VOA标准英语10月-US Public Television to Give Americans More World

A new nightly world newscast is being launched on U.S. public television, and producers of the new show say they intend to present foreign news in a way that is interesting and significant to American audiences. From VOA's New York Bureau, Mona Ghuneim has the story.

Producers of the new show Worldfocus say there is little foreign news coverage¹ on television in the United States and what is covered is often glossed² over or not explained very well to American viewers.

Referring to what he calls a "void in television news," executive producer of the program Marc Rosenwasser says he wants to focus on foreign news in a way that shows Americans how international events and happenings impact their lives. He says Worldfocus will draw from a large network of global newsgathering organizations and individuals, and the staff purposely comes from all over the world.

Rosenwasser says the show will incorporate diverse voices and viewpoints, something lacking in a lot of foreign news coverage in mainstream³ media.

"We have assistant producers who come from the Middle East, Taiwan, Brazil, Africa. By having people who hail from all over the world, we think we can easily get well beyond the typical coverage of the same two or three major stories and extend our region to all kinds of stories," he said.

Those sorts of stories, says Rosenwasser, include examining major world trends, such as the effect of higher food prices on various nations and regions, as well as breaking foreign news, analysis and longer feature-type reports. The executive producer says he thinks Americans would be more interested in foreign events if they were better presented by the media and made to be more meaningful to them.

But American Jeffery McGraw does not wholly agree. The international content sales manager for Arts and Entertainment Television says he doesn't see how this show will be any different from other U.S. news programs that report foreign news. He says he thinks most Americans like their news fast and compact.

"People in America generally want their news in short and sweet sound bites. How will a show like this appeal to people who have very busy lives and do not have a lot of time to devote to domestic issues, let alone international issues? I think when things happening outside America affect America in a major way, people will be informed by mainstream sources," he said.

But McGraw says the show could still set itself apart through "execution." He says that part of why he watches one media outlet⁴ more than another is because of the way the news is delivered, and the appeal of the personalities⁵ presenting that news.

Worldfocus has recruited a big name in the U.S. news industry, correspondent Martin Savidge from NBC News, to be its anchor, and it plans to feature other top news and foreign affairs experts on a regular basis.

Worldfocus analyst⁶ Richard Haass is the president of the private Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He says Worldfocus comes at a time when the need for Americans to connect to what is happening around the world has never been as great, yet there is a lack of committed, regular, and substantial American programming on international news.

"I do not see this show as a 'news show.' That is not its function. This is not headline news. It is essentially⁷ more analysis behind the news and it is to choose a few principal stories and drill down and give them some depth."

Haass says that a lot of Americans are selectively interested in foreign news, such as trade and immigration stories or the war in Iraq, but that even when they do care about an issue, there is often a shortage of information or background or what he calls an "absence of perspective."

New York University graduate student Christina Garidis says she is not certain the general American public will tune⁸ in, but she thinks the United States does need a program like this.

"When we see things about other countries, it is usually to villainize or to objectify or separate ourselves from them. I would like to see it presented more in a way that shows how related we are to these remote cultures, and I would also like to see more good news because there is a lot of good stuff happening in the world - humanitarian⁹ projects going on - and we do not hear enough about that," she said.

Garidis says she does not own a television but that she might watch the show online.

The executive director says Worldfocus will also have a Web presence and will try to engage people outside of the United States in an interactive¹⁰ way.

"We will ask people online to offer submissions¹¹ about their feelings about something going on in their part of the world or something going on in the United States in which they can opine by submitting a video blog and we hope to incorporate those into a semi-regular feature on the show," he said.

Rosenwasser says the half-hour newscast has already secured coverage on eight out of the top 10 public television stations in the United States, with two New York stations airing the program twice each night.

1 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。

2 glossed   

v.注解( gloss的过去式和过去分词 )；掩饰（错误）；粉饰；把…搪塞过去

参考例句：

• The manager glossed over the team's recent defeat. 经理对这个队最近的失败闪烁其词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He glossed over his selfishness with a display of generosity. 他以慷慨大方的假象掩饰他的自私。 来自互联网

3 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

4 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

5 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。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

10 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。

11 submissions   

n.提交( submission的名词复数 )；屈从；归顺；向法官或陪审团提出的意见或论据

参考例句：

• The deadline for submissions to the competition will be Easter 1994. 递交参赛申请的截止时间为1994年的复活节。 来自辞典例句
• Section 556(d) allows the agency to substitute written submissions for oral direct testimony in rulemaking. 第五百五十六条第（四）款准允行政机关在规则制定中用书面提交材料替代口头的直接证言。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法