2006年VOA标准英语-US News Media Ownership Consolidated in Recent

By Michael Bowman
Washington, DC
14 December 2006
 
watch News Media Ownership report

 
TV anchor Setareh Derakhshesh
With the exception of one domestic broadcasting network, the U.S. news media are privately¹ owned and operated, and always have been. Yet the nature of media ownership has been transformed in recent decades, with more and more media outlets² coming under the control of a handful of large mass-media corporations, some of which have merged³ to form even-larger entities⁴. From Washington, for Producer Barry Unger, VOA's Michael Bowman takes a look at America's media ownership, and what effect it has on the news.

Does it matter who owns and controls the media outlets people rely on for the news? Absolutely, according to one person encountered on the streets of Washington, local resident Jeff Bonnin. "It certainly colors the content of whatever stories we are reading. For example, the slant⁵ on the stories is relatively⁶ neutral in some cases, relatively right-wing in others." Other Americans perceive a left-wing slant to the news.

 
Newspapers
Fifty years ago, many American newspapers and local broadcast stations had local, hometown ownership.

That is no longer the norm, according to Jeffrey Dvorkin of the Committee of Concerned Journalists in Washington. "There are five large corporations that own most news media in this country. And they are under continuous pressure to ensure that there are larger and larger profits returned to their shareholders⁷."

Virginia-based Gannett Company owns 98 newspapers and 18 television stations in the United States. Clear Channel Communications, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas owns 39 television stations and more than 700 radio stations, some of which compete against one another in the same local market.

Dvorkin says the news industry, like any business, must aim for profit. But he adds that the news media are a special case, with a specific responsibility within the democratic system. "Journalism⁸ has an obligation to inform people as citizens and to make sure that they have enough knowledge about the issues that concern them as citizens of their communities, of their country and the world, so they can make informed choices."

Concerns about media ownership are overblown according to the vice⁹ president-at-large at the Washington Post newspaper, Ben Bradlee. "The fact that the Washington Post Company owns a newspaper in Everett, Washington, and owns Newsweek magazine, and owns the Washington Post -- that really does not threaten the independence of journalism, to say the least."

Bradlee notes there are far more American news outlets today than when he entered the industry in the 1940s. Recent years have seen an explosion of specialty¹⁰ magazines, cable television channels, and information-related Internet sites.

But Bradlee adds that the number of newspapers has shrunk. Many of the newspapers that disappeared across the country were doomed¹¹ by an inability to turn a profit. "You have got to be a successful business. If you lose a million dollars a year, which the Washington Post did for 20-something years, (then) you exist at the whim¹² of a rich person (owner). I think the Washington Post became a much better paper when it began to make money."

But while corporate¹³ consolidation¹⁴ has led to greater profitability in the news industry as a whole, its impact on the quality of journalism is a matter of debate.

The Committee of Concerned Journalists' Jeffrey Dvorkin adds "There is the illusion of choice in terms of what you watch on television and hear on the radio, but in fact there are fewer independent outlets that are doing independent journalism than ever before."

Other analysts¹⁵ note that shrinking budgets for news coverage¹⁶ have led many media organizations to cut back on foreign reporting, making it harder for Americans to get in-depth news about international affairs.

The Voice of America is funded entirely¹⁷ by the U.S. government and may only broadcast outside the United States. But in other countries, government-controlled domestic news media are commonplace, according to government studies expert Stephen Hess at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

"The great broadcast medias, stations and so forth¹⁸ throughout most of the world, are owned directly or indirectly¹⁹ by the government. Newspapers can be the voice of a political party, if you will. So to that degree, the American mainstream²⁰ media -- mass media -- is much more the product of the market."

Regardless of ownership, it is a standard creed²¹ among American journalists that the news must be reported as accurately²² and impartially²³ as possible. 

1 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

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 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

4 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

5 slant   

v.倾斜，倾向性地编写或报道；n.斜面，倾向

参考例句：

• The lines are drawn on a slant.这些线条被画成斜线。
• The editorial had an antiunion slant.这篇社论有一种反工会的倾向。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

8 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。

9 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。

10 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

11 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

12 whim   

n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想

参考例句：

• I bought the encyclopedia on a whim.我凭一时的兴致买了这本百科全书。
• He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.今天他突然想要去航海。

13 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

14 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

15 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

16 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。

17 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

18 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

19 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

20 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。

21 creed   

n.信条；信念，纲领

参考例句：

• They offended against every article of his creed.他们触犯了他的每一条戒律。
• Our creed has always been that business is business.我们的信条一直是公私分明。

22 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。

23 impartially   

adv.公平地，无私地

参考例句：

• Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
• We hope that they're going to administer justice impartially. 我们希望他们能主持正义，不偏不倚。