Funny thing about that.

滿可笑的，值得我們細細思考。

There's reason to doubt that Mark Twain ever said this at all, thus, ironically, proving the point.

然而馬克吐溫到底有沒有說過這句話，一直以來都被懷疑，因此，很諷刺地證明了那句引述本身。

And today, the quote, whoever said it, is truer than ever before.

現在這句引述，不論是誰說的，是再真實不過了。

In previous decades, most media with global reach consisted of several major newspapers and networks which had the resources to gather information directly.

在幾十年前，大部分國際性媒體是由幾個主要報紙和網絡組成，他們有直接的資料來源來蒐集資訊。

Outlets like Reuters and the Associated Press that aggregate or rereport stories were relatively rare compared to today.

新聞來源像是路透社或是美聯社，過去比較少會去蒐集舊聞或是重新報導新聞。

The speed with which information spreads now has created the ideal conditions for a phenomenon known as circular reporting.

現在資訊傳播的速度之快，給所謂的「循環報導」現象提供了理想的溫床。

This is when publication A publishes misinformation, publication B reprints it, and publication A then cites B as the source for the information.

這是指當出版社 A 刊出錯誤的訊息，出版社 B 又轉載錯誤的訊息，然後出版社 A 又引用 B 做為資料來源。

It's also considered a form of circular reporting when multiple publications report on the same initial piece of false information,

另一種循環報導的形式是，當多家出版社報導同樣一則錯誤的原始訊息，

which then appears to another author as having been verified by multiple sources.

對其他作者來說，這就成了已被多家出版社證實的訊息。

For instance, the 1998 publication of a single pseudoscientific paper arguing that routine vaccination of children causes autism inspired an entire antivaccination movement,

例如在 1998 年有一篇偽科學論文主張按時疫苗接種的小孩會導致自閉症，激起了全面拒絕疫苗接種的運動，

despite the fact that the original paper has repeatedly been discredited by the scientific community.

儘管這篇科學論文一直不斷被科學界懷疑，

Deliberately unvaccinated children are now contracting contagious diseases that had been virtually eradicated in the United States, with some infections proving fatal.

特意不接種的小孩現在都漸漸染上傳染病，這些實際上早就在美國絕跡，這些感染之中，有些被證實足以致命。

In a slightly less dire example, satirical articles that are formatted to resemble real ones can also be picked up by outlets not in on the joke.

在沒那麼嚴重的例子中，那些故意寫的跟原版的文章很像的諷刺文章，也被出版社拿來當作事實報導。

For example, a joke article in the reputable British Medical Journal entitled "Energy Expenditure in Adolescents Playing New Generation Computer Games," has been referenced in serious science publications over 400 times.

例如，一篇玩笑性質的文章在著名英國醫學雜誌裡，標題寫著「青少年把精力都花在新一代電腦遊戲裡」卻已被多家科學出版社參考超過 400 次。

User-generated content, such as wikis, are also a common contributor to circular reporting.

用戶自編內容，像是維基百科也是一個循環報導的元凶。

As more writers come to rely on such pages for quick information,

隨著越來越多的作家依賴這樣的網站來取得快捷資訊，

an unverified fact in a wiki page can make its way into a published article that may later be added as a citation for the very same wiki information, making it much harder to debunk.

在維基網頁上，一個未證實的事實很容易被誤認為正式出版的文章，之後，這篇文章可能又變成同一維基訊息的引證，使錯誤的資訊很難被揭露。

Recent advances in communication technology have had immeasurable benefits in breaking down the barriers between information and people.

近來通訊科技業的進步帶來極大的益處，它可以打破資訊和人之間的阻礙。

But our desire for quick answers may overpower the desire to be certain of their validity.

但是我們對快捷資訊的渴望可能勝過對於資訊有效性的渴望。

And when this bias can be multiplied by billions of people around the world, nearly instantaneously, more caution is in order.

尤其當偏差的訊息，幾乎不間斷地以倍數方式傳遞給全世界幾十億的人們，此時便需要更謹慎的檢視。

Avoiding sensationalist media, searching for criticisms of suspicious information, and tracing the original source of a report can help slow down a lie, giving the truth more time to put on its shoes.

要避免煽動的媒體，去搜尋對於可疑來源的批評，並且追蹤報導的原始資料，可以減緩謊言的傳播，給真相更多的時間「穿上鞋子」(指：傳播到世界)。