VOA标准英语2008年-Citizen Journalists Cover US Election for Inter

By Greg Flakus
Des Moines
10 January 2008

The first events of the U.S. presidential election season, the Iowa caucuses¹ and the New Hampshire primary, drew coverage² from all the major news media, but many people followed the events on internet sites featuring ordinary citizens as journalists and commentators³. VOA's Greg Flakus caught up with some of the practitioners⁴ of this so-called "new media" in Des Moines and filed this report.

At this year's Iowa caucuses there were about 2,500 accredited⁵ news media representatives, most of whom work for major newspapers, magazines and television networks. But there were also many citizen journalists working for non-traditional outlets⁶, including small publications, internet blogs and video web sites.

At the Des Moines Convention Center, Google Incorporated, operated a lounge for reporters featuring video streams from its YouTube web site projected on the walls. YouTube is encouraging average citizens to document the campaign and provide their own insights using small, affordable⁷ camcorders and computers.

Google Political Director Steve Grove⁸ says YouTube is a platform for ordinary citizens with their cameras to explore issues and express their ideas.

"The great thing about YouTube is that anyone can upload anything they want, with their viewpoint on the issues and you do not have that traditional filter of the media deciding what is right and what is wrong," he said. "It is the voters decision to say, 'Hey, here is what I think and here is the video that demonstrates that point of view and it is your choice whether to look at it or not.' "

One of the most prolific⁹ groups putting videos up on YouTube is called "Why Tuesday?"

WhyTuesday? Executive Director Jacob Soboroff argues that the U.S. political system in some ways discourages people from voting, noting that elections are traditionally held on Tuesday because that was convenient for farmers in the nation's early years. But he says it makes little sense in today's urban society.

"What we are saying is 'Let us take a good, hard, honest look at the state of the voting system, have an open and honest conversation about it.' We are not giving answers, we are just asking provocative¹⁰ questions about it," Soboroff said. "We think that by having an open conversation we can get to some good, non-partisan¹¹ solutions to help increase voter participation¹² in the United States."

Soboroff says Why Tuesday? also benefits from video submissions¹³ by ordinary citizens who record encounters with politicians at all levels.

"People are becoming journalists themselves and putting their elected officials on the spot about something that in the mainstream¹⁴ media you do not hear much about and that is what can we do to increase voter participation," he said.

Keeping a wary¹⁵ eye on all this is Drake University Political Science Professor Arthur Sanders, who sees promise in the technology.

"The web technology, the way it has evolved makes it easier for individuals or groups of people to have information sites and not just for politics, but for anything you can imagine," he said. "People with an interest in politics decide to report on politics. It is an empowering shift for citizens because they have a lot more control over it."

But Sanders also sees danger ahead as traditional mass media outlets lose readers and viewers to the often less reliable and fragmented new media sites.

"There is a risk, there is a danger that we become tribalized [fragmented into partisan interest groups]," he said. "The internet as a technology, this kind of diversified¹⁶ technology, runs the risk of dividing us up much more fully¹⁷."

Sanders is also concerned that these grassroots blogs and video uploads tend to attract people who are intensely interested in only one or two issues and fail to provide a broad forum¹⁸ where all issues can be discussed.

"Newspaper readership and traditional television news viewing is down, some of these other forms are up, but they do not seem to be up enough to compensate¹⁹ for how much the other forms are down," he said. "One of the impacts of this technology is smaller numbers of people actually paying attention to politics. Now, those who do pay attention have more resources than they ever had before."

Sanders and other academic researchers who follow developments in politics and journalism²⁰ will be studying further the impact of these new grassroots media as this election year unfolds.

1 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

5 accredited   

adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于

参考例句：

• The discovery of distillation is usually accredited to the Arabs of the 11th century. 通常认为，蒸馏法是阿拉伯人在11世纪发明的。
• Only accredited journalists were allowed entry. 只有正式认可的记者才获准入内。

6 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

8 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

9 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

10 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

11 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

12 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

13 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

14 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。

15 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

16 diversified   

adj.多样化的，多种经营的v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的过去式和过去分词 )；进入新的商业领域

参考例句：

• The college biology department has diversified by adding new courses in biotechnology. 该学院生物系通过增加生物技术方面的新课程而变得多样化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Take grain as the key link, develop a diversified economy and ensure an all-round development. 以粮为纲，多种经营，全面发展。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

18 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

19 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

20 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。