美国国家公共电台 NPR--Digital news sites fight to survive as online ad dollars dry up

Digital news sites fight to survive as online ad dollars dry up

Transcript¹

Social media giants like Facebook redefined how we use the internet. Now many major companies are seeing big changes. What does it mean for news online and what might come next?

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Online news sites are fighting to survive as online ad dollars dry up. And at the same time, large social media companies, the backbone² of the modern internet, are slumping³. NPR's Bobby Allyn reports on what the future of digital news looks like in this uncertain era.

BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE⁴: Is this the beginning of the end of Web 2.0? It's a question many are asking as social media and digital news go through one of the biggest shake-ups in years. Web 2.0 refers to the way we use the internet today - mediated⁵ through platforms like Facebook and Twitter. For news outlets⁶, these juggernaut platforms became a blessing⁷ and a curse.

COURTNEY RADSCH: The news industry didn't really have a profit model other than trying to get eyeballs and earn digital advertising⁸ revenue.

ALLYN: That's Courtney Radsch. She's a UCLA researcher who studies social media.

RADSCH: But what we saw is that the tech platforms, specifically Google and Facebook, ended up controlling that digital advertising infrastructure⁹.

ALLYN: News outlets use social media to reach people, but the tech companies are the ones that pocket most of the advertising dollars. And after the platforms became well-oiled ad machines, they ditched news publishers. Facebook stopped promoting news outlets. News barely comes across TikTok feeds. And journalists say Twitter has become a hostile environment under Elon Musk¹⁰. But if media companies want out, it's not easy. Outlets tailor stories for social media with headlines and topics that can be easily juiced by algorithms. Radsch says these recommendation systems typically reward one thing, clicks.

RADSCH: That means that's going to favor extremism. It's going to favor polarization. And we might say - you know what? - that's maybe not the best way to do the news.

ALLYN: Twitter under Musk has indeed gotten more extreme, more polarized. And reliable news is harder to come by. BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti wrote in a memo¹¹ to staff that social media companies being bad partners is one of the reasons BuzzFeed News is shutting down. It will land in the digital graveyard¹² with other once-popular digital news sites like Gawker, the Awl¹³ and Grantland. Vice¹⁴, another digital news site, is looking for a buyer. Ben Smith used to run BuzzFeed News.

BEN SMITH: Users turned away from news on social media. And then the platforms, seeing users turn away, started pushing news out.

ALLYN: Smith says if Musk runs Twitter into the ground, that might be a good thing for the news industry.

SMITH: It rewards people for feeding into predictable narratives¹⁵ and telling people what they want to hear, punishes them for breaking from the pack and is an incredible machine for elevating the stupidest thing that your enemy ever thought or said.

ALLYN: Being on Twitter and Facebook these days really showcases the decline of Web 2.0. Everyone is yelling. Misinformation is rampant¹⁶. Users are fleeing. News outlets can't trust the platforms. So where does digital news go from here? Jeff Jarvis is a media critic and journalism¹⁷ professor at the City University of New York. He sees some trends accelerating, specialized¹⁸ newsletters and podcasts for niche¹⁹ audiences, paid subscriptions²⁰, communities around nerdy topics on platforms like Reddit and Discord²¹, sites that recommend and spread news stories that aren't just interested in going viral.

JEFF JARVIS: We don't need to operate at the scale of mass media or the scale of Silicon²² Valley and venture capital. Because all of these tools exist, we can get back to a human scale of small.

ALLYN: Jarvis says this shift from large social media platform to smaller communities is going to continue. And with it, the big Web 2.0 platforms will lose power.

JARVIS: It took 150 years after Gutenberg before anybody thought to invent a newspaper. I think we're talking about decades, maybe even generations, before we figure out this next stage.

ALLYN: In his memo announcing the closure of BuzzFeed News, Jonah Peretti wrote, quote, "our industry is hurting and ready to be reborn. We know that the struggle is real, but the rebirth is far from clear."

Bobby Allyn, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF CUSHY'S "YONDER")

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 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

3 slumping   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的现在分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Hong Kong's slumping economy also caused a rise in bankruptcy applications. 香港经济低迷，破产申请个案随之上升。
• And as with slumping, over-arching can also be a simple postural habit. 就像弯腰驼背，过度挺直也可能只是一种习惯性姿势。

4 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。

5 mediated   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的过去式和过去分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• He mediated in the quarrel between the two boys. 他调解两个孩子之间的争吵。
• The government mediated between the workers and the employers. 政府在工人与雇主间搞调和。

6 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》

7 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

8 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。

9 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

10 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。

11 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

12 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

13 awl   

n.尖钻

参考例句：

• Six awl make a shoemaker.六个鞋砧，练出一个鞋匠。
• It was fun to play with an awl.玩钻子是件很有趣的事。

14 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。

15 narratives   

记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分

参考例句：

• Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning. 结婚一向是许多小说的终点，然而也是一个伟大的开始。
• This is one of the narratives that children are fond of. 这是孩子们喜欢的故事之一。

16 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

17 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。

18 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

19 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

20 subscriptions   

n.（报刊等的）订阅费( subscription的名词复数 )；捐款；（俱乐部的）会员费；捐助

参考例句：

• Subscriptions to these magazines can be paid in at the post office. 这些杂志的订阅费可以在邮局缴纳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Payment of subscriptions should be made to the club secretary. 会费应交给俱乐部秘书。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。

22 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。