VOA标准英语2014--Russia's Shrinking Free Media Environment 俄罗斯日渐萎缩的自由媒体环境

 

Russia's Shrinking Free Media Environment 俄罗斯日渐萎缩的自由媒体环境

The Russian government continues to cut the Russian people off from independent voices and from media perspectives that differ from the state’s controlled narratives¹.

Most recently, Russian authorities have stopped Voice of America’s radio broadcasts in Moscow, thereby² silencing the last vestige³ of U.S. international radio broadcasting in the country. In a one-sentence letter, the director of Russia’s information agency Rossiya Segodnya, or Russia Today, Dmitry Kiselev announced that “we are not going to cooperate” with the request by VOA’s parent agency, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, to continue a long-standing contract for broadcasting on Russian soil.

  The Broadcasting Board of Governors condemned⁴ the decision. In a statement, BBG Chairman Jeff Shell noted⁵ that “Russian media -- including RT television -- enjoy open access to the airwaves in the United States and around the world.  The Russian people deserve the same freedom to access information.”

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow noted in a statement that the silencing of VOA is the latest effort by Russia to decrease space for independent and free media in the country. 

“In the last year, the Russian Government has passed laws imposing⁶ unprecedented⁷ censorship and restrictions⁸ on media and online publications. In the past few months alone, it has blocked independent websites and blogs…denied visas and accreditation⁹ to foreign professional journalists; and forced leadership changes at several media outlets¹⁰ simply because those outlets dared to challenge the Kremlin’s extremist policies.”

In addition the embassy said, “Not only has the Russian government ignored harassment¹¹, attacks, death threats and kidnappings of journalists in Russia and Crimea, it has made no progress in prosecuting¹² the murders of several other journalists, including American journalist Paul Klebnikov and Russian Journalist Anna Politkovskaya.”

 

The United States supports the fundamental right of all Russians to exercise their freedoms of expression and assembly – rights enshrined in the Russian constitution as well as in international agreements to which Russia is a party. The U.S. calls on the Russian government to respect those rights it has committed to protect.

1 narratives   

记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分

参考例句：

• Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning. 结婚一向是许多小说的终点，然而也是一个伟大的开始。
• This is one of the narratives that children are fond of. 这是孩子们喜欢的故事之一。

2 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

3 vestige   

n.痕迹，遗迹，残余

参考例句：

• Some upright stones in wild places are the vestige of ancient religions.荒原上一些直立的石块是古老宗教的遗迹。
• Every vestige has been swept away.一切痕迹都被一扫而光。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

7 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

9 accreditation   

n.委派，信赖，鉴定合格

参考例句：

• a letter of accreditation 一份合格证明书
• This paper gives an overview of the Verification, Validation and Accreditation (VV&A) in High Level Architecture(HLA). 对基于高层体系结构(High Level Architecture,简称HLA)的仿真系统的校核、验证与确认(Verification, Validation and Accreditation,简称VV&A)问题进行了详细的介绍及分析。 来自互联网

10 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》

11 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

12 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。