美国国家公共电台 NPR Transcript: Former 'New York Times' Editor Jill Abramson Addresses Book Allegations

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Jill Abramson served as executive editor of The New York Times at a tumultuous time for the journalism¹ industry. The rollout of her new book about the industry has also been tumultuous. The book is called "Merchants Of Truth: The Business Of News And The Fight For Facts." In it, Abramson tracks the rise of two significant upstart outlets², BuzzFeed and Vice³, as well as the struggles of the two most prominent national papers, The New York Times and The Washington Post, to stay afloat in the digital age.

But even before the book went on sale this week, Abramson has been facing charges of inaccuracy and plagiarism⁴. Her publisher, Simon and Schuster, issued a statement calling the book, quote, "exhaustively researched and meticulously⁵ sourced" - unquote - but added that, quote, "If upon further examination, changes or attributions are deemed necessary, we stand ready to work with the author in making those revisions." And Jill Abramson is with us now to talk about the issues raised by her and about her. She's with us from our bureau in New York.

Jill Abramson, thanks so much for joining us.

JILL ABRAMSON: Thank you for having me.

MARTIN: So let's start with disclosures, which, as you point out, is something highly prized in the legacy⁶ media - that we worked in the same newsroom at The Wall Street Journal, and we did parallel reporting around the Clarence Thomas confirmation⁷ hearings. And you appeared in a documentary I reported on that subject for ABC News, drawing from your book on the same subject. So, with that being said, we know each other.

ABRAMSON: We do.

MARTIN: That being said, we want to get to the substance of the book, but we want to speak to the controversy⁸ swirling⁹ around its release - allegations of inaccuracy by people that you write about. After reading the galley¹⁰ proof, a Vice journalist said you were wrong about her gender¹¹ identity and her journalism background. Now, some of those errors were corrected in the final printed work. But she says that other errors remain.

A PBS reporter said you misrepresented his decision not to wear protective clothing while covering the Ebola epidemic¹². The person who reviewed the book for NPR says you made a, quote, "surprising number of errors in your own work." And she said that many of these are quiet but revealing omissions¹³ of context. So what do you have to say about that?

ABRAMSON: Well, accuracy and devotion to the truth, you know, are so important to me. And I take all of these, you know, allegations of inaccuracy and plagiarism very seriously. When I found the allegations have merit, I have moved very quickly to correct everything.

MARTIN: As an editor, how would you handle allegations like the ones you're facing if a reporter under your supervision¹⁴ was facing them? Michael Moynihan has pointed¹⁵ out - he's tweeted several passages, numerous passages that he says were just too close to things that were written elsewhere, like in Columbia Journalism Review, for example. What do you say about that?

ABRAMSON: Well, the way I responded is the way I would expect anyone, you know, at The New York Times or any good journalist. I am scrutinizing¹⁶ everything and being open and transparent¹⁷ when I have been wrong and corrected anything that I found to be an inaccuracy. In terms of the six passages that Michael Moynihan highlighted on Twitter, you know, I've looked at each and every one. And, you know, my book has 70 pages of footnotes. The citations¹⁸ for Vice, the three Vice chapters are - you know, there are nearly a hundred source citations.

MARTIN: There's a freelance journalist who wrote a profile about Vice's Thomas Morton. He says also that he feels that there were passages that were uncomfortably close to those that he had written before. And your response to that is...

ABRAMSON: You know, I've looked at them, and in several of these cases, the language is too close for comfort and should have been specifically cited in the footnotes correctly or put in quotations¹⁹. I fell short, and I'm going to fix those pronto.

MARTIN: So let's talk more about the substance of the book. I mean, you wrote that the news pages of The New York Times are unmistakably anti-Trump²⁰. And the president, who regularly calls the press the enemy of the people, applauded you...

ABRAMSON: Right.

MARTIN: ...For calling the Times' coverage²¹ unmistakably anti-Trump. So, you know, there are two questions here. Do you think that the coverage is financially motivated or motivated by business considerations?

ABRAMSON: I don't think it's motivated by, and I did not write in the book that it's motivated by. But I have talked to journalists there and elsewhere who have told me when their stories aren't about Trump, the readership goes way down. Reporters and, you know, editors and the business side, who's still trying like crazy to get advertising²² even though Facebook and Google are eating up most of that - you know, they want a big audience for their news.

MARTIN: You unpack²³ what's behind the upstart business models, what's behind the disruption to the - kind of the legacy media institutions. And so, you know, that's the core of your book. But now, you know, after a decade of all of this, buyouts and layoffs²⁴, it's the upstarts - you know BuzzFeed...

ABRAMSON: I know.

MARTIN: ...And Vice...

ABRAMSON: Who are having...

MARTIN: ...That are laying off staff.

ABRAMSON: ...A very bad winter for sure.

MARTIN: And the Post seems to have found stability in the hands of publisher Jeff Bezos, who's, of course, you know, the founder²⁵ of Amazon. The New York Times seems to have...

ABRAMSON: Yeah, but he bought it with...

(CROSSTALK)

MARTIN: ...Business model.

ABRAMSON: ...Money.

MARTIN: But those legacy institutions seem to be doing well. And those upstarts who were so, you know, critical to the disruption of the traditional business model are the ones that are having difficulties. And I just wondered - and obviously, this is all happening in real time - is there some bigger story here or a bigger lesson that you draw from these developments about the industry?

ABRAMSON: Yeah. That, you know, there isn't a certain survival formula or business model that will ensure every news organization's future. And, you know, right now, yes. The Post and The Times are getting more subscribers. And, you know, it's like having a thrilling, old-fashioned newspaper war all over again. I think it's a hazard to be certain of the future of any type of news organization. But the one thing I'm totally optimistic about is the eternal need for great storytelling and quality journalism.

MARTIN: That is former New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson. She now teaches at Harvard. Her new book is called "Merchants Of Truth: The Business Of News And The Fight For Facts."

Jill Abramson, thanks so much for talking to us.

ABRAMSON: Thanks, Michel.

(SOUNDBITE OF GOLDWASH SONG, "BUT U WON'T")

1 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。

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 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 plagiarism   

n.剽窃，抄袭

参考例句：

• Teachers in America fight to control cheating and plagiarism.美国老师们努力对付欺骗和剽窃的问题。
• Now he's in real trouble.He's accused of plagiarism.现在他是真遇到麻烦了。他被指控剽窃。

5 meticulously   

adv.过细地，异常细致地；无微不至；精心

参考例句：

• The hammer's silvery head was etched with holy runs and its haft was meticulously wrapped in blue leather. 锤子头是纯银制成的，雕刻着神圣符文，而握柄则被精心地包裹在蓝色的皮革中。 来自辞典例句
• She is always meticulously accurate in punctuation and spelling. 她的标点和拼写总是非常精确。 来自辞典例句

6 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

7 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

8 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

9 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

10 galley   

n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇；

参考例句：

• The stewardess will get you some water from the galley.空姐会从厨房给你拿些水来。
• Visitors can also go through the large galley where crew members got their meals.游客还可以穿过船员们用餐的厨房。

11 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

12 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

13 omissions   

n.省略( omission的名词复数 )；删节；遗漏；略去或漏掉的事（或人）

参考例句：

• In spite of careful checking, there are still omissions. 饶这么细心核对，还是有遗漏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• It has many omissions; even so, it is quite a useful reference book. 那本书有许多遗漏之处，即使如此，尚不失为一本有用的参考书。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 scrutinizing   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His grandfather's stern eyes were scrutinizing him, and Chueh-hui felt his face reddening. 祖父的严厉的眼光射在他的脸上。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• The machine hushed, extraction and injection nozzles poised, scrutinizing its targets. 机器“嘘”地一声静了下来，输入输出管道各就各位，检查着它的目标。 来自互联网

17 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

18 citations   

n.引用( citation的名词复数 )；引证；引文；表扬

参考例句：

• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Some dictionary writers use citations to show what words mean. 有些辞典的编纂者用引文作例证以解释词义。 来自辞典例句

19 quotations   

n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价

参考例句：

• The insurance company requires three quotations for repairs to the car. 保险公司要修理这辆汽车的三家修理厂的报价单。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These quotations cannot readily be traced to their sources. 这些引语很难查出出自何处。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 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。

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 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

23 unpack   

vt.打开包裹（或行李），卸货

参考例句：

• I must unpack before dinner.我得在饭前把行李打开。
• She said she would unpack the items later.她说以后再把箱子里的东西拿出来。

24 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

25 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。