英伦广角 Issue 137 金融危机下的传媒业

We're heading into the downturn, um, how is this affecting your group and the way it does business?

Well, I think that actually there has been so much structural¹ change in media that we’ve actually been grappling with change, for quite a long time. Er, I think what ‘s happening now, is that we’ve got a very severe downturn and I think it’s gonna get worse next year. And so, on top of the structural change we are dealing² with kinda very negative economic conditions. So I think all media is being affected³ by this. I think what’s more interesting about this is that audiences aren't affected. In fact, audiences are growing, so the issue is how you capitalize on that, how you continue to grow your businesses and your quality audiences while ad revenue is going to be severely⁴ affected. I think also there are different effects depending on what business you are in. So, if your are consumer-oriented in terms of the display advertising⁵, that's been hit very badly. I think if your are in business-to-business, you are much more resilient. And you are dependent on different revenue streams. So, actually as a group, certainly, the Guardian⁶ Media Group is in better shape as a result of diversifying⁷ portfolio⁸ of having business-business in e-map, having trade media group which is predominant in digital business. Um, and certainly, our consumer businesses are all being affected more.

 

One part of the businesses that has traditionally lost money and continually lose money are the titles The Observer and The Guardian. Last year, I think it was 25million pounds that have been lost. How sustainable is that over the long term, presumably they can’t lose money at that parallel level indefinitely.

 

Well, all quality newspapers, I think there’s only one quality newspaper that actually makes money, and all the others lose a lot of money. Times loses money, the Independent Group loses money, and we are no exceptions to that. So I think you have to ask yourself why is that. That is partly because quality journalism⁹ is extremely expensive. If you are going to put your own reporters into Iraq, if you are gonna you know, if you're gonna cover the world as you want to cover it, independent accurate reporting, you are going to have to pay for it, and I think what's happening is that we are also sustaining digital businesses, which are, have been in growth. So we are having to develop and capitalize those businesses. So you've got two different media businesses actually, which are now beginning to integrate. And I think we are gonna have to look at the economics of that integrated businesses, as we go forward, and kinda be very responsible at how we size those businesses, if you see what I mean. I'm fortunate and our group is fortunate, because our entire purpose is about the sustainability of the Guardian, the long term sustainability.

 

All you have said is how you see exactly what you are enjoying. You exist to provide the money to keep those titles...

 

We exist, in order to keep the independence of the Guardian, both financial and editorial independence. That is our reason of being. So all our activity, our profitable regional papers, the radio stations, e-map, trade of media is all about profit maximization in order to sustain the future of Guardian. So we have a very different model to a lot of other publishers, or media groups. And it's a very healthy model, I think, to have especially in the downturn, because we are able to take long term decisions. We are not obsessed¹⁰ about quarterly reporting? Of course we have to be granular, of course, we have to perform ,but we can take long term decisions, which I think is very different to other media groups.
 

1 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

2 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。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

7 diversifying   

v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的现在分词 )；进入新的商业领域

参考例句：

• Some publishers are now diversifying into software. 有些出版社目前正兼营软件。 来自辞典例句
• Silverlit is diversifying into new markets, such as Russia and Eastern Europe. Silverlit正在使他们的市场变得多样化，开发新的市场如俄罗斯和东欧国家。 来自互联网

8 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

9 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。

10 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。