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Whatever happened to the death of newspaper? A year ago the end seemed near. The recession threatened to remove the advertising and readers that had not already fled to the internet. Newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle were chronicling their own doom. America's Federal Trade commission launched a round of talks about how to save newspapers. Should they become charitable corporations? Should the state subsidize them? It will hold another meeting soon. But the discussions now seem out of date.
什么事情導致了報紙行業死亡？一年前，報紙的終結似乎就要來臨。經濟衰退讓那些尚未轉投互聯網的廣告商和讀者開始動搖。新聞報紙比如舊金山紀事報當時就在把自己的厄運編檔入案。美國的聯邦貿易委員會多次討論如何拯救報紙行業。他們應該成為慈善公司嗎？國家應該資助這些報紙行業嗎？下一輪會議馬上就要召開。但這種討論已經過時了。
In much of the world there is little sign of crisis. German and Brazilian papers shrugged off the recession. Even American newspapers, which inhabit the most troubled corner of the global industry, have not only survived but often returned to profit. Not the 20% profit margins that were routine a few years ago, but profit all the same.
放眼全球報業，危機的征兆不明顯。德國和巴西的報紙行業對危機不屑一顧。即使是棲身于全球經濟最混亂角落的美國報紙也不僅幸存了下來，并重新開始盈利，雖然利潤率不是幾年前慣常的20%，但不管怎樣至少現在有錢可賺。
It has not been much fun. Many papers stayed afloat by pushing journalists overboard. The American Society of News Editors reckons that 13,500 newsroom jobs have gone since 2007. Readers are paying more for slimmer products. Some papers even had the nerve to refuse delivery to distant suburbs. Yet these desperate measures have proved the right ones and, sadly for many journalists, they can be pushed further.
雖然情況好轉，卻不可過于樂觀。許多報紙通過裁減記者渡過難關。據美國新聞編輯協會統計，2007年（全美）報社編輯職位縮減了13500。報紙售價上調，但提供的服務卻在減少。一些報紙甚至下決心取消了偏遠鄉村的報紙配送業務。這些孤注一擲的措施發揮了效果，也讓報社敢于采取更加極端的辦法，這對于許多記者來說并不是好消息。
Newspapers are becoming more balanced businesses, with a healthier mix of revenues from readers and advertisers. American papers have long been highly unusual in their reliance on ads. Fully 87% of their revenues came from advertising in 2008, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation And Development (OECD). In Japan the proportion is 35%. Not surprisingly, Japanese newspapers are much more stable.
隨著報業廣告收益和發行收益結構更為合理，報業的運營日趨平衡。長期以來，美國報業畸形發展，過于依賴廣告收益。經濟合作與發展組織稱：2008年，美國報業87%的利潤來自廣告。而同期日本的比例為35%。理所應當，日本報業更為穩定。
The whirlwind that swept through newsrooms harmed everybody, but much of the damage has been concentrated in areas where newspaper are least distinctive. Car and film reviewers have gone. So have science and general business reporters. Foreign bureaus have been savagely cut off. Newspapers are less complete as a result. But completeness is no longer a virtue in the newspaper business.
這場（人事調整的）旋風席卷編輯部，無人幸免。報社中最不具特色的部門損失慘重。汽車和電影評論員黯然離開，科學和普通商業新聞記者也未能幸免，駐外辦事處被無情的精減，這使得報紙變得不那么全面完整了。但全面完整已不再被視作報業的一種優秀品質。
