编者按：21世纪对新闻业来说并不友好。近几年，数字广告、社交媒体、网站的蓬勃发展给新闻业带来不少冲击。再加上疫情期间谣言横飞，恐惧笼罩，新闻业又面临新的挑战。但是，无论如何，新闻业永远不会缺席。现在，未来，它都会在场。
【注】本文由NBC新闻董事长Andy Lack撰写。
01 特朗普狠怼民主，
新闻业自由黯淡
In the last decade, the ugliest and most cunning threat to journalism comes from leaders in different parts of the world increasingly questioning not just the veracity of what is being reported, which isn't new, but the integrity of those who report it, which is. Some leaders have gone further and egged on their supporters to target and harass anyone they don't approve of in the media.
在过去的十年中，媒体受到最险恶的威胁来自于全球各地的一些领导人。他们不仅一如既往地质疑报道内容的真实性，最近还开始越发质疑新闻工作者的品格。某些人甚至怂恿他的支持者把炮火瞄准媒体人，那些和己方意见相左的人通通成为被骚扰的对象。
President Donald Trump came into office railing against many of the foundations of our democratic institutions, including a free press. Forty months into his administration, coverage of the coronavirus outbreak is the latest sign that — contrary to conventional wisdom — he hasn't laid a glove on serious journalism. His attacks, most recently against excellent reporters like Jonathan Karl (ABC), Yamiche Alcindor (PBS), Peter Alexander (NBC) and Paula Reid (CBS), put the bully in bully pulpit, but they haven't shaken the soul of the First Amendment.
特朗普上任后，大肆批判许多美国民主制度的根基，包括新闻自由。但与大众认知相反的是，执政40个月以来，他并没有真正地攻击严肃新闻，近期有关疫情的报道就是最新的证明。最近他在白宫中发表的欺凌性言论主要攻击ABC记者乔纳森·卡尔、PBS记者亚密其·阿尔辛德、NBC记者皮特·亚历山大和CBS记者保罗菈·雷德等优秀的新闻工作者，但这些言论尚未撼动美国第一修正案的核心精神——新闻言论自由。
Trump's daily briefings, which sometimes include pertinent and significant information, have also frequently become a sideshow, filled with false and misleading statements, compulsive boasting and self-promotional videos. That's why with each live briefing, many news outlets, including ours, are aggressively fact-checking in real time, assessing the value to viewers minute to minute and cutting away when warranted.
特朗普的每日新闻发布会上，有时能捕捉到一些中肯并且有意义的言论，但通常的内容变成了政坛的杂耍助兴，充斥着误导性的谬论、自吹自擂和自我宣传的视频。这就是为什么在每次直播发布会时，很多包括本社（NBS新闻）在内的新闻媒体要积极实时核对信息，时刻评估内容对受众的价值，并在合适的时候将直播切走。
Despite these challenges, what has become powerfully clear during this pandemic is that the heart of journalism has never been stronger. As ever, journalists are asking tough questions and going where the facts lead. Not looking to win any popularity contests — just doing what Woodward and Bernstein inspired my generation and the generations that followed to always do: seek the best obtainable version of the truth.
尽管困难重重，这次疫情让我们清楚地看到新闻业的核心力量空前强大。一直以来，记者勇提艰涩之问，朝事实所在一往无前。新闻工作者伍德沃德和伯恩斯坦激励了我那一代人以及后人去尽可能探寻最接近真相的事实，而非为了赢得人气。
鲍勃·伍德沃德，《华盛顿邮报》助理总编，被称为“美国新闻记者之王"
卡尔·伯恩斯坦，《华盛顿邮报》前记者，1972水门事件主要调查者
Over the past four decades, I've covered a wide array of miserable catastrophes, wars and social upheaval, but the hallmarks of good journalism have seldom seemed more important than they do right now. More than 300 million Americans are sheltering in place — with more than 26 million of them now unemployed — and they're looking for accurate, updated information about this terrifying story and what may lie ahead. They're looking to journalists to counter misinformation that endangers lives and livelihoods. And they're seeking out the perspectives that give us hope: those of the extraordinarily brave nurses and doctors and public health experts on the front lines of this battle.
过去四十年里，我报道的内容包括可怕的天灾、战争以及社会动荡。但优质的新闻业品质从未像现在这样重要。3亿多的美国人隔离避难，其中2600万人失业下岗。他们需要准确的最新疫情消息，来了解这场骇人的危机以及未来的可能性。他们指望记者矫正危及生命和生计的错误信息。他们寻求能给予我们希望的视角：那些直赴抗疫一线、心怀无上勇气的护士、医生和公共卫生专家。
02 坚守岗位，锲而不舍
Reporters have been on this story from the start, tracking the spread of the coronavirus without fear or favor, faithfully doing their jobs even — and especially — in this perilous time. Every day, with every story, they try to find what is most relevant to the public and relentlessly work to uncover the essence of what it means.
自疫情出现以来，记者们一直都在报道整个事件，追踪疫情的传播。在如此危险的时刻，他们临危不惧、客观公正、竭诚尽节地坚守在岗位上。他们每天都在努力挖掘与公众息息相关的每一条新闻，锲而不舍地揭露事情的本质。
Over the past few months, journalists have followed the virus's spread; chronicled its medical, economic and social impact; and shared vital information about how people can stay safe. They've corrected wrong information, exposed myths and conspiracies and sought a balance of relaying real dangers within a context of chances and percentages.
在过去的几个月里，记者们一直在跟进疫情扩散的报道，记录疫情对医疗、经济和社会的影响，分享如何保持健康的重要信息；他们还要更正错误信息，粉碎谣言，揭发阴谋，还要寻求报道的平衡——在提供疫情传染数字与概率的背景下报道疫情的危险性。
This is true of both national outlets and local journalists, with the latter a particularly dogged group. Cost-cutting measures have culled their ranks for years, and even in recent weeks, as they work to share this critical story with their communities, they have been furloughed and laid off. They tell the stories that hit closest to home, often without the acclaim, resources or job security they deserve. And yet, they persevere.
国家媒体和地方媒体都如此努力着，而且地方记者又是一个坚韧不拔的团体。这些年来，媒体的资金一直在减少，很多记者因此下岗，甚至就在近几周，当记者努力向地方民众展示疫情这一重大事件时，一些记者被停职并解雇了。他们所完成的报道往往最能直击美国家庭所关注的核心，但他们却得不到应有的赞许、资源或者工作保障。即便如此，他们还在坚持。
Journalists have found a way, because there is no other choice. At its core, journalism is a public trust, and, in times like these, journalists see their service through regardless of the harm they may face. This is the seminal story of our time, and we absolutely must get it right.
记者们别无选择，坚守自己的道路。从事新闻行业的核心关键是公众的信任，在如今这样的时候，记者全然不顾自己可能要面临的危险，坚持不懈地为公众服务。这场疫情是我们这个时代影响重大的事件，我们必须做出正确的报道。
We have done this before. During World War II, Americans learned about the Nazis' nightly bombing in London when Edward R. Murrow stood on a rooftop and reported the news.
我们之前也曾如此。在二战期间，爱德华·R·默罗站在屋顶上播报新闻，让美国人了解到纳粹对伦敦发起的夜间轰炸。
【爱德华·R·默罗】1935年进入哥伦比亚广播公司，二战中空袭最猛烈时，站在BBC广播大楼顶上做现场报道，以准确报道而闻名，被誉为“现场报道的鼻祖”。
【伦敦大轰炸】二战中纳粹德国对英国首都伦敦实施战略轰炸，伦敦因此成为二战期间遭受轰炸最为严重的三座城市之一（其他分别是柏林和重庆）。
爱德华·R·默罗（图源网络）
During Vietnam, Americans finally found out what was really going on because our journalists stood up to the government and sided with the truth.
在越战期间，由于我们的记者站出来反对政府、勇敢地站在真理一方，美国人民才终于明白战争的愚昧和残忍。
【反越战运动】1963年，哥伦比亚广播公司播放美军士兵虐待俘虏的镜头，震惊全国；1968年，美军杀死越南包括儿童在内的村民567人，影片在美各大电视台播放；1969年5月和11月，《纽约时报》、《华尔街日报》、《时代》杂志、《新闻周刊》等报刊的记者、编辑参加反战游行示威。
Today, enduring, influential newspapers and wire services have provided as much illuminating coverage as at any other time in our history. The networks and cable news don't hesitate to share these stories, crediting the sources, adding their own investigations, analysis and due diligence, and broadcasting them to a vast worldwide audience. That will have real impact over the coming weeks and months as Americans confront big questions about our reshaped society.
如今，经久不衰、极具影响力的报纸和通讯社和历史上的任何时刻都一样，有着数不胜数的引人深思的报道。广播电视和有线电视毫不犹豫地分享新闻，记录采访，加入自己的调查、分析，尽到应尽的责任，向全世界的受众报道新闻。随着美国人民正面临着重塑社会的重大问题，这些报道将对未来的几周或几个月产生实际影响。
03 肩负重任，竭力服务
Make no mistake, journalists have plenty of faults. Our coverage is rarely, if ever, flawless. We are a collection of human beings making hundreds of decisions a day. During times like these, as millions of people turn to the news for answers, the choices we make about what to air and how to report it can make the difference between panic or persistence, and even life or death. Humbled by the responsibility we bear, we try our damnedest to serve our audience.
的确，记者们也有很多缺点，我们的报道很少完美无瑕，毕竟我们都是人类，每天要做上百个决定。疫情时刻，当上百万的人们都在向新闻寻求答案时，我们选择的报道内容和报道方式，关乎人们是惊慌还是坚强，甚至是生还是死。我们肩负责任，尽最大努力为受众服务。
In one of his last on-camera interviews, I asked the legendary editor Ben Bradlee how he would define journalism, as he knew it over a lifetime. He said, with almost a religious conviction: "'If true' ... the greatest words ever written in journalism. ... What's the truth? What is the truth? What really happened?"
在本·布拉德利最后一次出镜采访中，我问这位传奇的编辑如何定义陪伴了自己一生的新闻。他仿佛像一个虔诚的信徒那样回答道：“新闻界有史以来最伟大的词就是‘如果属实’……何为真相？真相究竟是什么？到底发生了什么？”
【本·布拉德利】《华盛顿邮报》前执行总编、“水门事件”牵头报道人。（1921-2014）
本·布拉德利（图源网络）
In that moment, I thought how lucky I was to have a career in the news business. In this moment, it feels more like a calling.
那一刻，我为自己在新闻界工作感到幸运。此时此刻，我感觉这更是一项使命。
At this dark hour, people are scared. They're being bombarded daily by noise and information, not all of it correct — some of it intentionally divisive and polarizing. They're hungry for accurate information and the straight, unvarnished truth. Now, and in all the days to come, journalists will be there.
在现在这个黑暗的时刻，人们心中充满恐惧。他们每天被噪音和信息狂轰滥炸，并不是所有消息都是正确的，有些故意造成分歧和对立。他们渴求准确的信息和直截了当的、赤裸裸的真相。现在，以及未来，记者们都会始终坚守在现场。
原文链接：
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/journalism-under-attack-coronavirus-white-house-we-re-winning-ncna1192306
编译：祖芃芃 吕适言 王姝 王夏雯 戴怡安
排版：王夏雯
审核：周雨旸
指导老师：刘佳