【双语新闻】Murdoch predicts demise of classified ads

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Murdoch predicts demise of classified ads
　　2005年11月25日 星期五

　　默多克预言报纸分类广告将消亡

　　Murdoch predicts demise of classified ads

　　新闻集团（News Corporation）董事长鲁珀特？默多克（Rupert Murdoch）加重了笼罩着美国报业的阴云。他表示，随着分类广告转向互联网和发行量的进一步下降，大多数报纸的业务模式正受到威胁。




　　Rupert Murdoch has added to the gloom surrounding the US newspaper industry， saying that the business model of most titles is under threat as classified advertising moves online and circulations fall further.

　　默多克先生一度把报纸分类广告营收形容为“黄金之河”，但他说：“有时河流也会干涸。”

　　The News Corporation chairman， who once decribed classified revenues as “rivers of gold”， said： “Sometimes rivers dry up.”

　　在接受英国行业出版物《Press Gazette》采访时，他补充指出：“我所认识的30岁以下的人中，没有一个看过报纸分类广告。”《Press Gazette》部分归他女婿所有。

　　Interviewed by Press Gazette， a UK trade publication part-owned by his son-in-law， he added： “I don‘t know anybody under 30 who has ever looked at a classified advertisement in a newspaper.”

　　他发表上述评论时，美国第二大报业集团奈特里德（Knight Ridder）向股东压力屈服，并雇佣顾问探索“战略性替代方案”，包括可能出售业务，以回应新闻纸成本不断上升、发行量不断下跌，以及来自互联网的更多竞争。

　　His comments came as Knight Ridder， the US‘s second-largest newspaper group， yielded to shareholder pressure and retained advisers to explore “strategic alternatives”， including a possible sale， in response to rising newsprint costs， declining circulation and more competition from the internet.

　　拥有《纽约邮报》（New York Post）的默多克先生指出，美国报纸的编辑战略应承担报纸财务问题的责任。“在纽约以外，全都是垄断性报纸。其中一些办得不错，但倾向于写得过火、枯燥乏味、精英化，没有反映大众的普遍情绪。我认为，它们的发行量将比目前下降得更厉害。”

　　Mr Murdoch， who owns the New York Post， indicated that US newspapers‘ editorial strategies were to blame for their financial problems. “Outside New York， it’s all monopoly newspapers. Some have good work in them， but it tends to be overwritten， boring and elitist， not a reflection of the general mood in the public. And I think you‘re going to find their circulations falling more than they already have.”

　　今年迄今，默多克先生已花费15亿美元进行收购，如收购快速成长的网络社区MySpace.com，以及游戏和内容网站IGN Entertainment.默多克先生反驳了WPP首席执行官马丁？索雷尔爵士（Sir Martin Sorrell）最近的说法，即一些传统媒体所有者在恐慌性收购新媒体资产。

　　After spending $1.5bn so far this year on acquisitions such as MySpace.com， a fast-growing online community， and IGN Entertainment， a games and content site， Mr Murdoch disputed the recent claim by Sir Martin Sorrell， chief executive of WPP， that some traditional media owners were panic buying new media assets.

　　“没有恐慌，也肯定没有支付过高价格，”他说。“收购这两家针对30岁以下人士的最大社区网站是个十分谨慎的策略。如果你从美国网页浏览量的数字看，我们已排名市场第三了。”

　　“There‘s no panic， and there’s certainly no overpayment，” he said. “It was a very careful strategy to go for the two biggest community sites for people under 30. If you take the number of page views in the US， we are the third biggest presence already.”