3 ways to fix a broken news industry | Lara Setrakian

譯者: Winston Szeto 審譯者: Marssi Draw

Five years ago, I had my dream job.

五年前，我得到了夢寐以求的工作。

I was a foreign correspondent in the Middle East

我任職美國廣播公司新聞的

reporting for ABC News.

駐中東特派員。

But there was a crack in the wall,

但我發現了牆上的一道缺口，

a problem with our industry,

即是我們的行業出了問題，

that I felt we needed to fix.

我認為有必要去修補。

You see, I got to the Middle East right around the end of 2007,

我在 2007 年末抵達中東，

which was just around the midpoint

那時伊拉克戰爭已經

of the Iraq War.

打了一半。

But by the time I got there, it was already nearly impossible

但在我抵達時，已經幾乎不可能

to find stories about Iraq on air.

找到可供廣播的伊拉克新聞故事。

Coverage had dropped across the board,

各大電視網絡報導伊拉克的篇幅

across networks.

一律下跌。

And of the stories that did make it,

那些得以廣播出來的新聞故事當中，

more than 80 percent of them were about us.

超過 80% 是關於我方的。

We were missing the stories about Iraq,

我們不去報導伊拉克的新聞故事、

the people who live there,

關於當地居民的新聞故事，

and what was happening to them under the weight of the war.

以及他們在戰爭重壓下 何去何從的新聞故事。

Afghanistan had already fallen off the agenda.

阿富汗則早已不在報導議題中。

There were less than one percent of all news stories in 2008

在 2008 年的所有新聞故事中

that went to the war in Afghanistan.

不到 1% 是關於阿富汗戰爭。

It was the longest war in US history,

這是美國史上歷時最長的戰爭，

but information was so scarce

但相關資訊卻是如此稀少，

that schoolteachers we spoke to

就連學校老師也向我們表示，

told us they had trouble explaining to their students

他們很難向學生解釋

what we were doing there,

究竟我們在阿富汗做些什麼，

when those students had parents

而這些學生的父母

who were fighting and sometimes dying overseas.

都在海外戰鬥甚或殉職。

We had drawn a blank,

我們得不到任何相關資訊，

and it wasn't just Iraq and Afghanistan.

而這不只是伊拉克和阿富汗。

From conflict zones to climate change

從衝突地區到氣候改變，

to all sorts of issues around crises in public health,

到關乎公共衞生危機的各類議題，

we were missing what I call the species-level issues,

我們無法報導我稱為 「物種層面的議題」，

because as a species, they could actually sink us.

因為這些議題都可以拖垮 我們整個人類物種。

And by failing to understand the complex issues of our time,

無法了解當代的複雜議題，

we were facing certain practical implications.

我們就得面對這帶來的 若干實際影響。

How were we going to solve problems

我們怎麼解決得了問題，

that we didn't fundamentally understand,

要是我們沒有從根本了解問題、

that we couldn't track in real time,

無法同步追蹤問題，

and where the people working on the issues

而且處理這些複雜議題的人

were invisible to us

都是我們看不見，

and sometimes invisible to each other?

甚或互相看不見的人？

When you look back on Iraq,

回首看看伊拉克，

those years when we were missing the story,

我們無法報導任何有關 當地新聞故事的那些年，

were the years when the society was falling apart,

就是當地社會分崩離析的時期，

when we were setting the conditions for what would become the rise of ISIS,

而我們也造就了 讓伊斯蘭國得以崛起的條件，

the ISIS takeover of Mosul

讓伊斯蘭國得以佔據摩蘇爾，

and terrorist violence that would spread

讓恐怖主義暴力得以跨過

beyond Iraq's borders to the rest of the world.

伊拉克邊界遍布全世界。

Just around that time where I was making that observation,

當我正在進行觀察的時候，

I looked across the border of Iraq

我望向伊拉克邊界的另一邊，

and noticed there was another story we were missing:

發現我們也無法報導 另一則新聞故事：

the war in Syria.

敍利亞戰爭。

If you were a Middle-East specialist, you knew that Syria was that important

如果各位是中東問題專家， 一定知道敍利亞

從一開始就相當重要。

from the start.

But it ended up being, really,

但結果卻是敍利亞

one of the forgotten stories of the Arab Spring.

是在阿拉伯之春 被遺忘的新聞故事之一。

I saw the implications up front.

我親眼目睹這帶來的影響。

Syria is intimately tied to regional security,

敍利亞與地區安全以至全球安全

to global stability.

息息相關。

I felt like we couldn't let that become

我覺得不應該任由敍利亞變成

another one of the stories we left behind.

另一則我們不報導的新聞故事。

So I left my big TV job to start a website, called "Syria Deeply."

所以我辭掉了大電視臺的工作， 創立網站「深度敍利亞」。

It was designed to be a news and information source

這網站旨在作為新聞及資訊來源，

that made it easier to understand a complex issue,

使理解一則複雜議題變得更容易，

and for the past four years, it's been a resource

而它在過去四年來已經成為

for policymakers and professionals working on the conflict in Syria.

處理敍利亞衝突的政策制定者 和專業人士的資訊來源。

We built a business model

我們的經營模式是

based on consistent, high-quality information,

建基於具連貫性、高品質的資訊，

and convening the top minds on the issue.

以及匯聚有關該議題的一流見解。

And we found it was a model that scaled.

我們發現這個模式可以擴展。

We got passionate requests to do other things "Deeply."

有人熱切請求我們 「深度」探討其他議題。

So we started to work our way down the list.

於是我們開始探討清單上各個議題。

I'm just one of many entrepreneurs,

我和眾多企業家，

and we are just one of many start-ups

我們和很多創投公司，

trying to fix what's wrong with news.

都嘗試補救新聞業出現的錯誤。

All of us in the trenches know

我們在前線工作的人都知道

that something is wrong with the news industry.

新聞業的確出現了一些問題。

It's broken.

它已經敗壞。

Trust in the media has hit an all-time low.

傳媒公信力跌至歷年新低。

And the statistic you're seeing up there is from September --

各位在這裡見到的統計數字 是在九月，

it's arguably gotten worse.

現在情況恐怕更差。

But we can fix this.

但我們可以補救。

We can fix the news.

我們可以補救新聞業。

I know that that's true.

我知道這會成真。

You can call me an idealist; I call myself an industrious optimist.

各位可以說我是理想主義者， 我就自稱勤奮的樂觀主義者。

And I know there are a lot of us out there.

我知道外面有很多像我一樣的人。

We have ideas for how to make things better,

我們有辦法使事情變好，

and I want to share three of them that we've picked up in our own work.

而我想介紹我們找出的 其中三項辦法。

Idea number one:

辦法一：

we need news that's built on deep-domain knowledge.

我們需要建基於 深入領域知識的新聞。

Given the waves and waves of layoffs at newsrooms across the country,

由於全國各地新聞媒體 裁員一浪接一浪，

we've lost the art of specialization.

我們已經失去了專門報導的藝術。

Beat reporting is an endangered thing.

「路線採訪」瀕臨絕種。

When it comes to foreign news,

在海外新聞方面，

the way we can fix that is by working with more local journalists,

我們的補救方法就是 跟更多本地新聞從業員合作，

treating them like our partners and collaborators,

視他們為合作伙伴，

not just fixers who fetch us phone numbers and sound bites.

而不只是幫我們取得 電話號碼和原聲摘要的仲介人。

Our local reporters in Syria and across Africa and across Asia

我們在敍利亞以至 亞、非各地的本地記者

bring us stories that we certainly would not have found on our own.

給我們找來我們自己 肯定找不來的新聞故事。

Like this one from the suburbs of Damascus, about a wheelchair race

就像這則在大馬士革市郊的新聞， 關於一場

給予戰亂傷患希望的輪椅競賽。

that gave hope to those wounded in the war.

Or this one from Sierra Leone,

又或者這則在塞拉里昂的新聞，

about a local chief who curbed the spread of Ebola

關於一名當地首領 自發隔離自己的區域

by self-organizing a quarantine in his district.

以阻止伊波拉病毒蔓延。

Or this one from the border of Pakistan,

又或者這則在巴基斯坦邊境的新聞，

about Afghan refugees being forced to return home before they are ready,

關於阿富汗難民在未準備好、 被警察脅逼的情況下

under the threat of police intimidation.

被遣返家鄉。

Our local journalists are our mentors.

本地新聞從業員是我們的師友，

They teach us something new every day,

每一天都有新東西教給我們，

and they bring us stories that are important for all of us to know.

也給我們帶來所有人都應該 知道的重要新聞故事。

Idea number two:

辦法二：

we need a kind of Hippocratic oath for the news industry,

我們需要給新聞行業訂立一種 希波克拉底誓詞，

a pledge to first do no harm.

即是承諾不造成任何傷害。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Journalists need to be tough.

新聞從業員需要不屈不撓。

We need to speak truth to power,

我們要向當權者說出真相，

but we also need to be responsible.

但我們也要為自己負責。

We need to live up to our own ideals,

我們要按自己的理想行事，

and we need to recognize

也要明白

when what we're doing could potentially harm society,

如果我們忘記新聞是一種公共服務，

where we lose track of journalism as a public service.

我們所做的有可能損害社會。

I watched us cover the Ebola crisis.

我密切留意我們怎樣報導 伊波拉危機。

We launched Ebola Deeply. We did our best.

我們成立「深度伊波拉」， 並全力以赴。

But what we saw was a public

但我們見到公眾

that was flooded with hysterical and sensational coverage,

被排山倒海般的歇斯底里 和煽情報導淹沒，

sometimes inaccurate, sometimes completely wrong.

它們有時不準確，有時完全錯誤。

Public health experts tell me that that actually cost us in human lives,

公共衞生專家告訴我， 這樣其實會賠上人命，

because by sparking more panic and by sometimes getting the facts wrong,

因為引發更多恐慌甚或把事實弄錯，

we made it harder for people to resolve

使人們更難解決

what was actually happening on the ground.

實地發生的事。

All that noise made it harder to make the right decisions.

所有這些雜音使人更難 作出正確的決定。

We can do better as an industry,

我們作為一個行業可以做得更好，

but it requires us recognizing how we got it wrong last time,

但必須明白我們上次何以犯錯，

and deciding not to go that way next time.

並決心下次不再重蹈覆轍。

It's a choice.

這完全由你決定。

We have to resist the temptation to use fear for ratings.

我們要抵擋誘惑， 不用恐懼刺激收視率。

And that decision has to be made in the individual newsroom

每個新聞部、每位新聞行政人員

and with the individual news executive.

都要作出這樣決定。

Because the next deadly virus that comes around

因為如果我們重蹈覆轍，

could be much worse and the consequences much higher,

如果我們的報導不負責任、 不盡不實，

if we do what we did last time;

下一個來襲的致命病毒

if our reporting isn't responsible and it isn't right.

可能更惡劣，帶來更嚴重的後果。

The third idea?

辦法三？

We need to embrace complexity

若要理解錯綜複雜的世界，

if we want to make sense of a complex world.

我們就要擁抱複雜。

Embrace complexity --

擁抱複雜……

(Applause)

（掌聲）

not treat the world simplistically, because simple isn't accurate.

不把世界簡化， 因為簡單就是不準確。

We live in a complex world.

我們活在錯綜複雜的世界。

News is adult education.

新聞是成人教育。

It's our job as journalists to get elbow deep in complexity

我們作為新聞從業員 有責任抽絲剝繭，

and to find new ways to make it easier for everyone else to understand.

找出新方法使任何人更易理解。

If we don't do that,

如果我們做不到這一點，

if we pretend there are just simple answers,

如果我們佯裝簡單答案就在眼前，

we're leading everyone off a steep cliff.

我們就像帶領所有人去跳懸崖。

Understanding complexity is the only way to know the real threats

理解複雜關係是 知道真實威脅近在咫尺的

that are around the corner.

唯一方法。

It's our responsibility to translate those threats

我們的責任是把這些威脅 以常人話語說出來，

and to help you understand what's real,

幫助各位明白什麼是真實的，

so you can be prepared and know what it takes to be ready

讓你準備好並知道怎樣準備

for what comes next.

下一個問題的來臨。

I am an industrious optimist.

我是一名勤奮的樂觀主義者。

I do believe we can fix what's broken.

我的確相信可以補救已敗壞的東西。

We all want to.

我們每個人都想。

There are great journalists out there doing great work --

表現卓越的優秀新聞從業員 俯拾皆是，

we just need new formats.

而我們需要的只是新模式。

I honestly believe this is a time of reawakening,

我確信現在是時候重新醒覺、

reimagining what we can do.

重新想像我們可以做什麼。

I believe we can fix what's broken.

我相信找們可以補救已敗壞的東西。

I know we can fix the news.

我知道我們可以補救新聞業。

I know it's worth trying,

我知道這是值得嘗試的，

and I truly believe that in the end,

並衷心相信我們直到最後

we're going to get this right.

會把事情撥亂反正。

Thank you.

感謝大家。

(Applause)

（掌聲）