美国国家公共电台 NPR Amid Russia Scandals, Conservative Media Provides Air Cover For President Trump

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Conservative media outlets² face a dilemma³ in how to portray⁴ Russian influence in last year's election. Many have described the whole story as fake news cooked up by Democrats⁵ upset about last year's election loss trying to destroy President Trump⁶. The trouble is that intelligence agencies overwhelmingly found the interference occurred, and bipartisan investigations⁷ are looking into possible collusion. All of that is complicating⁸ the right-wing narrative⁹. Here's North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE¹⁰: This week, while Jared Kushner was answering questions on Capitol Hill about his contacts with Russians, Rush Limbaugh took to the airwaves. The Russia story, Limbaugh argued, is a giant con¹.

(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW")

RUSH LIMBAUGH: Trump voters are never going to fall for this collusion story and are never going to buy into this notion that the Russians rigged it with Trump. They're never going to buy into it because it makes them illegitimate. And they are not illegitimate.

MANN: Dennis and Marcia Bauchle are farmers from Watkins Glen, N.Y. They both voted for Donald Trump and say mainstream¹¹ news sources are corrupt¹², so they get a lot of their information instead from Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and other conservative outlets. Marcia shares their view that the Russia story is political sabotage¹³.

MARCIA BAUCHLE: They're just putting allegations there all the time. And he has to run around, dealing¹⁴ with all this stuff - that he isn't able to do his job.

MANN: Dennis nods his head. He says Russia is fake news.

DENNIS BAUCHLE: I don't think there's any basis to it, really.

M BAUCHLE: Hillary has talked to Russians, too. It's like they're both trying to get dirt on each other, just like politicians do.

MANN: There's no evidence the Clinton campaign communicated with Russia. But in conservative media, this confusing, muddled¹⁵ narrative is common. Here's conservative radio talker Laura Ingraham telling her audience the whole thing is a giant head fake by Democrats in the media.

(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "THE LAURA INGRAHAM SHOW")

LAURA INGRAHAM: This is (laughter) what their game plan is. This is part of the resistance.

MANN: In this conservative media narrative, it's widely accepted that special prosecutor¹⁶ Robert Mueller is part of the effort to cripple President Trump. Here's right-wing radio host Michael Savage¹⁷.

(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "THE MICHAEL SAVAGE SHOW")

MICHAEL SAVAGE: Mr. President, fire Mueller. He's a political hack¹⁸. The American people will be behind you. Don't worry about the fake press.

MANN: Brendan Nyhan follows conservative politics and media at Dartmouth College. He says outlets like Fox News and Breitbart have worked strategically since the election to build this counter-narrative, trying to discredit¹⁹ developments in the Russia story even as they've grown more serious.

BRENDAN NYHAN: A lot of the conservative media has become almost full-time²⁰ media criticism. So you're getting the mainstream coverage²¹ refracted out through conservative media and back to you.

MANN: Nyhan describes this narrative as political air cover helping²² keep Trump's base and Republican lawmakers loyal. But he points out conservative media is more diverse than it used to be. There are voices and outlets who've started asking tougher questions. Here's Shepard Smith on Fox News reacting to the White House's talking points on Russia.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SHEPARD SMITH REPORTING")

SHEPARD SMITH: Why is it lie after lie after lie? If you're clean, come on clean, you know?

MANN: This week, some right-wing media, including Breitbart, pushed back hard against the president's repeated attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, warning Trump to leave Sessions alone. I asked Marcia and Dennis Bauchle if there's anything that would give them pause, make them rethink the Russia story. They say they'd first need to hear the news from someone they really trust, someone like Limbaugh or Hannity. They also want hard facts, a smoking gun.

D BAUCHLE: They have found nothing after how many months of investigating?

M BAUCHLE: Put out facts, not maybe hearsay²³. Facts, you know? So his son met with Russians. Like, who cares?

MANN: Hearing those facts won't be easy. They tell me they've actually stopped watching Fox News. It's gotten too liberal, they say, too critical of President Trump. For NPR News, I'm Brian Mann.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRISTEZA'S "BEIGE FINGER")

1 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

2 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

4 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

8 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

9 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

10 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。

11 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

12 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

13 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

14 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

15 muddled   

adj.混乱的；糊涂的；头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的过去式)；使糊涂；对付，混日子

参考例句：

• He gets muddled when the teacher starts shouting. 老师一喊叫他就心烦意乱。
• I got muddled up and took the wrong turning. 我稀里糊涂地拐错了弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

17 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

18 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

19 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

20 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

21 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

22 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

23 hearsay   

n.谣传，风闻

参考例句：

• They started to piece the story together from hearsay.他们开始根据传闻把事情的经过一点点拼湊起来。
• You are only supposing this on hearsay.You have no proof.你只是根据传闻想像而已，并没有证据。