A Hard Time for Reader's Digest and the Old Media 一个“王朝”的背影
美式发音 适合泛听
由于负债高达22亿美元,曾经是全球发行量最大的杂志,美国《读者文摘》于2009年8月正式申请破产保护。
这一消息,对在面对金融危机下,已有105家报纸倒闭,连全球知名的《华盛顿邮报》、《纽约时报》都叫苦连天的美国传媒行业来说,更如同投下一块巨石,激起轩然大波。大家纷纷将目光投向这份87岁的刊物,在惋惜与感叹的同时,不禁又讨论起传统纸质媒体的未来。传统媒体真的到了举步维艰的困境了?信息媒介的载体果然到了改朝换代的时候了?难道大家都不再向往铅字和书香了?这种种疑问,看来我们只能交由时间来定论了。
Media Report 媒体反响
It’s an American icon. For nine decades, folks have been reading Reader’s Digest, learning about politics, inspirational Americans, and, of course, there are the clean jokes submitted by readers. The magazine is facing a bit of an uncertain future.
When Reader’s Digest published its first edition in 1922, the movies were silent, TV was decades away, and the Internet was science fiction. Now the magazine faces a challenging future, because its parent company, The Reader’s Digest Association, is planning to file for 1)bankruptcy protection. Reader’s Digest global editor says the magazine, made famous for its home-spun humor and inspiring stories, is not in 2)jeopardy.
Editor: We certainly plan to be around and serving our readers for many years to come.
It was only two years ago that a private investment firm bought the corporation, which also publishes other popular magazines such as: Everyday With Rachael Ray, for more than $2 billion. Hurt by the 3)recession, the investment firm now wants to hand over control of The Reader’s Digest Association to the banks it owes money.
Editor: It is about the company’s 4)balance sheet. It’s a simple thing. It’s like we made our 5)mortgage smaller. That’s a good thing for our company and for the magazine.
Industry insiders warned Reader’s Digest Magazine hasn’t kept pace with the times. In a 6)Twitter world, even its quick read format can seem like a Russian novel. One troubling sign, the number of 7)subscribers has dropped.
The magazine, available worldwide, in 21 languages, is evolving. Once a 8)condensed 9)rehash of already-published material, most of the content is now original.
Editor: We have a message of uplift and optimism, which I think is all-American.
It’s a message that is also on the magazine’s website, which boasts more than two million visitors a month.
The brand is an American icon, not going away anytime soon. The Reader’s Digest version of this story: “Magazine staying in business, despite tough times.”
那是一个美国的标志。九十多年来,大家一直在读《读者文摘》,从中了解时事政治,鼓舞人心的美国人的故事,当然还有读者投稿的正经笑话。这本杂志现在正面临着生死未卜的未来。
《读者文摘》初版于1922年,那时还是无声电影的天下,离电视的出现还有好几十年,而互联网更是只存在于科幻小说中。现在这本杂志的未来受到了挑战,因为它的母公司,美国《读者文摘》公司计划申请破产保护。《读者文摘》的环球编辑说,这本以家庭幽默和励志故事而著称的杂志,处境其实不是太危险。
编辑:未来还有许多年,我们当然随时准备为我们的读者服务。
还只是在两年前,一家私募股权公司以超过20亿美元的价格买下了这家企业,这家企业同时发行如《蕾秋每日生活》等其他受欢迎的杂志。由于金融风暴的冲击,这家私募股权公司现在想将《读者文摘》公司的控制权移交给其欠债的银行。
编辑:这只不过是关于资产负债表的问题。其实很简单,就是减少负债。这对我们公司和杂志都不失为一件好事。
行内人曾对《读者文摘》未能跟上时代的步伐提出过提醒。在这个“推特”微博客流行的世界里,甚至它的速读版看起来也像一部俄国小说。有一个使人忧心的迹象是,《读者文摘》的订阅数量在下降。
这本以21种语言全球发行的杂志,在不断发展。以前杂志的内容是对已经出版过的文章进行浓缩再版,现在其大部分内容都是原创的。
编辑:我们蕴含的信息是乐观向上的,我认为这也是全美国人的精神。
Local Reaction居民回应
Reader’s Digest filed for bankruptcy today and we hit the streets of 10)Chappaqua to see what residents had to say.
Lloyd Newman: We’ve been here since 1971 so, when we came, Reader’s Digest was a big company. It’s really a shame to see how the company has gone downhill. Kind of a sad day because they’ve been such a landmark here for so long.
Marc Bodner: A little bit in the news that’s been going out for the past couple of years, on declining readerships and the rest of the things that happened in the magazine world right now. I guess it’s not a big surprise.
Adam Lowenbein: My dad passed away like a year ago, and I just last weekend was up cleaning his house out, but we have all the original art. And some of it’s from Readers’ Digest; think of, like Norman Rockwell, like 11)Americana, like a kind of a innocent publication. Nothing can last unless it’s hyper-commercial these days, and I guess kids are more interested in video games and all that stuff.
这也是其杂志的网站上传递的信息——该网站以每月有超多两百万的访问人数而自豪。
这个品牌是美国的标志,并不会随时就消失。这个故事在《读者文摘》中版本是:“艰难时期仍屹立不倒 的杂志”。
《读者文摘》今天提出了破产申请,现在我们来到查帕加的大街上看看当地居民有什么要说的。
劳埃德·纽曼:我们从1971年起就一直呆在这里了。我们来的时候,《读者文摘》是一间大企业。看到这家公司走向没落真的感到很遗憾。今天是伤感的一天,因为这么久以来它一直是这里的地标。
马克·波德纳:过去几年就一直有新闻说现在的杂志行业有读者数量持续下降等等的很多情况,这个消息是其中的一小部分。我想(《读者文摘》的遭遇)并不是什么太让人吃惊的事了。
Internet Response网民意见
In media news today, Reader’s Digest went bankrupt. What does this mean?
Well, obviously, the media world is continuing to evolve and old media, which is non-digital, which is text-based, continues to have a hard time.
I mean, I remember a time when Reader’s Digest was so big, so huge, had such a strong worldwide presence, they were just a 12)dominant, dominant medium. But in today’s media world the question is, what’s their value add? All they’re doing is re-packaging stories that you see in other places and digesting it for people.
Well, with the Internet, with everything going on, websites. Is there really a need for Reader’s Digest? Now, they’re not just going out of business. It is a restructuring. They claim they are not even firing any employees.
But I do think it is a sign of the times and how media world is continuing to change and only those who are truly digital, those that are interactive, those that allow what we’re doing right here, speaking. Those will survive. Those that are just re-packaging the old stuff and relying on legacy subscription lists are in for a very tough time.
亚当·洛文本:大约一年前我父亲去世了,我在上周末才清理他的房子,找到了许多原创画作。其中一些来自《读者文摘》,想想看,像诺曼·罗克韦尔,像美国的文化史料,像某种单纯的出版物。如今如果东西不是超级商业化的话,是不会持久的。我认为孩子们对电脑游戏之类的东西更感兴趣。
今天的新闻报道说,《读者文摘》破产了。这意味着什么?
嗯,显然,媒体世界在持续发展,而基于文本非数字化的传统媒体,则要经历艰难岁月。
我是说,我记得曾有这样一个时代,那时《读者文摘》强大,庞大,风靡世界,那时它们是占绝对优势的主导媒体。但在当今媒体世界中,问题是它们增加了什么价值?他们做的只是将人们在别处看到过的故事重新包装和帮助人们对其进行整理简化。
随着互联网和网页普及,所有事物都在不断发展。《读者文摘》真的还有市场吗?现在,他们并不是停止经营,只是结构重组。他们声称没有解雇任何员工。
但我认为这是一个时代的标志,是媒体世界如何继续演变发展的标志。而只有那些真正数字化,互动性强,允许我们在这里表达意见的媒体才能生存。那些只是将“旧酒装新瓶”,依赖于传统订阅的媒体就会陷入非常艰难的境地。
翻译:小云
