评论
打印
There's a quote usually attributed to the writer Mark Twain that goes,
有一句名言常被引用，据说是作家马克·吐温说的，
'A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.'
“当真相还在穿鞋的时候，谣言就已经跑遍半个地球。”
Funny thing about that.
多好笑的事情啊！
There's reason to doubt that Mark Twain ever said this at all, thus, ironically, proving the point.
对马克·吐温到底曾否说过这句话做怀疑是有道理的，很讽刺地，这样讲倒也有道理在。
And today, the quote, whoever said it, is truer than ever before.
而且今天，该引言，以前不论是谁所说，要比过往任何时刻更加真切。
In previous decades, most media with global reach consisted of several major newspapers and networks
几十年前，掌握全球性影响力的媒体是几家主流的报纸商和广播公司，
which had the resources to gather information directly.
它们有直接获得第一手资料的渠道。
Outlets like Reuters and the Associated Press that aggregate or rereport stories were relatively rare compared to today.
像是路透社、美联社等汇集或报道新闻的传播机构，相比起今天来说要少见得多。
The speed with which information spreads now
现今信息传播所用的速度，
has created the ideal conditions for a phenomenon known as circular reporting.
大大促成了循环报道这种现象的发生。
This is when publication A publishes misinformation, publication B reprints it,
举例来说，A出版商报道了一个错误消息，B出版商重抄了这则报道，
and publication A then cites B as the source for the information.
然后A又引用B作为消息的来源。
It's also considered a form of circular reporting when multiple publications report on the same initial piece of false information,
另一种循环报道则是多家出版商都引述报道一篇有误的资讯，
which then appears to another author as having been verified by multiple sources.
让后来其他写作者以为此篇文章被许多其他的出版物引用。
For instance, the 1998 publication of a single pseudoscientific paper
例如，1998年发表的一篇伪科学文章，
arguing that routine vaccination of children causes autism inspired an entire antivaccination movement,
指出对幼儿例行施打疫苗会导致自闭症，随即引发了一波反疫苗的抗争，
despite the fact that the original paper has repeatedly been discredited by the scientific community.
但其实自始至终科学界都对原文的内容存疑。
Deliberately unvaccinated children are now contracting contagious diseases
刻意不接种疫苗的儿童现在感染了接触传染病，
that had been virtually eradicated in the United States, with some infections proving fatal.
这类传染病早在美国绝迹，其中不乏会致死的严重病疫。
In a slightly less dire example,
在一个稍微不是太严重的案例里，
satirical articles that are formatted to resemble real ones can also be picked up by outlets not in on the joke.
架构得类似真实文章的讽刺文章，同样可以被看不出笑话的传播机构挑选出来。
For example, a joke article in the reputable British Medical Journal entitled
一篇刊登在著名的《英国医学期刊》上的不严肃文章，
'Energy Expenditure in Adolescents Playing New Generation Computer Games,'
标题为：“青少年花在打新世代电脑游戏的能量消耗”，
has been referenced in serious science publications over 400 times.
竟被许多正规的科学出版刊物引用不下400次。
User-generated content, such as wikis, are also a common contributer to circular reporting.
使用者可以自由撰写內容的网站--如维基百科，也是导致循环报道的元凶之一。
As more writers come to rely on such pages for quick information,
越来越多作者依赖像维基这类的网页快速获取资讯，
an unverified fact in a wiki page can make its way into a published article
一些未经证实的讯息也因此流入了出版刊物中，
that may later be added as a citation for the very same wiki information, making it much harder to debunk.
而这些存于出版刊物中的错误又再次被维基百科的使用者引述，让真相更扑朔迷离。
Recent advances in communication technology
当今通讯科技的进步，
have had immeasurable benefits in breaking down the barriers between information and people.
大大帮助了人们打破资讯与人之间的鸿沟。
But our desire for quick answers may overpower the desire to be certain of their validity.
我们一心想快速得到答案，却往往忽视了真相的重要性。
And when this bias can be multiplied by billions of people around the world, nearly instantaneously, more caution is in order.
当这种偏见可以被全世界数十亿人放大时，我们就该更加谨慎了。
Avoiding sensationalist media, searching for criticisms of suspicious information, and tracing the original source of a report
不要轻信喜欢夸大其辞的媒体，寻找对可疑资讯的评论，追查报道的来源，
can help slow down a lie, giving the truth more time to put on its shoes.
可以暂缓谎言蔓延的速度，给真相多一点时间让它穿好鞋。
