美国国家公共电台 NPR In The Age Of Fake News And Alternative Facts, Al Gore Remains Optimistic

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Hackers¹, fake news, conspiracy² theories tweeted and retweeted. One takeaway from the election is that the internet isn't living up to the promise that it would revitalize the marketplace of ideas.

AL GORE³: There are some bright spots, to be sure, but the internet is still in a Wild West phase, as was the case during the early age of the printing press as well.

SHAPIRO: Few recognize those shortcomings better than former Vice⁴ President Al Gore. Ten years ago, he wrote a book about how governments use and abuse information. It's called "The Assault On Reason." Back then, Gore thought the internet would have a self-healing quality that would allow truth and journalism⁵ to counteract⁶ falsehoods and abuse. Now he's updated his book for the Trump⁷ era. Our co-host Audie Cornish talked with him about how he thinks about all that now.

GORE: We've seen the bankruptcy⁸ of many newspapers. We've seen a further erosion of the line between news and entertainment. But I do believe that there is reason to hope that over time we will see the higher-quality journalism rise to the surface.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Have you become more sensitive to this issue of, like, facts and misinformation because in part, you know, one of your key issues, climate science, has become the subject of political fighting - right? - where people cast doubts all the time on data and the scientists involved?

GORE: Yes, of course. And in some ways, it's not at all new for wealthy and powerful interests to try to hide the ball and ignore independent analyses of relevant facts. But we see a prime example of this now with the new head of the EPA (laughter) brazenly⁹ declaring that CO2 has nothing to do with the climate crisis when even...

CORNISH: And this is Scott Pruitt, the EPA's chief.

GORE: Yes. And he took a softer line in his confirmation¹⁰ hearings, but now he's reverted¹¹ to the views that he had expressed in his previous job in Oklahoma.

CORNISH: You know, you're chuckling¹² a little as you describe this, but you've been in the halls of power, right? You've been in the White House. What is your real reaction, your feeling when you hear a Cabinet-level person spread this kind of information?

GORE: Well, I think it's extremely unfortunate. It's not a complete surprise because his background was well known when he was named. And again, in this book, "The Assault On Reason," this new edition, the focus is not really on the personalities¹³ of climate deniers or those who obfuscate¹⁴ the facts about health care or the budget or tax policy. It's really about the nature of the public discourse¹⁵ and how it now makes our country more vulnerable to the kind of disinformation and propaganda that is being substituted for the kind of dialogue that our founders¹⁶ hoped we would have.

CORNISH: So what is different today? I mean, what could you say about today that you couldn't say back then?

GORE: Well, others have noted¹⁷ a free press is the immune system of representative democracy. And as I wrote 10 years ago, American democracy is in grave danger from the changes in the environment in which ideas either live and spread or wither¹⁸ and die. I think that the trends that I wrote about 10 years ago have continued and worsened, and the hoped-for remedies that can come from online discourse have been slow to mature. I remain optimistic that ultimately free speech and a free press where individuals have access to the dialogue will have a self-correcting quality.

CORNISH: I shouldn't be shocked at this given your background, but your faith in the internet is stupendous. And I don't know if I'm just being cynical¹⁹ because I have to read it every day (laughter) and...

GORE: (Laughter) Yeah, good point.

CORNISH: You know, the rise of social media news and media literacy, you know, can be quite difficult in this environment. And they have the same profit motive²⁰ as broadcasters. I mean, why would you think this would be different?

GORE: Well, because of the architecture of the internet. You know, the same complaints were made in the early decades of the printing press revolution. It was chaotic²¹. But the...

CORNISH: But you couldn't get your pamphlet to everybody, right? Like, today, if you plant the seed of something outrageous²² and not true, there's a chance the president would retweet it.

GORE: Well, yes, but now you see 60 percent of the people saying, enough already with these tweets. And I think that, you know, it's easy to forget we're only less than two months into this new administration. And it's too early to predict how that is going to go. But just to make the point about the architecture of the public forum²³ - in the age of the internet, with all of its problems, over time, the very fact that individuals can join the conversation creates the opportunity for the emergence²⁴ of - for the re-emergence of a genuine conversation of democracy. In fact, you already see this beginning to happen. And I understand that being optimistic in this age is challenging, but I am optimistic nonetheless.

CORNISH: Vice President Al Gore. A new edition of his book, "The Assault On Reason," is out now. Thank you so much for speaking with us.

GORE: Thank you, Audie.

1 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

2 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

3 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

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 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。

6 counteract   

vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。
• Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持，不要互相拆台。

7 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。

8 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

9 brazenly   

adv.厚颜无耻地；厚脸皮地肆无忌惮地

参考例句：

• How dare he distort the facts so brazenly! 他怎么敢如此肆无忌惮地歪曲事实！ 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• "I don't know," he answered, looking her brazenly over. “我也不知道，"他厚颜无耻地打量着她。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

10 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

11 reverted   

恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还

参考例句：

• After the settlers left, the area reverted to desert. 早期移民离开之后，这个地区又变成了一片沙漠。
• After his death the house reverted to its original owner. 他死后房子归还给了原先的主人。

12 chuckling   

轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时，我能听见他的轻声发笑。
• He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

13 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

14 obfuscate   

v.使困惑，使迷乱

参考例句：

• He delighted in his ability to obfuscate.他对自己有本事把别人搞得晕头转向感到得意。
• This message might appear if you obfuscate the solution code.如果您对解决方案代码进行模糊处理，可能显示此消息。

15 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

16 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

17 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。

18 wither   

vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡

参考例句：

• She grows as a flower does-she will wither without sun.她象鲜花一样成长--没有太阳就会凋谢。
• In autumn the leaves wither and fall off the trees.秋天，树叶枯萎并从树上落下来。

19 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

20 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

21 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

22 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

23 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

24 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。