密歇根新闻广播 我为什么不玩推特

 

Robyn Vincent is a journalist from Detroit who moved to Wyoming some years ago, where she is the editor of Planet Jackson Hole, which she has built into one of the nation’s more interesting and journalistically vibrant¹ alternative newspapers.

I was honored to learn a few months ago that she follows and admires my work. She wondered, however, why I don’t tweet. She told me that if I did, I could have a considerably² greater following than I do now.

Well, I was deeply moved by this. She is smart, savvy³ and half my age, and in the course of corresponding with her, she’s taught me quite a few things I didn’t know.

I also am well aware that I need to avoid becoming another old man squatting⁴ on a bench muttering that “everything was better in 1975.”

Well, no, it wasn’t better, not by a long shot – though at times, I have thought that there might be something to be said for an imaginary world somewhat like the one we had in 1990, in those optimistic days when the Cold War was finally ending, plus Google.

But that’s not the world we have.

We have one that is full of cacophony⁵ and clutter⁶ and a million voices, seemingly screaming all at once. Now, there is something to be said for red wine, chocolate and Twitter, when used in moderation.

Yesterday, for example, it would have been entirely⁷ appropriate for a reporter to have tweeted out the breaking news that a Michigan Court of Appeals panel had ruled that despite his recent plea-bargain promise not to run for any office for five years, former State Senator Virgil Smith can run for Detroit City Council now.

Ditto with the Windsor Star’s scoop⁸ that construction on the long-awaited Gordie Howe International Bridge Project will be delayed another year.

However, what I am in the business of doing these days is largely analysis and commentary, based on a lifetime of reporting and learning about politics, economics and history. I believe in focus, conciseness⁹ and brevity – that’s what journalism¹⁰ is all about. But I don’t want to reduce a complex, nuanced issue to 140 characters.

I know I could do so as sort of a daily advertisement for myself, tweeting out things like:

“Raising taxes for schools, infrastructure¹¹ necessary if Michigan is to compete for good jobs in this century.”

That might get more people to pay attention to me. But many of them would read only the tweet, which would reduce analysis to a blurb¹².

What I have seen happen in our age of “all technology in your face, all the time,” is the reduction of politics and policy to a series of slogans. We have a leader who frequently attempts to make and announce significant policy proposals via Twitter.

He also uses the same medium to make fun of his opponents’ looks, sometimes at the same time.

I’m not trying to be pompous¹³, but trivialization of major issues is not what I want to do, nor what Michigan Radio is all about.

So I’m resisting joining your twitter feed, even if it means I’ll forever be less well known than Kate Upton.

But if you send me a thoughtful email, or even letter, I promise to try to answer.

1 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

2 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

3 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

4 squatting   

v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。

参考例句：

• They ended up squatting in the empty houses on Oxford Road. 他们落得在牛津路偷住空房的境地。
• They've been squatting in an apartment for the past two years. 他们过去两年来一直擅自占用一套公寓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 cacophony   

n.刺耳的声音

参考例句：

• All around was bubbling a cacophony of voices.周围人声嘈杂。
• The drivers behind him honked,and the cacophony grew louder.后面的司机还在按喇叭，且那刺耳的声音越来越大。

6 clutter   

n.零乱，杂乱；vt.弄乱，把…弄得杂乱

参考例句：

• The garage is in such a clutter that we can't find anything.车库如此凌乱，我们什么也找不到。
• We'll have to clear up all this clutter.我们得把这一切凌乱的东西整理清楚。

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

8 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

9 conciseness   

n.简洁，简短

参考例句：

• Conciseness is served when the sentence is so corrected. 句子这样一改就简洁了。
• The topics of Diction section include Conciseness, Repetition Simple Words, and etc. 字法单元的主题包括简洁、重复、简单的字等等。

10 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。

11 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。

12 blurb   

n.简介，短评

参考例句：

• This book fails to give what the blurb describes.这本书不像该书护封上所描绘的那样好。
• In the blurb I couldn't see anything about thinking at all.在这本书的简介中，我根本找不到任何有关思想的东西。

13 pompous   

adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities.他有点自大，自视甚高。
• He is a good man underneath his pompous appearance. 他的外表虽傲慢，其实是个好人。