Mark TWain once remarked tiiat news is history in its first and best form. The American poet Ezra Pound added an interesting idea to that. He defined literature as news that stays news. Among other things, Pound meant that the stuff of literature originates not in stories about the World Bank or an armistice agreement but in those simple, repeatable tales that reflect the pain, confusion, or exaltations that are constant in human experience, and touch us at the deepest levels. For example, consider the death of Michael Landon. Who was Michael Landon to you, or you to Michael Landon that you should have been told so much about him when he died? Here is a possible answer: Michael Landon was rich, decent, handsome, young, and successful. Suddenly, very nearly without warning, he was struck down at the height of his powers and fame. Why? What are we to make of it? Why him? It is like some Old Testament parable; these questions were raised five thousand years ago and we still raise them today. It is the kind of story that stays news, and that is why it must be given prominence. Or so some people believe.
馬克·吐溫曾說(shuō)新聞最為重要的形式是歷史。美國(guó)詩(shī)人埃茲拉·龐德就此補(bǔ)充過(guò)一個(gè)有趣的觀點(diǎn)：文學(xué)是一種永恒的新聞。他認(rèn)為，文學(xué)的素材來(lái)源不是有關(guān)世界銀行或者停戰(zhàn)協(xié)議的報(bào)道，而是那些日常生活中簡(jiǎn)單重復(fù)的故事，可恰恰是這些每天都在發(fā)生的故事反映了人類的痛苦、迷茫、喜悅，也會(huì)給予我們最深的觸動(dòng)。例如，邁克·蘭登的死。誰(shuí)對(duì)你，你又對(duì)誰(shuí)來(lái)說(shuō)意味著他？蘭登過(guò)世之時(shí)你又聽(tīng)到了多少關(guān)于他的故事作為告誡？一種答案以供思考：邁克·蘭登富有、體面、帥氣、年輕又成功。突然，幾乎沒(méi)有任何征兆，他就被權(quán)利和名聲壓跨了。為什么會(huì)這樣？我們?cè)搶?duì)此做何感想？為什么是他？這就像那些《舊約》中的寓言故事一樣；五千年前的先賢就已提出了這些問(wèn)題，如今我們依然在提。這就是“永恒的”新聞，這也是為什么我們要著重報(bào)道這類新聞。至少一部分人是這樣認(rèn)為的。
What about the kind of news that doesn't stay news, that is neither the stuff of history nor literature—the fires, rapes, and murders that are daily featured on local television news? Who has decided that they are important, and why? One cynical answer is that they are there because viewers take comfort in the realization that they have escaped disaster. At least for that day. It doesn't matter who in particular was murdered; the viewer wasn't. We tune in to find out how lucky we are, and go to sleep with the pleasure of knowing that we have survived. A somewhat different answer goes this way: It is the task of the news story to provide a daily accounting of the progress of society. This can be done in many ways, some of them abstract (for example, a report on the state of unemployment), some of them concrete (for example, reports on particular gruesome murders). These reports, especially those of a concrete nature, are the daily facts from which the audience is expected to draw appropriate conclusions about the question "What kind of society am I a member of?"
那關(guān)于那些不“永恒”的新聞呢？那些既不是歷史也不是文學(xué)，每日在電視上報(bào)道的火災(zāi)、強(qiáng)奸案和謀殺案呢？是誰(shuí)，出于什么原因把這些歸為重要新聞呢？一種憤世嫉俗的答案說(shuō)，之所以報(bào)道這些新聞，是因?yàn)橛^眾觀看后會(huì)產(chǎn)生逃過(guò)一劫的幸福感。誰(shuí)被謀殺了不重要，重要的是觀看新聞的人還活著。觀眾收看此類新聞，明白自己多么幸運(yùn)，并帶著活著的幸福感入睡。還有另一種答案，新聞的目的就是報(bào)道社會(huì)每天發(fā)生的事情。報(bào)道的方式多種多樣，有些報(bào)道很抽象（比如失業(yè)率），有些報(bào)道很具體（比如一場(chǎng)可怕的謀殺），這些新聞，尤其是那些詳細(xì)報(bào)道的新聞，是觀眾對(duì)于回答“我究竟生活在一個(gè)怎樣的世界里？”的事實(shí)依據(jù)。
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