美国国家公共电台 NPR--After many delays, Elon Musk is now the proud owner of Twitter

After many delays, Elon Musk¹ is now the proud owner of Twitter

Transcript²

This $44 billion deal was finalized³ Thursday night. Soon after, Musk fired top executives, including the CEO. This comes after months of twists and turns –- many of which played out on Twitter.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Elon Musk says he doesn't want Twitter to become a free-for-all hellscape, which, I suppose, is a good starting point.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

An intriguing⁴ statement because Musk previously⁵ said he was a free speech absolutist. But now as he takes ownership of Twitter, his first move was to reassure⁶ advertisers that the site should be warm and welcoming for people. Hard to say what the billionaire may do with the social media site, which most people do not use, but which has a huge influence over news coverage⁷. His very first move was to fire top executives, including the CEO.

MARTIN: We've got NPR's Raquel Maria Dillon with us this morning.

Hey, Raquel.

RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, BYLINE⁸: Good morning.

MARTIN: So his first move, Elon Musk, started out by clearing up the C-suite, huh?

DILLON: Yeah. He started with firing Twitter's CEO, Parag Agrawal, along with its chief financial officer and top lawyer. Also, the head of public policy, Vijaya Gadde, was dismissed. She called the shots on suspending Twitter accounts and has been criticized for that and called Twitter's chief censor⁹. Elon Musk is showing that after all the flip-flopping and legal drama, it's his company now, and he's going to run it his way.

Of course, he tweeted about it. On his Twitter bio page, he has renamed himself chief twit. Then he referenced the company's bird logo last night. The bird has been freed.

MARTIN: OK. So Twitter has struggled financially. We should just say this. It's not nearly as big as Facebook, or it's not growing like TikTok is. This is obviously a priority for him. What's his plan?

DILLON: Yeah. It's not consistently profitable, but Musk says he can turn it around by slimming down the workforce¹⁰. So Twitter employees are worried about layoffs¹¹ and that the site will change for the worse, in their opinion. Musk is planning to hold an all-staff meeting today, so we could learn more after that.

MARTIN: Meanwhile, he sent out this message to advertisers on Twitter yesterday, right? What did we learn from that?

DILLON: Well, I think it's telling that his most substantial comments in months were not to Twitter users or staff, but to its advertisers.

MARTIN: Right.

DILLON: He wrote that he's buying Twitter because he wants, quote, "a common digital town square where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner." This was in response to advertisers wondering whether Twitter is a good place to showcase their brands going forward. Big brands don't want their carefully crafted ad campaigns to show up next to posts that spew hate and vitriol. Eighty-nine percent of Twitter's revenue is from ads.

MARTIN: Yeah.

DILLON: So Musk wrote that Twitter should be a respected advertising¹² platform and warm and welcoming to all.

MARTIN: But let's get down to basics, Raquel. How is Twitter going to change for the people who use it?

DILLON: He's complained that Twitter does too much content moderation. He talks about being a free speech absolutist, as you noted¹³.

MARTIN: Yeah.

DILLON: And that might not be compatible with warm and welcoming for all. He said he would reinstate former President Donald Trump's account. It was suspended after the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The reaction to the deal from critics has been swift. The watchdog group Accountable Tech said Musk's erratic¹⁴ behavior and tweets about Ukraine and Russia make this acquisition a national security threat. It wants Congress to investigate.

Look, Musk has a huge personality. He's divisive. He's also super successful in business and manufacturing. He has wrangled¹⁵ assembly lines at Tesla, designed rockets at SpaceX. But social media is different. Realizing his vision of Twitter could be a lot messier.

MARTIN: OK. We'll have to wait and see. NPR's Michele Maria Dillon.

Thank you.

DILLON: Thanks.

1 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

7 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。

8 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。

9 censor   

n./vt.审查，审查员；删改

参考例句：

• The film has not been viewed by the censor.这部影片还未经审查人员审查。
• The play was banned by the censor.该剧本被查禁了。

10 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

11 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

12 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。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 erratic   

adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的

参考例句：

• The old man had always been cranky and erratic.那老头儿性情古怪,反复无常。
• The erratic fluctuation of market prices is in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。

15 wrangled   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They wrangled over what to do next. 他们就接下来该干什么而争吵。 来自辞典例句
• They wrangled and rowed with other passengers. 他们与其他旅客争辨吵闹。 来自辞典例句