美国国家公共电台 NPR In A Crucial Election Year, Worries Grow In Germany About Fake News

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There's a lot of talk right now about so-called fake news, which, to be clear, is when fabricated stories are packaged as legitimate¹ journalism². It's a problem other democracies are dealing³ with as well - in Germany, for example, where national elections are coming up this fall. And just as in the U.S., trust in the traditional news media there is waning⁴. Esme Nicholson reports that Germany's fourth estate is fighting back.

ESME NICHOLSON, BYLINE⁵: Sixty-five-year-old Angelika Siegner used to know who to trust and who not to. Growing up in communist East Germany, she would ignore party propaganda and get her news by surreptitiously tuning⁶ in to West German television. But faced with social media newsfeeds in today's globalized world, she feels confused.

ANGELIKA SIEGNER: (Through interpreter) We don't know what's true anymore or what's a lie. It's so difficult to keep up. So we try and feel it out, we ask our friends what they think, and often we all draw the same conclusions.

NICHOLSON: As people rely more on what their friends think, journalists in Germany have to accept that they are no longer as influential⁷ as they once were.

DAVID SCHRAVEN: It used to be the trust in a brand. You know, you trusted your newspaper. Now you've got friends and friends of friends and Facebook and you trust your friend.

NICHOLSON: David Schraven is the co-founder of correctiv.org, a nonprofit investigative newsroom that's about to partner with Facebook to fact-check German-language stories flagged as suspicious by users. But Schraven says simply identifying this information is not enough. Like it or not, he says, the fake news industry represents serious competition. And traditional media must emulate⁸ the techniques used so successfully by these purveyors of falsehoods.

SCHRAVEN: We need to acknowledge that our audience is not there where we want it. So we need to follow the audience. We need to work on social media.

NICHOLSON: Schraven says the best strategy for traditional media is to assume the role of a quotable trusted online friend. Even Germany's biggest-selling newspaper, Bild, is concerned about losing readers to the wilds of social media. Julian Reichelt is head of Bild's editorial board.

JULIAN REICHELT: We don't believe that you win those people back by insulting them or alienating⁹ them. We believe that you have to engage them. You have to talk to them.

NICHOLSON: Losing readers' trust is a serious issue for Bild. Just last month, Reichelt had to retract¹⁰ and apologize for a story they published that turned out to be entirely¹¹ fictitious¹². Many sniggered at his apology since the paper has a reputation for not being overly concerned about accuracy. But Reichelt said he's now more dedicated¹³ to transparency than ever and is offering up one of his journalists every day to take questions via live online video link.

REICHELT: Throughout the 30 minutes of such a chat, the number of people yelling at you and putting out wild conspiracy¹⁴ theories decreases while the number of people making reasonable arguments increases.

NICHOLSON: And it's not just the media taking a stand against disruptive disinformation. Chancellor¹⁵ Angela Merkel's government is drawing up legislation to impose hefty fines on social media sites that don't speedily remove false stories. SPD lawmaker Jens Zimmermann says this is a tricky¹⁶ task.

JENS ZIMMERMANN: (Through interpreter) Freedom of speech is paramount¹⁷ to our democracy. And we, by no means, want an Orwellian ministry¹⁸ of truth. But we have to make it quite clear that the same libel laws and laws against incitement¹⁹ of hatred²⁰ apply online as they do offline.

NICHOLSON: But with an election fast approaching, critics say it's already too late for legislation. The media, they argue, must act now to ensure a well-informed electorate²¹ goes to the polls in September.

For NPR News, I'm Esme Nicholson in Berlin.

(SOUNDBITE OF B. FLEISCHMANN'S "COMPOSURE")

1 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

2 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。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 waning   

adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• Her enthusiasm for the whole idea was waning rapidly. 她对整个想法的热情迅速冷淡了下来。
• The day is waning and the road is ending. 日暮途穷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 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。

6 tuning   

n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

8 emulate   

v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿

参考例句：

• You must work hard to emulate your sister.你必须努力工作，赶上你姐姐。
• You must look at the film and try to emulate his behavior.你们必须观看这部电影，并尽力模仿他的动作。

9 alienating   

v.使疏远( alienate的现在分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The phenomena of alienation are widespread. Sports are also alienating. 异化现象普遍存在，体育运动也不例外。 来自互联网
• How can you appeal to them without alienating the mainstream crowd? 你是怎么在不疏忽主流玩家的情况下吸引住他们呢？ 来自互联网

10 retract   

vt.缩回，撤回收回，取消

参考例句：

• The criminals should stop on the precipice, retract from the wrong path and not go any further.犯罪分子应当迷途知返，悬崖勒马，不要在错误的道路上继续走下去。
• I don't want to speak rashly now and later have to retract my statements.我不想现在说些轻率的话，然后又要收回自己说过的话。

11 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。

12 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

13 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

14 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。

15 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

16 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

17 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

18 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

19 incitement   

激励； 刺激； 煽动； 激励物

参考例句：

• incitement to racial hatred 种族仇恨的挑起
• Interest is an incitement to study. 兴趣刺激学习。

20 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

21 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。