I was a foreign correspondent in the Middle East

五年前，我得到了夢寐以求的工作。

reporting for ABC News.

我任職美國廣播公司新聞的

But there was a crack in the wall,

駐中東特派員。

a problem with our industry,

但我發現了牆上的一道缺口，

that I felt we needed to fix.

即是我們的行業出了問題，

You see, I got to the Middle East right around the end of 2007,

我認為有必要去修補。

which was just around the midpoint

我在 2007 年末抵達中東，

of the Iraq War.

那時伊拉克戰爭已經

But by the time I got there, it was already nearly impossible

打了一半。

to find stories about Iraq on air.

但在我抵達時，已經幾乎不可能

Coverage had dropped across the board,

找到可供廣播的伊拉克新聞故事。

across networks.

各大電視網絡報導伊拉克的篇幅

And of the stories that did make it,

一律下跌。

more than 80 percent of them were about us.

那些得以廣播出來的新聞故事當中，

We were missing the stories about Iraq,

超過 80% 是關於我方的。

the people who live there,

我們不去報導伊拉克的新聞故事、

and what was happening to them under the weight of the war.

關於當地居民的新聞故事，

Afghanistan had already fallen off the agenda.

以及他們在戰爭重壓下 何去何從的新聞故事。

There were less than one percent of all news stories in 2008

阿富汗則早已不在報導議題中。

that went to the war in Afghanistan.

在 2008 年的所有新聞故事中

It was the longest war in US history,

不到 1% 是關於阿富汗戰爭。

but information was so scarce

這是美國史上歷時最長的戰爭，

that schoolteachers we spoke to

但相關資訊卻是如此稀少，

told us they had trouble explaining to their students

就連學校老師也向我們表示，

what we were doing there,

他們很難向學生解釋

when those students had parents

究竟我們在阿富汗做些什麼，

who were fighting and sometimes dying overseas.

而這些學生的父母

We had drawn a blank,

都在海外戰鬥甚或殉職。

and it wasn't just Iraq and Afghanistan.

我們得不到任何相關資訊，

From conflict zones to climate change

而這不只是伊拉克和阿富汗。

to all sorts of issues around crises in public health,

從衝突地區到氣候改變，

we were missing what I call the species-level issues,

到關乎公共衞生危機的各類議題，

because as a species, they could actually sink us.

我們無法報導我稱為 「物種層面的議題」，

And by failing to understand the complex issues of our time,

因為這些議題都可以拖垮 我們整個人類物種。

we were facing certain practical implications.

無法了解當代的複雜議題，

How were we going to solve problems

我們就得面對這帶來的 若干實際影響。

that we didn't fundamentally understand,

我們怎麼解決得了問題，

that we couldn't track in real time,

要是我們沒有從根本了解問題、

and where the people working on the issues

無法同步追蹤問題，

were invisible to us

而且處理這些複雜議題的人

and sometimes invisible to each other?

都是我們看不見，

When you look back on Iraq,

甚或互相看不見的人？

those years when we were missing the story,

回首看看伊拉克，

were the years when the society was falling apart,

我們無法報導任何有關 當地新聞故事的那些年，

when we were setting the conditions for what would become the rise of ISIS,

就是當地社會分崩離析的時期，

the ISIS takeover of Mosul

而我們也造就了 讓伊斯蘭國得以崛起的條件，

and terrorist violence that would spread

讓伊斯蘭國得以佔據摩蘇爾，

beyond Iraq's borders to the rest of the world.

讓恐怖主義暴力得以跨過

Just around that time where I was making that observation,

伊拉克邊界遍布全世界。

I looked across the border of Iraq

當我正在進行觀察的時候，

and noticed there was another story we were missing:

我望向伊拉克邊界的另一邊，

the war in Syria.

發現我們也無法報導 另一則新聞故事：

If you were a Middle-East specialist, you knew that Syria was that important

敍利亞戰爭。

from the start.

如果各位是中東問題專家， 一定知道敍利亞

But it ended up being, really,

從一開始就相當重要。

one of the forgotten stories of the Arab Spring.

但結果卻是敍利亞

I saw the implications up front.

是在阿拉伯之春 被遺忘的新聞故事之一。

Syria is intimately tied to regional security,

我親眼目睹這帶來的影響。

to global stability.

敍利亞與地區安全以至全球安全

I felt like we couldn't let that become

息息相關。

another one of the stories we left behind.

我覺得不應該任由敍利亞變成

So I left my big TV job to start a website, called "Syria Deeply."

另一則我們不報導的新聞故事。

It was designed to be a news and information source

所以我辭掉了大電視臺的工作， 創立網站「深度敍利亞」。

that made it easier to understand a complex issue,

這網站旨在作為新聞及資訊來源，

and for the past four years, it's been a resource

使理解一則複雜議題變得更容易，

for policymakers and professionals working on the conflict in Syria.

而它在過去四年來已經成為

We built a business model

處理敍利亞衝突的政策制定者 和專業人士的資訊來源。

based on consistent, high-quality information,

我們的經營模式是

and convening the top minds on the issue.

建基於具連貫性、高品質的資訊，

And we found it was a model that scaled.

以及匯聚有關該議題的一流見解。

We got passionate requests to do other things "Deeply."

我們發現這個模式可以擴展。

So we started to work our way down the list.

有人熱切請求我們 「深度」探討其他議題。

I'm just one of many entrepreneurs,

於是我們開始探討清單上各個議題。

and we are just one of many start-ups

我和眾多企業家，

trying to fix what's wrong with news.

我們和很多創投公司，

All of us in the trenches know

都嘗試補救新聞業出現的錯誤。

that something is wrong with the news industry.

我們在前線工作的人都知道

It's broken.

新聞業的確出現了一些問題。

Trust in the media has hit an all-time low.

它已經敗壞。

And the statistic you're seeing up there is from September --

傳媒公信力跌至歷年新低。

it's arguably gotten worse.

各位在這裡見到的統計數字 是在九月，

But we can fix this.

現在情況恐怕更差。

We can fix the news.

但我們可以補救。

I know that that's true.

我們可以補救新聞業。

You can call me an idealist; I call myself an industrious optimist.

我知道這會成真。

And I know there are a lot of us out there.

各位可以說我是理想主義者， 我就自稱勤奮的樂觀主義者。

We have ideas for how to make things better,

我知道外面有很多像我一樣的人。

and I want to share three of them that we've picked up in our own work.

我們有辦法使事情變好，

Idea number one:

而我想介紹我們找出的 其中三項辦法。

we need news that's built on deep-domain knowledge.

辦法一：

Given the waves and waves of layoffs at newsrooms across the country,

我們需要建基於 深入領域知識的新聞。

we've lost the art of specialization.

由於全國各地新聞媒體 裁員一浪接一浪，

Beat reporting is an endangered thing.

我們已經失去了專門報導的藝術。

When it comes to foreign news,

「路線採訪」瀕臨絕種。

the way we can fix that is by working with more local journalists,

在海外新聞方面，

treating them like our partners and collaborators,

我們的補救方法就是 跟更多本地新聞從業員合作，

not just fixers who fetch us phone numbers and sound bites.

視他們為合作伙伴，

Our local reporters in Syria and across Africa and across Asia

而不只是幫我們取得 電話號碼和原聲摘要的仲介人。

bring us stories that we certainly would not have found on our own.

我們在敍利亞以至 亞、非各地的本地記者

Like this one from the suburbs of Damascus, about a wheelchair race

給我們找來我們自己 肯定找不來的新聞故事。

that gave hope to those wounded in the war.

就像這則在大馬士革市郊的新聞， 關於一場

Or this one from Sierra Leone,

給予戰亂傷患希望的輪椅競賽。

about a local chief who curbed the spread of Ebola

又或者這則在塞拉里昂的新聞，

by self-organizing a quarantine in his district.

關於一名當地首領 自發隔離自己的區域

Or this one from the border of Pakistan,

以阻止伊波拉病毒蔓延。

about Afghan refugees being forced to return home before they are ready,

又或者這則在巴基斯坦邊境的新聞，

under the threat of police intimidation.

關於阿富汗難民在未準備好、 被警察脅逼的情況下

Our local journalists are our mentors.

被遣返家鄉。

They teach us something new every day,

本地新聞從業員是我們的師友，

and they bring us stories that are important for all of us to know.

每一天都有新東西教給我們，

Idea number two:

也給我們帶來所有人都應該 知道的重要新聞故事。

we need a kind of Hippocratic oath for the news industry,

辦法二：

a pledge to first do no harm.

我們需要給新聞行業訂立一種 希波克拉底誓詞，

(Applause)

即是承諾不造成任何傷害。

Journalists need to be tough.

（掌聲）

We need to speak truth to power,

新聞從業員需要不屈不撓。

but we also need to be responsible.

我們要向當權者說出真相，

We need to live up to our own ideals,

但我們也要為自己負責。

and we need to recognize

我們要按自己的理想行事，

when what we're doing could potentially harm society,

也要明白

where we lose track of journalism as a public service.

如果我們忘記新聞是一種公共服務，

I watched us cover the Ebola crisis.

我們所做的有可能損害社會。

We launched Ebola Deeply. We did our best.

我密切留意我們怎樣報導 伊波拉危機。

But what we saw was a public

我們成立「深度伊波拉」， 並全力以赴。

that was flooded with hysterical and sensational coverage,

但我們見到公眾

sometimes inaccurate, sometimes completely wrong.

被排山倒海般的歇斯底里 和煽情報導淹沒，

Public health experts tell me that that actually cost us in human lives,

它們有時不準確，有時完全錯誤。

because by sparking more panic and by sometimes getting the facts wrong,

公共衞生專家告訴我， 這樣其實會賠上人命，

we made it harder for people to resolve

因為引發更多恐慌甚或把事實弄錯，

what was actually happening on the ground.

使人們更難解決

All that noise made it harder to make the right decisions.

實地發生的事。

We can do better as an industry,

所有這些雜音使人更難 作出正確的決定。

but it requires us recognizing how we got it wrong last time,

我們作為一個行業可以做得更好，

and deciding not to go that way next time.

但必須明白我們上次何以犯錯，

It's a choice.

並決心下次不再重蹈覆轍。

We have to resist the temptation to use fear for ratings.

這完全由你決定。

And that decision has to be made in the individual newsroom

我們要抵擋誘惑， 不用恐懼刺激收視率。

and with the individual news executive.

每個新聞部、每位新聞行政人員

Because the next deadly virus that comes around

都要作出這樣決定。

could be much worse and the consequences much higher,

因為如果我們重蹈覆轍，

if we do what we did last time;

如果我們的報導不負責任、 不盡不實，

if our reporting isn't responsible and it isn't right.

下一個來襲的致命病毒

The third idea?

可能更惡劣，帶來更嚴重的後果。

We need to embrace complexity

辦法三？

if we want to make sense of a complex world.

若要理解錯綜複雜的世界，

Embrace complexity --

我們就要擁抱複雜。

(Applause)

擁抱複雜……

not treat the world simplistically, because simple isn't accurate.

（掌聲）

We live in a complex world.

不把世界簡化， 因為簡單就是不準確。

News is adult education.

我們活在錯綜複雜的世界。

It's our job as journalists to get elbow deep in complexity

新聞是成人教育。

and to find new ways to make it easier for everyone else to understand.

我們作為新聞從業員 有責任抽絲剝繭，

If we don't do that,

找出新方法使任何人更易理解。

if we pretend there are just simple answers,

如果我們做不到這一點，

we're leading everyone off a steep cliff.

如果我們佯裝簡單答案就在眼前，

Understanding complexity is the only way to know the real threats

我們就像帶領所有人去跳懸崖。

that are around the corner.

理解複雜關係是 知道真實威脅近在咫尺的

It's our responsibility to translate those threats

唯一方法。

and to help you understand what's real,

我們的責任是把這些威脅 以常人話語說出來，

so you can be prepared and know what it takes to be ready

幫助各位明白什麼是真實的，

for what comes next.

讓你準備好並知道怎樣準備

I am an industrious optimist.

下一個問題的來臨。

I do believe we can fix what's broken.

我是一名勤奮的樂觀主義者。

We all want to.

我的確相信可以補救已敗壞的東西。

There are great journalists out there doing great work --

我們每個人都想。

we just need new formats.

表現卓越的優秀新聞從業員 俯拾皆是，

I honestly believe this is a time of reawakening,

而我們需要的只是新模式。

reimagining what we can do.

我確信現在是時候重新醒覺、

I believe we can fix what's broken.

重新想像我們可以做什麼。

I know we can fix the news.

我相信找們可以補救已敗壞的東西。

I know it's worth trying,

我知道我們可以補救新聞業。

and I truly believe that in the end,

我知道這是值得嘗試的，

we're going to get this right.

並衷心相信我們直到最後

Thank you.

會把事情撥亂反正。

(Applause)

感謝大家。