讀者左右媒體立場 商業周刊 第1097期 2008-12-01 撰文者：楊少強
如果我有天在水面上行走，報紙標題會是：『總統不會游泳！』」美國前總統詹森（Lyndon B. Johnson），有次如此埋怨媒體只會唱衰他。同一件事在不同立場的傳媒報導下，往往呈現不同面貌，不過研究顯示，這種特定立場的傳媒，往往是讀者培養出來的。
過去認為讀者閱讀傳媒，是想獲得資訊，而「正確性」是讀者首要考量。但兩位哈佛大學經濟學家（Sendhil Mullainathan、Andrei Shleifer）的研究〈The Market for New〉，卻認為讀者接收訊息，並非只考量正確與否，不同信念的讀者，往往會各自選擇性的閱讀立場不同的傳媒訊息，以加強自己信念，而傳媒則基於「需求創造供給」，提供不同立場的報導。
例如，認為大企業執行長都是貪得無厭的讀者，可能就特別喜歡看這些公司高層醜聞的報導；敵視中國的讀者，可能就相信中國間諜在各地活動的新聞是真的。
早在一九三二年，心理學家巴特列（F. Bartlett）就發現，人們多只記得和自己信念一致的訊息，和自己信念不一致的訊息會被選擇性遺忘；之後也有研究發現「第三世界國家經濟崩潰的新聞，比其經濟成功的新聞傳布得更快。」這也許是多數讀者心中都有「第三世界國家經濟一敗塗地」的傳統印象，因此即使這些國家經濟有起色，也未能吸引讀者注意。
迎合讀者，相同訊息卻解讀各異
正因為讀者有這種傾向，因此傳媒就有可能「扭曲」（slant）部分報導來迎合讀者，所謂「扭曲」並不是無中生有，而是只挑特定資訊來描述，學者提出兩個實例：某次美國政府公布失業率由六．一％升高到六．三％，不同傳媒卻出現兩種報導：一是「衰退近在眼前，失業率走高，經濟學家高伯瑞（John K. Galbraith）稱這是當局政策失敗的明證。」另一篇卻是「經濟露出曙光，失業率未大幅攀升，高盛（Goldman Sachs）分析師柯恩（A. Cohen）稱經濟基本面良好。」
該研究認為，即使是傳媒產業仍是一個競爭市場，但若讀者群間有不同的信念，就會鼓勵傳媒迎合不同信念讀者的需要，進而提供特定立場的報導。
另外兩位經濟學家（Matthew Gentzkow、Jesse M. Shapiro）的實證研究〈What Drives Media Slant? Evidence from U.S. Daily Newspapers〉，也發現報紙發行量與其是否能迎合讀者的信念有關，他們發現美國偏袒共和黨的報紙，在共和黨居民占多數的地區發行量較高。
學者研究大型媒體企業；這些大企業旗下都有許多家傳媒，每家立場各自不同，結果發現讀者的政治傾向，對傳媒報導傾向的影響力達二○％，但企業主本身的政治傾向卻對其報導立場幾乎無影響。
不過對某些重大事件，有時傳媒也口徑一致的報導，以美國房地產市場來說，大約在二○○六年底時泡沫開始破裂，據資料庫搜尋系統Factiva統計全美前五十大報紙，早在二○○三年時，就有二百六十八篇報導談到房市泡沫，二○○四年增加到三百六十九篇，到二○○五年暴增到一千六百零八篇。
不過即使《華爾街日報》在二○○五年五月的民調顯示，有八一％讀者認為房市已泡沫化，但多數人還是認為「房市泡沫會繼續吹大，」最後那些相信房價會無限上漲者自然慘遭滅頂，這或許是讀者只接收傳媒特定立場訊息、拒絕接收房價已見頂資訊的後果，正如凱撒（Gaius Julius Caesar）的名言：「每個人都只看到自己想看的，沒人願意看到事實的全部。」
by Caroline Gammell
Two of Britain's best-known chefs are mounting a campaign to persuade people not to eat battery-reared chickens.
Jamie Oliver has made a television programme on the appalling conditions in which many of the birds live and hopes to encourage supermarkets to invest in better-treated birds such as free range or organic.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, his friend and fellow chef, has also made a series exposing the horrors of battery farming.
They hope their combined efforts will draw attention to the suffering of the birds and the poor quality of the meat.
In some supermarkets, entire chickens can be bought for as little as £2.50, while recent figures from the RSPCA showed that only five per cent of the birds in Britain were kept in high welfare conditions.
Oliver, who campaigned against unhealthy school dinners in 2005, examines the poultry industry in his one-off programme Jamie's Fowl Dinners on Channel 4 on Jan 11.
In front of invited guests, he will show a series of films and interviews explaining how the birds are killed and their brutal living conditions.
At one stage he examines the 39-day life of a battery-reared chicken and says: "It's disgusting, the smell is awful. Why would anyone want to eat these birds, who are walking in their own faeces."
Oliver's aim is to get rid of the cheapest chicken meat.
"My ambition is to change the 95 per cent of Britain eating standard chicken; to get them to step up to a better-welfare bird. I would say: buy British and buy the best welfare bird you can afford."
High-welfare birds are not necessarily free range or organic but they are given more space, a place to perch, better lighting and longer nights.
Oliver's campaigning success in the past has been formidable. His drive to rid school canteens of unhealthy food - Turkey Twizzlers were a particular target - led Tony Blair's Government to pledge an extra £280?million over three years to improve food standards.
In Fearnley-Whittingstall's three-part Hugh's Chicken Run, which is on Channel 4 starting on Jan 7, the chef tries to ensure that more than 50 per cent of chicken bought and eaten in his local town - Axminster in Devon - over the space of a week is free range.
That includes all curry houses, burger bars and pubs in the area.
In seeking to understand the nature of chicken farming, he rears his own battery chickens alongside free-range birds.
This week, the RSPCA urged shoppers to pay a little extra to ensure that the poultry they bought had been bred in decent conditions and called for retailers to sell only higher welfare chicken by 2010. Of the 855 million chickens reared for their meat in Britain every year, the majority are kept in cramped, dimly-lit spaces.
Marc Cooper, an RSPCA farm animal scientist, said: "If people knew how the average chicken was treated before it ended up as their Sunday roast, they would probably be disgusted."
© 2007 The Telegraph
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肉雞(meat chicken)：
3 week old chickens
These chickens are three weeks old. The build-up of faeces can contribute to the strong smell of ammonia in the sheds and result in breast blisters on some animals.
Lame chicken
These chickens are bred and fed to grow rapidly and are slaughtered before reaching maturity. Fast growth can sometimes result in health problems.
又是西藏議題，台灣人多注意一點。
政治就是這麼黑暗，利益與理想之間的平衡，就是永遠沒有平衡。
The leadership vacuum in Tibetan Buddhism is tipped by some Tibetologists to be filled by the Karmapa Lama, ranked third in the religion's hierarchy who followed in the Dalai Lama's footsteps and fled into exile in India in 2000.
Another candidate is Yabshi Pan Rinzinwangmo, daughter of the 10th Panchen Lama.
The Central Intelligence Agency trained and provided arms and radio equipment for Tibetan guerrillas fighting the People's Liberation Army from the 1950s to the 1960s, but pulled the plug in 1972 when then U.S. President Richard Nixon visited China.
But the possibility of Tibetans resuming guerrilla warfare in the post-Dalai Lama era is extremely remote without the backing of the United States.
Washington has been a vocal critic of China's human rights record and has urged Beijing to continue dialogue with the Dalai Lama. But it is also is counting on China's help in reining in a nuclear North Korea.
(Editing by Nick Macfie and David Fox)
原文出自：http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSPEK13660420080903?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0
2. The Dalai Lama, Tibet's political and spiritual leader, fled Tibet in 1959 to Dharamsala, India, followed by over 100,000 Tibetans and established the Tibetan Government-in Exile. In 1989, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for a steadfast dedication to non-violence.
3. Tibet, before occupation, was a nation with an established sovereign government, currency, postal system, language, legal system, and culture. Prior to 1950, the Tibetan government also signed treaties with foreign nations. The Chinese government claims that Tibet has always been part of China, yet its invasion of Tibet resembles imperialist aggression that China accuses other powers of exhibiting.
4. The "Tibetan Autonomous Region" (TAR) is not Tibet, nor is it autonomous. The Chinese government has divided historical Tibet into one region and several prefectures and counties, with the TAR encompassing only the central area and some eastern regions of Tibet.
5. The basic freedoms of speech, religion, and assembly are strictly limited, and arbitrary arrests continue. There are currently hundreds of political prisoners in Tibet, enduring a commonplace punishment of torture.
6. The Chinese government increasingly encourages Han Chinese to migrate to Tibet, offering them higher wages and other inducements. This policy is threatening the survival of Tibetan people. Tibetans are becoming a minority in the TAR. Yearly, thousands of Tibetans still flee from Tibet, making the treacherous journey over the Himalayas into a world of exile.
7. Historical Tibet was a vast country, with an area roughly equal to Western Europe. Tibet is the source of five of Asia's largest rivers, which provide water for two billion people. Tibet's fragile environment is endangered by Chinese strip-mining, nuclear waste dumping, and extensive deforestation.
8. The Chinese government claims to have “developed” Tibet, with “developments” mainly benefiting the new majority Chinese, not Tibetans. China, neglecting education and healthcare, has spent millions of dollars building infrastructure; many roads, buildings, and power plants directly support heavy militarization, allowing China to maintain Tibet as a police state.
9. The Chinese government aggressively seeks foreign investment for its “Go West” campaign, with use of these international funds to develop Tibet as a resource extraction colony and consolidate regional control. Foreign investments in Chinese companies legitimise China's colonisation and exploitative projects that harm Tibet.
10. The United Nations and international community have done very little to address the core issue of China’s illegal occupation of Tibet. China represents an enormous market and cheap labour force, and its associated businesses have such a strong lobby that officials are reluctant to take substantive measures. Since western countries adopted policies of so-called “constructive engagement” with China in the 1990s, the human rights situation in Tibet has only deteriorated.
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In March 2008, knowing the eyes of the world were on China in the run up to the Olympics, thousands of ordinary Tibetans made a courageous stand for freedom, taking to the streets in protest. The Chinese government's response was to throw all journalists and foreigners out of Tibet and bring in tens of thousands of troops to quash all demonstrations and hide the truth abbout Tibet from the critical eyes of the world.
The arrests continue, the torture continues, monks who dared to protest in March have not been seen since. As revealed by Free Tibet, monasteries are under 24-hour police surveillance and strict new measures are being introduced to punish monks and nuns who take part in "turbulent activities".
To find out more about the situation in Tibet, click here.
China analysts predict the unleashing of terrible retribution against Tibetans for destroying the Chinese government's carefully crafted myth that everything is harmonious within its borders.
China's leaders think the world will look away from Tibet, now that the Games have ended.
We must prove them wrong.
One women's tragedy story
During the March protests a 38-year-old woman was caught trying to remove a signboard from a government building. She was arrested and tortured during her detention. On her release she was denied medical treatment and died three weeks later from her injuries. She leaves four children behind.
