【外刊D71】英国百年王室，能跟上新媒体时代的步伐吗？

今日导读

本月 6 日，梅根王妃顺利生子，英国又添了一名王室宝宝。这个孩子是英国女王的第八个重孙，更是英国王位的第七顺位继承人。一直以来，英国王室都是媒体和公众关注的焦点，但王室、媒体以及公众间的关系，近几年间却一直发生着变化。这其中具体发生了哪些变化？又是什么在影响着这些变化着的关系？让我们一起跟着雪梨老师进入今天的《经济学人》。

新闻原文

Social media are changing relations between the royals, the press and the public

 The Economist

The press had been camped outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s hospital in west London for weeks before the birth of Prince George, son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (better known as William and Kate), in July 2013. Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor made a quieter entrance on May 6th. There were no waiting journalists because his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Harry and Meghan), had kept the location of his birth secret. Instead, the first word of his arrival came via @sussexroyal, the couple’s official Instagram account, which scooped the press with a message reading: “It’s a boy!”

The relationship between Britain’s royal family and the media has long been strained. But two developments in recent years have made the palace and the press mutually less interested in each other. One is that British newspapers have toned down their royal muckraking. Tighter budgets mean that editors lack the staff to pursue princes and princesses as closely as they used to.

At the same time, the internet has made British papers less important to the monarchy. Readers can get their royal gossip from foreign publications that are not bound by British privacy or libel laws.

This is especially true of social media. The royal family has upped its social game, hiring a head of digital engagement in 2016. It now has several social-media accounts, each with millions of followers, who monitor the royals’ activities alongside those of Beyoncé or Kim Kardashian.

带着问题听讲解

哈里和梅根通过哪种方式公布了小王子降生的消息？

如何理解“tone down”在文中的用法？

有哪些词可以指代媒体？

新闻正文

Social media are changing relations between the royals, the press and the public

社交媒体正在改变英国王室、媒体以及公众间的关系

The press had been camped outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s hospital in west London for weeks before the birth of Prince George, son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (better known as William and Kate), in July 2013. Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor made a quieter entrance on May 6th. There were no waiting journalists because his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Harry and Meghan), had kept the location of his birth secret. Instead, the first word of his arrival came via @sussexroyal, the couple’s official Instagram account, which scooped the press with a message reading: “It’s a boy!”

2013 年 7 月，在剑桥公爵和公爵夫人（他们更被人熟知的名字是威廉和凯特）的儿子——乔治王子出生前，媒体在西伦敦的圣玛丽医院林多妇产中心外驻扎了几个星期。而今年的 5 月 6 日，阿奇·哈里森·蒙巴顿-温莎出生的阵仗却小了很多。医院外没有等候的记者们，因为小王子的父母，萨塞克斯公爵和公爵夫人（哈里和梅根）没有对外公布小王子的出生地点，而是抢在所有媒体之前，通过他们的官方 Instagram 账号（@sussexroyal）发布了王子出生的首条消息：“是个男孩！”

The relationship between Britain’s royal family and the media has long been strained. But two developments in recent years have made the palace and the press mutually less interested in each other. One is that British newspapers have toned down their royal muckraking. Tighter budgets mean that editors lack the staff to pursue princes and princesses as closely as they used to.

英国王室和媒体间的关系长期以来都很紧张。但是近年来的两个趋势已使王室和媒体对彼此的兴趣都有所减退。一是英国的报纸趋于温和，不再大肆揭露王室丑闻。预算的缩减意味着主编们缺少人手，无法像他们以前那样密切地追踪报道王子和王妃们。

At the same time, the internet has made British papers less important to the monarchy. Readers can get their royal gossip from foreign publications that are not bound by British privacy or libel laws.

与此同时，由于互联网的作用，英国的报纸对王室而言已变得不那么重要。英国读者可以从国外的出版刊物上得到本国的王室八卦，而国外纸媒是不受英国的隐私或诽谤法约束的。

This is especially true of social media. The royal family has uppedits social game, hiring a head of digital engagement in 2016. It now has several social-media accounts, each with millions of followers, who monitor the royals’ activities alongside those of Beyoncé or Kim Kardashian.

这一点对于社交媒体来说尤为准确。英国王室升级了他们的社交媒体布局，在 2016 年雇佣了一位数字互动主管。王室现在已有好几个社交媒体账号，每一个都有着数百万的粉丝。这些粉丝在关注碧昂斯或者金·卡戴珊的同时，也关注着王室的一举一动。

重点词汇

camp
/kæmp/
v. 盘踞，据守
英文释义：to remain persistently in one place

wing
/wɪŋ/
n. 建筑的侧翼部分
搭配短语：sb. is in the wings; sth. is waiting in the wings

make an entrance
正式登场，隆重登场
英文释义：to enter a room or building in a formal way or in a way that makes people notice you

scoop
/skuːp/
v. 抢在…之前报道
词性拓展：scoop (n. 勺子；最新消息)
scoop (n.) 例句：What's the scoop?

read
/riːd/
v. 写着，显示
例句：The sign reads ‘No admittance’.

strained
/streɪnd/
adj.（关系）紧张的，恶化的
近义词：tense
搭配短语：a strained atmosphere

mutually
/ˈmjuːtʃuəli/
adv. 相互地，彼此地
词性拓展：mutual (adj.)
mutual 搭配短语：mutual respect and understanding

tone (sth.) down
使（通常指文章或讲话）缓和，使温和
搭配短语：tone the language down

muckraking
/ˈmʌkreɪkɪŋ/
n.（尤指报纸和记者）搜集并揭露丑闻
相关词汇：muck (n. 垃圾；败坏道德的、毫无价值的东西); rake (v. 耙，耙拢；耙平)

pursue
/pərˈsuː/
v. 紧追；追查，追踪报道
例句：She was hotly pursued by the press.

monarchy
/ˈmɑːnərki/
n. 君主制；王室
英文释义：the king or queen of a country and their family

publication
/ˌpʌblɪˈkeɪʃn/
n. 出版物
搭配短语：scientific publications

libel
/ˈlaɪbl/
n.（文字性的）诬蔑，诽谤，中伤

up
/ʌp/
v. 提高，增加，提升（价格）
例句：The buyers upped their offer by £1000.
搭配短语：up one's game

拓展阅读

年薪 5 万镑——英国王室的数字互动主管

英国女王伊丽莎白二世一直以来都紧跟科技的步伐。1997 年，她建立了个人网站；2007 年，她开通了自己的 YouTube 频道；2014 年，她发送了个人第一条推特。而近年来，王室成员们更是相继开通了社交账号，借此提升君主形象，同时也给王室的广大粉丝们一个更贴近他们的机会。

2016 年，王室发布了一则招聘广告，他们需要一位数字互动主管（Head of Digital Engagement）。这位主管将会进驻白金汉宫，帮助王室有效地管理和利用各个社交平台，来提升王室的在线能见度以及数字沟通策略。

在职位要求中，王室主要写道，他们需要有网站或媒体从业经历的人，同时要非常懂得避免网络暴力风险。这项职位福利优渥，享有 33 天年假（包含公共假日）、免费午餐，以及其它各种优厚待遇。