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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
For years, conservative publishers have thrived. Their readers have flocked to buy books aimed at taking down the party in power. Now that Republicans control Washington, these publishers are rethinking their strategy, and their counterparts on the left are positioning themselves to capitalize on the new political landscape. NPR's Lynn Neary reports.
LYNN NEARY, BYLINE1: Regnery books is the grand old dame2 of conservative publishing. This year it celebrates its 70th anniversary. Regnery's authors have included Dinesh D'Souza, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham. Marji Ross is Regnery's president and publisher.
MARJI ROSS: For many years, we would say that what was bad for the country was good for Regnery. And by that we meant that when the opposition3 was in power, that made our job a little bit easier and our books more successful.
NEARY: When Donald Trump4 was elected president last November, some conservative book publishers were caught off-guard. Ralph Zettersten is the head of Center Street Books, the conservative division of Hachette Publishing. He expected Hillary Clinton would win and was ready to publish several books critical of her presidency5.
ROLF ZETTERSTEN: We had to pivot6 and say, what are we going to do with these books that were going to be anti-Hillary? And instead, we developed new approaches to books that talked about the Trump agenda.
NEARY: But Trump's presidency has exposed some deep divisions on the right, and conservative publishers have to reflect those differences. Marji Ross.
ROSS: You know, you have social conservatives. You have economic conservatives. You have people who are more libertarian. It's probably brought into sharper focus, frankly7, when you do have a Republican in the White House because then all the different factions8 are lobbying for their version of what's right for the future.
NEARY: There is one almost surefire route to success in conservative publishing. Rolf Zettersten says books by well-known personalities9 on Fox TV or talk radio with a take-no-prisoners brand of politics often end up on the bestseller list.
ZETTERSTEN: If you are a polite voice in this market, you really don't get listened to. We've certainly published our share of polite conservative books, and they just don't sell as well.
NEARY: Center Street already has a new book on the New York Times best-seller list, "Trump's War" by conservative talk show host Michael Savage10, who is not known for politeness.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MICHAEL SAVAGE: The propaganda ministry11 called ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News and C-SPAN - the propaganda ministry has spun12 a web of lies about this presidency destroying the nation itself. They would not care. If they burnt the nation to the ground, they wouldn't care.
NEARY: But provocateurs can go too far. Threshold Editions, the conservative wing of Simon & Schuster, canceled its contract with Milo Yiannopoulos after it decided13 remarks the right-wing commentator14 made about pedophilia were too controversial. Of course Yiannopoulos built his reputation on inflammatory rhetoric15.
ROSS: I love flame throwers.
NEARY: Marji Ross was offered the Yiannopoulos book but chose not to publish it. Now Yiannopoulos is shopping it around again, and it's been reported that Regnery might pick it up this time. Ross declined to confirm or deny that rumor16. She says she has no problem with provocative17 political books, but not everyone likes them.
ROSS: Some people gravitate to certain radio talk show hosts who are really bombastic18. And other people just can't deal with that, and they want more soft-spoken. And our job is to try to reach as broad of an audience as we can without watering down the essence of an author either in their message or in their style.
NEARY: While conservative publishers are getting used to a new political reality, those on the left are realizing they've got a new advantage. Andy Hsiao is an editor with Verso Books.
ANDY HSIAO: I feel a bit sheepish saying this. I am so deeply opposed to Trump. But let's face it. Opposition is often good for political publishers, and our sales have already taken off. People feel hungry for, you know, criticism, analysis, knowledge and inspiration.
NEARY: Verso books has a history of opposition to the status quo in both the Republican and Democratic Party. Hsiao says Verso comes out of the socialist19 tradition and publishes a wide range of progressive thinking. He sees their mission as twofold - to open people's minds to new ways of thinking and to support the resistance.
HSIAO: In a way, movements call up the literature that they need. And our fortunes in the last decade have exploded. And I think it's unquestionably because of a new movement, especially among young people, to look for more radical20 alternatives, radical solutions to American problems.
NEARY: Hsiao says the country is engaged in an intense political throwdown which he thinks is better than complacency. And publishers on the right and the left are in the middle of the fray21. Lynn Neary, NPR News, Washington.
1 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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2 dame | |
n.女士 | |
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3 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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4 trump | |
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭 | |
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5 presidency | |
n.总统(校长,总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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6 pivot | |
v.在枢轴上转动;装枢轴,枢轴;adj.枢轴的 | |
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7 frankly | |
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说 | |
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8 factions | |
组织中的小派别,派系( faction的名词复数 ) | |
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9 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 ) | |
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10 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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11 ministry | |
n.(政府的)部;牧师 | |
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12 spun | |
v.纺,杜撰,急转身 | |
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13 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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14 commentator | |
n.注释者,解说者;实况广播评论员 | |
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15 rhetoric | |
n.修辞学,浮夸之言语 | |
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16 rumor | |
n.谣言,谣传,传说 | |
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17 provocative | |
adj.挑衅的,煽动的,刺激的,挑逗的 | |
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18 bombastic | |
adj.夸夸其谈的,言过其实的 | |
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19 socialist | |
n.社会主义者;adj.社会主义的 | |
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20 radical | |
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的 | |
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21 fray | |
v.争吵;打斗;磨损,磨破;n.吵架;打斗 | |
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