美国国家公共电台 NPR Transparency Advocates Fear Trump Officials Will Block Flow of Information to Public

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

There's been a lot said about the new administration's hostile stance towards the news media. President Trump¹ has criticized entire networks and individual reporters by name, yet advocates for transparency in government say there's another more fundamental concern - public access to reliable information. NPR's David Folkenflik says the recent outcry over immigration provided a case study.

DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE²: Earlier this week, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida - like Trump, a Republican - was surrounded by reporters in a Senate hallway. Rubio was speaking about confusion around the administration's new restrictive immigration order involving travel from seven predominantly Muslim nations.

MARCO RUBIO: We're seeking answers on a number of components³ of it. We're hearing from cruise lines and airports in our state, the tourism sector⁴ concerned with the visa waiver interview process. And there are not a lot of answers as of today.

FOLKENFLIK: Rubio added.

RUBIO: In fact, my staff was told the State Department as of today was ordered, you know, not to talk to Congress about this issue. So...

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What? Why?

FOLKENFLIK: Rubio seemed to share the reporter's incredulity.

RUBIO: That cannot be a permanent position. I mean that...

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you think...

RUBIO: We expect answers here fairly soon because we have constituents⁵ calling.

FOLKENFLIK: Constituents, the public, which needed information to function as travelers detained without disclosure of where - family members, loved ones, colleagues, even lawyers, left in the dark. A Democratic senator said a federal customs official hung up the phone on him.

Just to be clear, State Department Spokesman Mark Toner later said officials have been in touch with lawmakers. Left unsaid, the White House had shared little information with officials at State, Homeland Security and other agencies.

LUCY DALGLISH: I think we're going to be seeing some real out-of-the-box moves here.

FOLKENFLIK: Lucy Dalglish is dean of the College of Journalism⁶ at the University of Maryland and a former executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

DALGISH: It'll be more along the lines of the president standing⁷ up at a rally somewhere and saying, who needs this information? This - it's the evil media that wants to know this information. You don't need it, no. And I think he's going to try to persuade the public overtly⁸ that they're better off ignorant.

FOLKENFLIK: Here was Trump speaking at a press conference a week and a half before his inauguration⁹.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You know, the only one that cares about my tax returns are the reporters, OK? They're the only ones. But - no, I don't think so. I won. I mean I became president. No, I don't think they care at all. They - I don't think they care at all.

FOLKENFLIK: Early on, some government agencies were told to stop using social media channels. Others changed their web pages, even those conveying scientific information, as some of those tweets and posts were seen as jibes¹⁰ at the Trump White House, which has sought to cast doubt on a established climate science, for example.

Each presidential transition triggers a centralization of public relations messaging, but this development raised flags with some transparency advocates. Alex Howard is deputy director of the Sunlight Foundation, a group dedicated¹¹ to the proposition that a country's government functions most honestly and most effectively when its citizens know precisely¹² what's going on.

ALEX HOWARD: Well, the administration continues to be in what feels like campaign mode.

FOLKENFLIK: If you were to boil down Howard's concerns for the digital age, they might sound like this. Is data gathered by the government available to the public in a timely and easily accessible way? Is that data presented accurately¹³? Is it protected from political interference? And here's a chilling one. Is that information actually gathered at all? For example, one bill proposed in the house would shut down gathering¹⁴ information on housing discrimination.

HOWARD: That kind of dumbing down of government information has the potential to take away our ability to create shared facts about what's changing in our society and to have an informed public debate about what should be done.

FOLKENFLIK: During this week's outcry over immigration, the delay in putting out the specific terms of the new policy led to mass confusion at airports around the world because no one was clear on the policies implications or even initially¹⁵ on its language. David Folkenflik, NPR News.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 overtly   

ad.公开地

参考例句：

• There were some overtly erotic scenes in the film. 影片中有一些公开色情场面。
• Nietzsche rejected God's law and wrote some overtly blasphemous things. 尼采拒绝上帝的律法，并且写了一些渎神的作品。

9 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

10 jibes   

n.与…一致( jibe的名词复数 )；（与…）相符；相匹配v.与…一致( jibe的第三人称单数 )；（与…）相符；相匹配

参考例句：

• He made several cheap jibes at his opponent during the interview. 在采访中他好几次对他的对手粗俗地加以嘲讽。
• The report jibes with the facts. 报告与事实相符。 来自辞典例句

11 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

12 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

13 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

14 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

15 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。