一個(gè)“王朝”的背影

由于負(fù)債高達(dá)22億美元，曾經(jīng)是全球發(fā)行量最大的雜志，美國《讀者文摘》于今年8月正式申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)保護(hù)。

這一消息，對(duì)在面對(duì)金融危機(jī)下，已有105家報(bào)紙倒閉，連全球知名的《華盛頓郵報(bào)》、《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》都叫苦連天的美國傳媒行業(yè)來說，更如同投下一塊巨石，激起軒然大波。大家紛紛將目光投向這份87歲的刊物，在惋惜與感嘆的同時(shí)，不禁又討論起傳統(tǒng)紙質(zhì)媒體的未來。傳統(tǒng)媒體真的到了舉步維艱的困境了?信息媒介的載體果然到了改朝換代的時(shí)候了?難道大家都不再向往鉛字和書香了?這種種疑問，看來我們只能交由時(shí)間來定論了。

Media Report 媒體反響

It’s an American icon. For nine decades， folks have been reading Reader’s Digest， learning about politics， inspirational Americans， and， of course， there are the clean jokes submitted by readers. The magazine is facing a bit of an uncertain future.

When Reader’s Digest published its first edition in 1922， the movies were silent， TV was decades away， and the Internet was science fiction. Now the magazine faces a challenging future， because its parent company， The Reader’s Digest Association， is planning to file for 1)bankruptcy protection. Reader’s Digest global editor says the magazine， made famous for its home-spun humor and inspiring stories， is not in 2)jeopardy.

Editor: We certainly plan to be around and serving our readers for many years to come.

It was only two years ago that a private investment firm bought the corporation， which also publishes other popular magazines such as: Everyday With Rachael Ray， for more than $2 billion. Hurt by the 3)recession， the investment firm now wants to hand over control of The Reader’s Digest Association to the banks it owes money.

Editor: It is about the company’s 4)balance sheet. It’s a simple thing. It’s like we made our 5)mortgage smaller. That’s a good thing for our company and for the magazine.

Industry insiders warned Reader’s Digest Magazine hasn’t kept pace with the times. In a 6)Twitter world， even its quick read format can seem like a Russian novel. One troubling sign， the number of 7)subscribers has dropped.

The magazine， available worldwide， in 21 languages， is evolving. Once a 8)condensed 9)rehash of already-published material， most of the content is now original.

Editor: We have a message of uplift and optimism， which I think is all-American.

It’s a message that is also on the magazine’s website， which boasts more than two million visitors a month.

The brand is an American icon， not going away anytime soon. The Reader’s Digest version of this story: “Magazine staying in business， despite tough times.”

Local Reaction居民回應(yīng)

Reader’s Digest filed for bankruptcy today and we hit the streets of 10)Chappaqua to see what residents had to say.

Lloyd Newman: We’ve been here since 1971 so， when we came， Reader’s Digest was a big company. It’s really a shame to see how the company has gone downhill. Kind of a sad day because they’ve been such a landmark here for so long.

Marc Bodner: A little bit in the news that’s been going out for the past couple of years， on declining readerships and the rest of the things that happened in the magazine world right now. I guess it’s not a big surprise.

Adam Lowenbein: My dad passed away like a year ago， and I just last weekend was up cleaning his house out， but we have all the original art. And some of it’s from Readers’ Digest; think of， like Norman Rockwell， like 11)Americana， like a kind of a innocent publication. Nothing can last unless it’s hyper-commercial these days， and I guess kids are more interested in video games and all that stuff.

Internet Response網(wǎng)民意見

In media news today， Reader’s Digest went bankrupt. What does this mean?

Well， obviously， the media world is continuing to evolve and old media， which is non-digital， which is text-based， continues to have a hard time.

I mean， I remember a time when Reader’s Digest was so big， so huge， had such a strong worldwide presence， they were just a 12)dominant， dominant medium. But in today’s media world the question is， what’s their value add? All they’re doing is re-packaging stories that you see in other places and digesting it for people.

Well， with the Internet， with everything going on， websites. Is there really a need for Reader’s Digest? Now， they’re not just going out of business. It is a restructuring. They claim they are not even firing any employees.

But I do think it is a sign of the times and how media world is continuing to change and only those who are truly digital， those that are interactive， those that allow what we’re doing right here， speaking. Those will survive. Those that are just re-packaging the old stuff and relying on legacy subscription lists are in for a very tough time.

那是一個(gè)美國的標(biāo)志。九十多年來，大家一直在讀《讀者文摘》，從中了解時(shí)事政治，鼓舞人心的美國人的故事，當(dāng)然還有讀者投稿的正經(jīng)笑話。這本雜志現(xiàn)在正面臨著生死未卜的未來。

《讀者文摘》初版于1922年，那時(shí)還是無聲電影的天下，離電視的出現(xiàn)還有好幾十年，而互聯(lián)網(wǎng)更是只存在于科幻小說中。現(xiàn)在這本雜志的未來受到了挑戰(zhàn)，因?yàn)樗哪腹荆绹蹲x者文摘》公司計(jì)劃申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)保護(hù)。《讀者文摘》的環(huán)球編輯說，這本以家庭幽默和勵(lì)志故事而著稱的雜志，處境其實(shí)不是太危險(xiǎn)。

編輯:未來還有許多年，我們當(dāng)然隨時(shí)準(zhǔn)備為我們的讀者服務(wù)。

還只是在兩年前，一家私募股權(quán)公司以超過20億美元的價(jià)格買下了這家企業(yè)，這家企業(yè)同時(shí)發(fā)行如《蕾秋每日生活》等其他受歡迎的雜志。由于金融風(fēng)暴的沖擊，這家私募股權(quán)公司現(xiàn)在想將《讀者文摘》公司的控制權(quán)移交給其欠債的銀行。……