紐時賞析／凱特王妃罹癌…王室記者籲媒體「住手」 但謠言仍未消失

英國威爾斯王妃凱薩琳日前揭露她正在對抗癌症。美聯社

In Britain, Tabloids Held Back for Once, But It Didn’t Matter.

英小報終於放過王室一次 但情況沒變

Days before Catherine, Princess of Wales, ended the wild speculation over her absence from public life by revealing that she is battling cancer, a top royal journalist appeared on British national television and delivered a stark message to the media: Knock it off.

英國威爾斯王妃凱薩琳揭露她正在對抗癌症、結束人們對她缺席公衆活動瘋狂猜測的幾天前，一名頂尖王室記者出現在英國全國性電視臺，向媒體傳達一個直白訊息：住手。

“I think everyone just needs to give her a little bit of space,” Roya Nikkhah, royal editor of The Sunday Times of London, said on “Good Morning Britain.”

「週日泰晤士報」王室新聞主編蘿亞．妮卡在「早安英國」表示：「我認爲每個人都需要給她一點空間。」

The idea of an editor at a Rupert Murdoch-owned publication scolding other journalists for nosiness may strike some as a bit rich. After all, London newspapers pioneered the celebri-fication of the House of Windsor, famously hounding the previous Princess of Wales, Diana, and exposing the most microscopic details of her and her children’s private lives.

梅鐸旗下一個刊物的編輯斥責其他記者好管閒事，可能會讓一些人覺得有點可笑。畢竟，倫敦的報紙率先將溫莎王室明星化，對前一個威爾斯王妃黛安娜緊迫盯人，揭露她和她的孩子們私生活極小的細節。

In the case of Catherine’s recent whereabouts, however, the British press largely showed an unusual level of restraint.

然而，關於凱薩琳近期動向，英國媒體多半展現很不尋常的剋制。

Yes, they reported on the frenzy of rumors, but mostly in the guise of scolding social media users for spreading conspiracies. When the American outlet TMZ obtained a paparazzi photo of Catherine, who is also known as Kate, and her mother in a car, the London papers unanimously declined to publish it.

沒錯，他們報導了瘋狂的謠言，但都以斥責社羣媒體用戶散播陰謀論來包裝。美國娛樂新聞TMZ取得狗仔隊拍到一張也被稱爲凱特的凱薩琳和其母親在車上的照片，倫敦報紙一致拒刊。

And once Kate’s cancer was revealed, British media were quick to assail their counterparts across the pond, accusing American tabloids and media figures of recklessly amplifying the more outlandish rumors.

此外，凱特罹癌消息公佈後，英國媒體隨即抨擊大西洋彼岸同業，指控美國小報和媒體人物不顧後果地放大更古怪的謠言。

The royal family and Fleet Street are a pair of British institutions whose fates and fortunes have long been entwined — and they are facing similar challenges in the new media age.

英國王室和報界，是一對命運和際遇長久交織的英國機構，而且他們在新媒體時代面臨類似挑戰。

Gatekeepers who once controlled the official flow of information — be it palace press secretaries or tabloid editors — are increasingly powerless against the online tide. When it was first revealed that Kate had undergone abdominal surgery, Kensington Palace declared that it would not offer further updates about her condition. Britain’s royal correspondents, who have a long-term relationship with the future king and queen to worry about, mostly abided by that directive.

曾經控制官方資訊流通的守門人，無論是英國王室發言人還是小報編輯，面對網路浪潮日益無力。凱特接受腹部手術消息首度發佈時，肯辛頓宮宣佈，不會提供她身體狀況的進一步更新訊息。英國的王室記者顧及與未來國王和王后的長期關係，大多遵守這項指示。

But both camps were flummoxed by the rampant misinformation that spread on the internet. The tabloids that once led the way in royal sensationalism — and are still grappling with a long-running phone hacking scandal — were now helpless to shut it down. And palace officials, reluctant to compromise Kate’s privacy, mistakenly believed the rumors would fizzle out.

然而，兩個陣營都對網際網路上氾濫的假消息不知所措。曾經引領英國王室煽情報導的小報，正努力應對長期存在的電話竊聽醜聞，現在無力阻止這些假消息。王室官員不願透露凱特隱私，錯誤認爲謠言會逐漸消失。

The result was a narrative driven by online chatter that spun out of the traditional gatekeepers’ control.

結果就是一個由線上聊天推動的敘事，脫離傳統守門人的控制。

文／Michael M. Grynbaum 譯／羅方妤