英国新闻听力 埃及总统穆巴拉克病危谣言（在线收听）

The Rumored Demise of President Mubarak of Egypt-埃及总统穆巴拉克病危谣言

埃及四大报纸编辑因涉嫌诽谤胡斯尼·穆巴拉克总统而被宣判入狱，其中一位，亚伯拉罕·伊萨将面临第二次审讯。这一次他被指控损害国家利益和散布关于穆巴拉克总统的虚假流言。他涉嫌的犯罪行为是将开罗四处泛滥的关于总统身体不适的众多传闻公开发表在报纸上。伊恩·潘诺尔一直在研究为什么这些谣传久久不能消失。

ANNOUNCER: Four newspapers editors in Egypt have been given prison sentences for defaming President Hosni Mubarak and one of them, Abraham Issa, is due to stand trial again. This time he’s been charged with causing harm to the national interest and with spreading false rumors about Mr. Mubarak. His alleged crime was to publish reports on the many stories that have been swelling around Cairo that the president is unwell. Ian Panel has been examining why these rumors have refused to go away. 

播音员：埃及四大报纸编辑因涉嫌诽谤胡斯尼?穆巴拉克总统而被宣判入狱，其中一位，亚伯拉罕?伊萨将面临第二次审讯。这一次他被指控损害国家利益和散布关于穆巴拉克总统的虚假流言。他涉嫌的犯罪行为是将开罗四处泛滥的关于总统身体不适的众多传闻公开发表在报纸上。伊恩?潘诺尔一直在研究为什么这些谣传久久不能消失。

IAN PANEL: When Mark Twain read that his own obituary had been published, he cabled the newspapers to assure them that he was still in fact alive, famously remarking that “reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated”. President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt might consider a similar track. For weeks now, Cairo has been full of rumors about the President’s health or lack of it. The news came at me from all angles: friends, acquaintances, colleagues, friends of colleagues, even wives of colleagues. “Have you heard?” they would ask. “The President is ill.” they would declare. “He hasn’t been seen in public for ages.” they would reveal. On a few occasions, I was even told in hush tones that the president was in fact dead, and had been for weeks. These stories can be hard to resist. Firstly, because death is news; the media love to ruminate about and rehearse for the death of important figures: Monarchs, Religious Leaders, Actors and of course, Presidents. The other reason it was hard to resist was because it happened in the silly season-that time of the year when very little happened in the world, when people go on holiday, including Presidents. But papers must publish and media must broadcast and so, the thresholds for what constitute a real story plummet. This summer in Cairo and one of the silly stories was about Hosni Mubarak’s health. Now, I’m not saying that the Presidents health is not a story. Hosni Mubarak is perhaps the most important political figure in the Arab world. He has been the leader of the Region’s most populous country for more than a quarter of a century, a pivotal ally of the West and an influential figure in the politics of the Middle East. He is approaching 80 years old and he has had health problems in the past. But just because we hear he is at retreat and isn’t appearing in public everyday, does not mean he must be dead. Especially when every journalist in Cairo knows they were ambling along a well trodden past. Last April, the city was also buzzed with the rumor that the president was unwell or dead. I telephoned a Senior Government contact to check. I only got as far as “Hi it’s Ian Panel from the BBC can I ask…” when I was cut off with the loud and firm “its not true.” To reassure everyone, we were told that the President would appear at an important football that evening, to be broadcast live on Egyptian Television. It was the most watched matched of the season. And sure enough, Hosni Mubarak was there, waving, and smiling and alive. So when a similar story does the round just a few months later, the wise option would be to steer well clear of it. But a number of Egyptian newspapers, in particular the opposition and independent ones did not, choosing to run the stories about the rumor, in some cases, on the front page. All to the intense irritation of the Presidency, the official response has been robust. First came the very public and protracted photo opportunity to prove that the President was in fact alive and well. Then Hosni Mubarak himself spoke out. In an interview with a pro government newspaper, he accused illegitimate movements of been behind the rumors, a not very veiled reference to the Moslems brotherhood, the Egypt’s most powerful opposition group. Then the First Lady, Susan Mubarak, in a rare television appearance said that the journalists who published the rumors, deserved to be punished. And that of course, was the next move, singling out one newspaper and one editor among many for trial. But by responding in this way, the Presidency and its supporters have turn or began as the rumor into a real story. They have also illustrated two important things about the country. Firstly, Mr. Mubarak will not go on forever and there must be a successor. Most hear we assume, it will be the president’s son Gamal, who will take over. But there is anxiety about who and what comes next. Secondly, the capacity to tolerate criticism and critics has slumped to a new low in Egypt. For example, the man who dares to challenge Hosni Mubarak for the presidency languishes in jail. The group that dares to challenge the ruling party in Parliamentary elections has its members routinely rounded up. And internet bloggers vociferating their opposition have also been detained, beaten and have their websites blocked. So to be clear, President Mubarak is alive and well, again. And there is another mark to unquote that the President might like to consider the next time he reads that he is unwell or dead. “The more things are forbidden, the more popular they become.”

伊恩?潘诺尔：当马克?吐温看到自己的死亡讣告在报纸上发布出来后，立即给报纸发电报告诉他们自己还活着。这封著名的电报内容是“有关我死讯的报导有夸大之嫌”。胡斯尼?穆巴拉克总统可以考虑一下马克?吐温的做法。几周以来，在埃及首都开罗，四处都可以听到总统健康或身体不适的传闻。而我听到的这些传闻也是来自方方面面：朋友，熟人，同事，同事的朋友，甚至同事的妻子。“听说了吗？”他们通常以这种问句开头，然后宣布：“总统生病了。”接着展示证据，“他已经很久没有出现在公共场合了。”在某些场合，我甚至被悄悄的告诉，总统其实已经病逝了，并且是在几周前。对这些传闻的好奇确实让人难以抗拒。首先，因为死亡本来就是新闻，而媒体喜欢思考和预演重要人物的死亡：包括君王，宗教领导，演员，当然还有总统。另一个让人难以抗拒的原因是它发生在新闻饥荒期。那是一年中世界发生事情最少的时期，很多人都选择在这段时间去度假，包括总统在内。但报纸还要照样发行，媒体还得继续播放节目，于是就开始有了一系列杜撰的传闻。这个夏天开罗的一个无聊话题就是关于胡斯尼?穆巴拉克的健康问题。当然我并不是说总统的健康不值得人们讨论。胡斯尼?穆巴拉克可能算的上阿拉伯世界最重要的一位政治人物。他担任这个地区人口最多的国家领导人的时间已经超过25年。他是中东地区最有影响力的政治人物之一，也是中东地区与西部联盟的关键人物。他已经将近80岁了，在过去一直存在健康问题。但是仅仅因为我们听说他要隐退，没有每天出现在公共场合，就断定他逝世了是完全没有依据的。尤其是当开罗的每个记者都知道这个消息在很早以前就开始传播了。去年四月，这个城市也出现了关于总统身体不适或死亡的传闻，引起人们一阵骚动。我还打电话给一位高级政府官员确认，结果我只说了几个词，“你好，我是BBC的伊恩?潘诺尔，我能问一下……”还没说完就被一个大声、坚决的口气打断：“这不是真的。”我们被告知总统将会出席当天晚上的一场重要足球赛事，该比赛将在埃及电视台现场直播。这是该赛季最受关注的一场比赛。胡斯尼?穆巴拉克的的确确出现在那里，招手，微笑，活的好好的。所以当几个月后类似的传闻又冒出来时，明智之举是等事情弄清楚后在采取行动。但是很多埃及报纸，尤其当对手或其他独立报社没有采取行动的时候，他们往往就选择报导这些谣言。有些甚至被放上了头版。所有这些都激起了总统的强烈愤怒。对此官方的反应非常强硬。首先用总统出席公共场合的照片以及即将出现的拍照机会来证明总统确实还活着，而且身体健康。然后胡斯尼?穆巴拉克亲自出来澄清。在和一所亲政府报社的访谈中，他严厉谴责谣言背后的非法行为，并含沙射影的提到穆斯林兄弟会，这是埃及最大的反政府组织。接着，埃及第一夫人，一向很少抛头露面的苏珊?穆巴拉克声称，那些刊登谣言的记者应该受到惩罚。当然，下一步就要从众多刊登过谣言的报纸中挑出一个报社和一个编辑进行审判。但是总统及其支持者的这种回应方式将谣言变成或开始变成另外一段真实的报导。他们同时也阐明了关于这个国家的两件重要事情。首先，总统职位不是永远由穆巴拉克先生一人承担，国家需要一位继承人。目前就我们的听闻，估计是总统的儿子贾迈尔接任下届总统之位。但是人们还是急切想得到准确答案，总统之位到底由谁担任，他会出台什么样的政策。其次，政府对批判和评论家的容忍度已下降至埃及新低。例如，如果有人胆敢对胡斯尼?穆巴拉克总统不敬，散布其身体不适的谣言，就一定会被抓进监狱。如果一个组织胆敢在议会选举中对执政党不敬，政府将按有关程序对其成员进行围捕。并且在网络博客上宣扬反政府言论的人也将被拘捕，用刑，并封闭其网站。所以我们可以再次清楚的确定，穆巴拉克总统仍然活着，而且身体健康。或许下次当总统读到关于自己身体不适或死亡的报道时，他可以引用马克?吐温的另一段话来做回应：“愈禁愈猖。” 

单词注释： 

Defame v. 诽谤 

obituary n. 死亡讣告 

ruminate v. 思考，沉思 

rehearse v. 预演，排练 

the silly season 新闻饥荒期 

pivotal adj. 关键的，中枢的 

vociferate v. 宣扬，猛烈说出（尤指抗议）