美国国家公共电台 NPR--How the media is covering allegations that Biden mishandled classified documents

How the media is covering allegations that Biden mishandled classified documents

Transcript¹

News outlets² are sharply scrutinizing³ the disclosure that President Biden's private attorneys reported finding classified documents at an office he used while he was vice⁴ president.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

President Biden and his predecessor⁵ now have something in common. Biden and Donald Trump⁶ are both facing allegations that they mishandled classified documents.

DWANE BROWN, HOST:

But how are these cases different, and how are news outlets covering this latest revelation?

(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED NEWSCASTER #1: CBS News has learned the Department of Justice is reviewing classified Obama-Biden records.

UNIDENTIFIED NEWSCASTER #2: Several classified documents from his time as VP under the Obama administration.

UNIDENTIFIED NEWSCASTER #3: The issue here is much more about politics than about law.

FADEL: Now, we asked NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik to help us unpack⁷ the coverage⁸ of this story, and he joins us now. Good morning, David.

DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE⁹: Good morning, Leila.

FADEL: OK, so let's start at the beginning. How did this story break, and how was it presented?

FOLKENFLIK: Well, let's think about this for a moment. There really haven't been a ton of scandals during the Biden presidency¹⁰ affecting...

FADEL: True.

FOLKENFLIK: ...Joe Biden himself, beyond his troubled son, Hunter. So consider it a little bit of a media test case. CBS broke it, as we just heard. Biden's attorneys disclosed through the White House. About a dozen documents were found with classified markings at this university center in Washington where the former vice president was before he became president. And they informed the National Archive and cooperating with the Justice Department. It's being reviewed by a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Chicago. That gets disclosed and then bursts out everywhere - a new scandal to cover after days of coverage of Republican dysfunction on Capitol Hill.

FADEL: And how has it been covered? How did different media outlets cover this story?

FOLKENFLIK: Well, I think you saw a bunch of coverage of the initial disclosure, which was as factual as we knew - very limited set of facts so far. A lot of questions remain. And then you saw a burst of speculation¹¹. You saw places like Punchbowl News, which focuses on Capitol Hill and Washington politics, portraying¹² it as giving the Republicans a win because they could beat up the president over it. You know, you think of a place that's often critical of the president. Fox gave it a lot of coverage Monday, to be sure, but actually, CNN far more so.

There was a review late last night by Media Matters, a liberal media watchdog group making that case that was consistent with my review of the transcripts¹³ for shows on CNN, Fox, Times, the primetime shows - two times as much on CNN - three times much - four times as much likely to be covering this as other issues. It suggests, you know, that CNN really decided¹⁴, yes, to provide a lot of context, but also to go all-in. I must say that coverage became calmer and more contextualized from Monday evening over the course of the day Tuesday, analyses being brought on the air involving a lot of former government officials.

FADEL: I think there's been a tendency to want to compare the Trump classified document scandal and what Biden is facing now. But this isn't an apples-to-apples comparison, right?

FOLKENFLIK: It's not apples to apples. I mean, let's be really clear. Trump and his lawyers didn't disclose they had these things. They said things that weren't true to the National Archives and to lawyers for the government. They then fought return of the documents. It turned out there were hundreds of documents bearing markings of classified designations and that these were also, in some cases, documents with nuclear secrets - not the case for - in the Biden thing, as far as we know. You know, look, there was a time where Bill Clinton's former national security adviser¹⁵ slipped documents out of the National Archives in the George W. Bush years in his clothing. He was criminally charged. So far, that's not the case here. Journalists do a disservice if they equate¹⁶ things that aren't the same. But yet, let's remember, this is consequential¹⁷ and has to be covered.

FADEL: NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik. Thanks so much for your time.

FOLKENFLIK: You bet.

1 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。

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 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

4 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。

5 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

11 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

12 portraying   

v.画像( portray的现在分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The artist has succeeded in portraying my father to the life. 那位画家把我的父亲画得惟妙惟肖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ding Ling was good at portraying figures through careful and refined description of human psychology. 《莎菲女士的日记》是丁玲的成名作，曾引起强烈的社会反响。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

13 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

16 equate   

v.同等看待，使相等

参考例句：

• You can't equate passing examination and being intelligent.你不能把考试及格看成是聪明。
• You cannot equate his poems with his plays.你不可以把他的诗歌和他的剧本相提并论。

17 consequential   

adj.作为结果的，间接的；重要的

参考例句：

• She was injured and suffered a consequential loss of earnings.她受了伤因而收入受损。
• This new transformation is at least as consequential as that one was.这一新的转变至少和那次一样重要。