possible

通过普世道德和社会责任

to balance freedom of expression

来平衡言论自由

with wider moral and social responsibilities.

是可能的

Let me explain why by taking the example

我来解释一下为什么

from my own career as a filmmaker.

举自己作为电影导演的例子

Throughout that career, I never accepted

在职业生涯中 我从未认同

that a filmmaker should set about putting

导演应该把工作

their own work outside or above what he or she

置于一种高尚价值观

believed to be a decent set of values

之外或之上

for their own life, their own family,

无论是对自己的还是家庭

and the future of the society in which we all live.

以及我们所处在的未来社会

I'd go further.

我想延伸一下

A responsible filmmaker should never devalue their work

一个负责的导演不应贬低自己的工作

to a point at which it becomes less than true

使其比他们自己期望栖居的世界

to the world they themselves wish to inhabit.

要低的地步

As I see it, filmmakers, journalists, even bloggers

我认为电影工作者 记者 甚至博客作者

are all required to face up to the social expectations

都应该直面社会期待

that come with combining the intrinsic power of their medium

这种期待同媒体固有的力量相连

with their well-honed professional skills.

同他们的职业技能相连

Obviously this is not a mandated duty,

很明显 这并不是规定的义务

but for the gifted filmmaker and the responsible journalist

但对于有才华的导演和负责的记者

or even blogger, it strikes me as being utterly inescapable.

或博客作家，能打动我的是他们的非常自觉。

We should always remember that our notion

我们应时刻谨记自己对

of individual freedom and its partner, creative freedom,

个人自由以及它的朋友——创作自由的见解

is comparatively new

在西方思想史中

in the history of Western ideas,

不是久已有之的价值

and for that reason, it's often undervalued

正因如此 它才会被贬低

and can be very quickly undermined.

会被逐渐蚕食

It's a prize easily lost,

这种价值很容易被遗忘

and once lost, once surrendered,

一旦遗忘， 一旦妥协

it can prove very, very hard to reclaim.

就很难再追回。

And its first line of defense

而它的第一道防线

has to be our own standards,

是我们自己的标准

not those enforced on us by a censor or legislation,

不是强加于我们的审查或立法，

our own standards and our own integrity.

是我们自己的标准和正直。

Our integrity as we deal with those

当我们同他人工作时

with whom we work

的正直

and our own standards as we operate within society.

以及在参与社会活动时的标准

And these standards of ours

我们的这些标准

need to be all of a piece with a sustainable social agenda.

需要成为可持续发展的社会议程

They're part of a collective responsibility,

他们是集体责任的一部分

the responsibility of the artist or the journalist

艺术家和记者的责任

to deal with the world as it really is,

按照世界的真实情况来处事

and this, in turn, must go hand in hand

并且反过来，必须同治理社会的原则

with the responsibility of those governing society

相联系

to also face up to that world,

共同面对世界

and not to be tempted to misappropriate

而且不会被

the causes of its ills.

不正当的理由所引诱。

Yet, as has become strikingly clear

然而，这在过去的几年中

over the last couple of years,

这种责任在很大程度上

such responsibility has to a very great extent

越发明显地

been abrogated by large sections of the media.

被媒体削弱。

And as a consequence, across the Western world,

由此导致

the over-simplistic policies of the parties of protest

拮抗各方的过于简单化的政策

and their appeal to a largely disillusioned,

和他们的请愿的巨大幻灭，这在西方世界尤为普遍

older demographic,

老龄人群

along with the apathy and obsession with the trivial

还有冷漠的

that typifies at least some of the young,

被琐碎之事困扰的年轻人

taken together, these and other similarly

全都混杂在一起 ，还有其他

contemporary aberrations

类似的当代问题正在

步步逼紧，让生活中不再

are threatening to squeeze the life

out of active, informed debate and engagement,

拥有积极的讨论和政治参与。

and I stress active.

在此我强调积极。

The most ardent of libertarians might argue

最热忱的自由主义者也许会认为

that Donoghue v. Stevenson should have been thrown out of court

多诺霍和斯蒂文森公司应该被抛出法庭

and that Stevenson would eventually have gone out of business

并且如果他继续卖有蜗牛的姜汁啤酒

if he'd continued to sell ginger beer with snails in it.

公司会最终停业

But most of us, I think, accept some small role

但是 ，我们中的大多数都认同

for the state to enforce a duty of care,

州立法在加强慎独义务上应有的小角色。

and the key word here is reasonable.

这里的关键词就是合理

Judges must ask, did they take reasonable care

法官们需要自问， 他们是否采取合理的谨慎

and could they have reasonably foreseen

他们是否能合理预见

the consequences of their actions?

自己决策带来的影响？

Far from signifying overbearing state power,

那远非放大了州立法的权力

it's that small common sense test of reasonableness

而是小小的合理的常识性的试验

that I'd like us to apply to those in the media

我希望我们对媒体也一样。

who, after all, set the tone and the content

媒体毕竟为我们现在的民主话语

for much of our democratic discourse.

设置了导向和内容

Democracy, in order to work, requires that

为了发扬民主

reasonable men and women take the time to understand and debate

理性的人们需要花时间理解并讨论

difficult, sometimes complex issues,

一些困难复杂的问题

and they do so in an atmosphere which strives

他们会在一种能够激发

for the type of understanding that leads to,

某种理解的氛围下讨论

if not agreement, then at least a productive

这种理解即便不能使他们达成一致

and workable compromise.

也会有所进展 ，并有可行的折中办法

Politics is about choices,

政治关乎选择

and within those choices, politics is about priorities.

在选择之后 ，政治关乎优先

It's about reconciling conflicting preferences

是随时随地基于事实调节

wherever and whenever possibly based on fact.

对优先偏好的冲突

But if the facts themselves are distorted,

但如果事实已被扭曲，

the resolutions are likely only to create further conflict,

结果只能会给今后制造更多的冲突

with all the stresses and strains on society

整个社会都会不可避免的

that inevitably follow.

疲惫不堪

The media have to decide:

媒体需要做出决定

Do they see their role as being to inflame

他们的角色是加剧愤怒

or to inform?

还是传播信息

Because in the end, it comes down to a combination

因为最终都归结于

of trust and leadership.

信任和领导力的结合

Fifty years ago this week, President John F. Kennedy

50年前的这周 肯尼迪总统

made two epoch-making speeches,

发表了两个划时代的演讲

the first on disarmament and the second on civil rights.

一个是关于裁军 另一个是关于公民权

The first led almost immediately

第一个演讲马上引出了

to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty,

禁止核试验条约

and the second led to the 1964 Civil Rights Act,

第二引出了1964年民权法案

both of which represented giant leaps forward.

二者都是巨大的飞跃

Democracy, well-led and well-informed,

完善健全的民主

can achieve very great things,

可以带来伟大的成就

but there's a precondition.

但得有一个前提

We have to trust that those making those decisions

我们需要相信那些做决策的人

are acting in the best interest not of themselves

不是在为他们自己谋福利

but of the whole of the people.

而是在为人民

We need factually-based options,

我们需要以事实为基础的选项

clearly laid out,

明确的布局

not those of a few powerful

而不是几个

and potentially manipulative corporations

潜在的操控的大公司

pursuing their own frequently narrow agendas,

各自追逐他们自己的小利益

but accurate, unprejudiced information

我们应该追逐准确没有偏见的信息

with which to make our own judgments.

来做出自己的判断

If we want to provide decent, fulfilling lives

如果我们想为自己的子孙后代

for our children and our children's children,

提供一种合适的充实的生活

we need to exercise to the very greatest degree possible

我们需要尽最大可能

that duty of care for a vibrant,

履行慎独义务，为了充满活力的

and hopefully a lasting, democracy.

而且希望是一个持久的民主

Thank you very much for listening to me.

感谢聆听

(Applause)

（掌声）