VOA标准英语2010年-Keeping Old-Fashioned Journalism Alive

The people behind the just-launched Bay Citizen believe they've found a way to keep old-fashioned journalism¹ alive in the digital age.

As Americans increasingly turn to the Internet for their news — and advertisers follow them — newspapers and magazines are struggling to stay in business. In San Francisco, an unlikely group of partners may have found a way to keep old-fashioned journalism alive in the digital age.

The visionaries behind the just-launched Bay Citizen say it is not your typical news website. Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Weber proclaims that a long-expected revolution is now fully² under way.

A mix of old and new

The native-to-the-web news site, Bay Citizen relies on reporters with traditional investigative skills and reliable sources to produce written stories on screen, as well as audio and video reports. And it features trendy ways to leave comments that are now familiar to Internet users. But the Bay Citizen's editors have also added data-related graphics³ and interactive⁴ applications.

Weber sees ways to tell stories online that go beyond what can be done in print.

"We can take publicly available data of many kinds — which could range from crime data, to real estate data, to real-time maps of where the taxis are going," he explains. "If we can organize that and provide access and an interface⁵ to that with tools that are easy to use and potentially fun to use, so you can enable people to run their own applications on that data — people can come in and pick out what's interesting to them."

New reader Rebecca Otto became captivated by Bay Citizen's interactive map illustrating⁶ a story about a region of salt flats.

Bay Area resident and new reader Rebecca Otto became captivated by an interactive map illustrating a story about a region of salt flats.

"You could look at a specific area within that salt water region and really, really get to know a lot of detail that you wouldn't normally see in a newspaper story." She says she found herself staying with articles longer and coming out of them with a deeper understanding than she got from a traditional newspaper story.

New way to look at news

The Bay Citizen is getting help from some cutting-edge thinking at the University of California at Berkeley.

Neil Henry, dean of its Graduate School of Journalism, has completely redesigned the curriculum to meet the challenge of the digital age. And he's harnessed the Knight⁷ Digital Media Center to train students — and re-train working journalists — in multimedia⁸ storytelling and digital skills.

Henry feels a sense of urgency. "More than half of the journalists in the Bay Area, — at newspapers, radio and television stations — have lost their jobs over the past decade," he says. "We see the newspapers shrinking and disappearing before our eyes. Our students are out covering news and information for the local sites we've built and often they are the only reporters in these areas. So we feel this crisis very deeply. Something important to our society was being lost."

Courtesy Bay Citizen
San Francisco financier and civic⁹ philanthropist Warren Hellman also sees the decline of the newspaper industry as bad news. "Like a lot of other people," he says, "I became really concerned about the lack of coverage¹⁰ of local news. It seemed to me that bad things were happening politically or in the community because stuff just wasn't getting covered."

Hellman decided¹¹ to start a non-profit newspaper to meet that need, but after talking with Dean Henry and other local civic leaders and media professionals, he brought in $5 million from his family foundation as seed money for the Bay Citizen.

A news hub

"What we've actually ended up with is far more exciting," Hellman says, describing the venture as a news hub and a news partner to all kinds of other outlets¹².

For example, The Bay Citizen has already partnered with the New York Times. It is producing two pages of San Francisco Bay Area news for the local edition of the Times twice a week.

And the editors are hoping to syndicate Bay Citizen stories to other national publications, as well as radio, television and online outlets. They'll also get the news out through mobile applications and social media.

Australian native Lisa Frazier, a former management consultant¹³, now heads the company. She revels¹⁴ in its first exciting week with sponsors pledging an additional $3.7 million, a launch party attended by 800 people, and stories that have been very well received.

Nevertheless, she recognizes The Bay Citizen's ambitious challenges. "We're trying to start to solve a three-part problem which is journalism, technology, and business."

The Bay Citizen will use some Berkeley journalism students, along with their professional news reporters, to gather the news — an interaction, Frazier says — that will foster technological¹⁵ innovation.

"There's nothing, I think, better than a 25-year news veteran being brought to a table by a 25-year-old student journalist who's saying, 'Let's get the news out through Twitter and Facebook.'"

Frazier plans to meet the bottom line business challenge with a mix of revenue streams: grants and sponsorships; reader memberships — not subscriptions¹⁶ — corporate¹⁷ advertising¹⁸ and syndication rights.

Above all, editor Jonathan Weber promises, the Bay Citizen will keep its readers informed, noting that that's the mission at the heart of journalism.

"One of the other things that online enables that's very significant, is real engagement and participation¹⁹ in the news process, and a much more intimate relationship between the reporters and the readers. And sometimes readers can be reporters. And so we view a big part of our mission is to foster engagement in the issues of the day."

That, he says, helps put the citizen in the Bay Citizen.
 

1 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。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 graphics   

n.制图法，制图学；图形显示

参考例句：

• You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
• Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。

4 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

5 interface   

n.接合部位，分界面；v.(使)互相联系

参考例句：

• My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。
• This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了，适用范围广。

6 illustrating   

给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• He upstaged the other speakers by illustrating his talk with slides. 他演讲中配上幻灯片，比其他演讲人更吸引听众。
• Material illustrating detailed structure of graptolites has been etched from limestone by means of hydrofluoric acid. 表明笔石详细构造的物质是利用氢氟酸从石灰岩中侵蚀出来。

7 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

8 multimedia   

adj.多种手段的，多媒体的；n.多媒体

参考例句：

• Multimedia is the combination of computer and video technology.多媒体是计算机和视频技术的结合。
• Adam raised the issue of multimedia applications and much useful discussion ensued.亚当提出了多媒体应用的问题，从而引发了许多有益的讨论。

9 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

10 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。

11 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。

12 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》

13 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

14 revels   

n.作乐( revel的名词复数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉v.作乐( revel的第三人称单数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉

参考例句：

• Christmas revels with feasting and dancing were common in England. 圣诞节的狂欢歌舞在英国是很常见的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Dickens openly revels in the book's rich physical detail and high-hearted conflict. 狄更斯对该书中丰富多彩的具体细节描写和勇敢的争斗公开表示欣赏。 来自辞典例句

15 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

16 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》

17 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

18 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。

19 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。