经济学人336:我是一台无处不在的摄像机

 　　BRIAN Lamb could hardly be a more unlikely media entrepreneur—a modest and civilised man in a world with more than its fair share of egomaniacs and vulgarians. But he was a great one nonetheless. He came up with the idea of C-Span in the late 1970s when he was the Washington bureau chief forCablevision magazine. And he presided over its growth from a start-up with a staff of four into a quirky Goliath with a couple of hundred employees, three channels and a radio station.

　　几乎找不到比布莱恩·兰博更不像媒体企业家的人了——在这个充斥着极端利己主义者与庸俗的暴发户的世界里，他一直保持着谦逊有礼的品质。不管怎么说他都是个伟大的人。在19世纪70年代末时，当他还是华盛顿有线电视杂志社社长时，他提出了C-Span的概念（把公共事务网与有线电视结合起来 ）。在他的领导下，一家只有四名员工公司经历跌宕起伏，变成了有数百名员工、三个电视频道和一个广播电台的巨头。

　　Mr Lamb had a simple idea: to expose America’s public life to the public eye. He persuaded the cable companies to pay for a public-service channel via a levy¹ based on the number of their subscribers. He got the House of Representatives to open its proceedings² to the cameras (the Senate followed later). The result has been some of the dullest television in history (think budget proceedings)but also some of the most riveting³ (like the Iran-Contra hearings).

　　兰博的想法很简单：让美国民众了解公共事务。他游说各地的有线电视公司通过向用户缴的订费来支付公益频道。他还游说众议院安装摄像机，向民众公开会议的实时转播（参议院后来也采纳了）。这样的做法使观众们目睹了一些有史以来最乏味的电视广播（比如预算程序），但同时也见证了一些十分吸引人的转播（像是伊朗门听证会)。

　　Mr Lamb expanded his coverage⁴ to include presidential press conferences, speeches to think-tanks and the like. He also tried unsuccessfully to persuade the Supreme⁵ Court to open its hearings to the cameras. He added a few bells and whistles to his formula; profiles of presidents, interviews with authors, phone-ins with journalists. But he never violated the simplicity⁶ principle. The profiles were just-the-facts. The interviews were spartan⁷. The hosts were resolutely⁸ non-partisan. C-Span remained an island of sanity⁹ in a media world increasingly dominated by braying¹⁰ bigots.

　　兰博扩大了报道内容的范围，其中囊括了总统记者招待会和对智囊团的演说。他也曾尝试说服最高法院允许摄像机将其听审过程录制下来，可惜最后没能如愿。此外，他还在节目中加入了一些新亮点：总统的简介，对作家的访谈，与记者连线的来电直播节目。但他自始至终从未违反简介的原则：其中的简介都是事实，采访过程十分朴实，而主持人不偏不倚、没有任何党派倾向。C-span在聒噪的盲信者占主导的传媒界中一直特立独行，保持着难得的理智明达。

　　Mr Lamb’s “Booknotes” (“One author, one book, one hour”) was the ultimate showcase of his style. He specialised in asking short, direct questions with sometimes hilarious¹¹ results. One famous exchange with Martin Gilbert, a British historian, involved the question of whether Winston Churchill had ever engaged in buggery:

　　兰博主办的访谈节目“Booknotes”（一位作家，一本书，一小时）是他主持风格的最全面的体现。他很擅长问一些简短又直接的问题，而时常能取令人捧腹的效果。一次与英国历史学家马丁·吉尔伯特交谈时，兰博问道，温斯顿·丘吉尔是否参与过鸡奸：

　　Lamb: Why was he accused of buggery and what is it? Gilbert: You don’t know what buggery is? Lamb: Define it, please. Gilbert: Oh dear. Sorry, I thought the world would—buggery is what used to be called an “unnatural act, of the Oscar Wilde type” is how it was actually phrased in the euphemism¹² of the British paper. You don’t know what buggery is?

　　兰博：为什们他被指控参与鸡奸？鸡奸是什么呢？吉尔伯特：你不知道什么是鸡奸？兰博：请告诉我那是什么意思吧。吉尔伯特：我的天啊。对不起，我以为全世界都——鸡奸是一种“反常的行为”，就像奥斯卡·王尔德那种（同性恋），这就是英国报纸上通常委婉的说法。你真不知道鸡奸是什么意思？

　　David Brooks¹³, a New York Times columnist¹⁴, once called this “the quintessential C-Span moment”. May there be many more.

　　纽约时报的专栏作家大卫·布鲁克曾称这个节目是“C-span最经典的时刻”。希望以后还有更多这样的节目。

1 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

2 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

3 riveting   

adj.动听的，令人着迷的，完全吸引某人注意力的；n.铆接（法）

参考例句：

• I find snooker riveting though I don't play myself.虽然我自己不打斯诺克，但是我觉得它挺令人着迷。
• To my amazement,I found it riveting.但令我惊讶的是，我发现它的吸引人处。

4 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。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

7 spartan   

adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人

参考例句：

• Their spartan lifestyle prohibits a fridge or a phone.他们不使用冰箱和电话，过着简朴的生活。
• The rooms were spartan and undecorated.房间没有装饰，极为简陋。

8 resolutely   

adj.坚决地，果断地

参考例句：

• He resolutely adhered to what he had said at the meeting. 他坚持他在会上所说的话。
• He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难，而是抱怨自己运气不佳。

9 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。

10 braying   

v.发出驴叫似的声音( bray的现在分词 )；发嘟嘟声；粗声粗气地讲话（或大笑）；猛击

参考例句：

• A donkey was braying on the hill behind the house. 房子后面的山上传来驴叫声。 来自互联网
• What's the use of her braying out such words? 她粗声粗气地说这种话有什么用呢？ 来自互联网

11 hilarious   

adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed

参考例句：

• The party got quite hilarious after they brought more wine.在他们又拿来更多的酒之后，派对变得更加热闹起来。
• We stop laughing because the show was so hilarious.我们笑个不停，因为那个节目太搞笑了。

12 euphemism   

n.婉言，委婉的说法

参考例句：

• Language reflects culture and euphemism is a mirror of culture.语言反映文化,而婉语则是各种文化的一面镜子。
• Euphemism is a very common and complicated linguistic phenomenon.委婉语是一种十分常见而又非常复杂的语言现象。

13 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。