Whatever happened to the death of newspaper? A year ago the end seemed near. The recession threatened to remove the advertising and readers that had not already fled to the internet. Newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle were chronicling their own doom. America's Federal Trade commission launched a round of talks about how to save newspapers. Should they become charitable corporations? Should the state subsidize them? It will hold another meeting soon. But the discussions now seem out of date.
什么事情导致了报纸行业死亡？一年前，报纸的终结似乎就要来临。经济衰退让那些尚未转投互联网的广告商和读者开始动摇。新闻报纸比如旧金山纪事报当时就在把自己的厄运编档入案。美国的联邦贸易委员会多次讨论如何拯救报纸行业。他们应该成为慈善公司吗？国家应该资助这些报纸行业吗？下一轮会议马上就要召开。但这种讨论已经过时了。
In much of the world there is little sign of crisis. German and Brazilian papers shrugged off the recession. Even American newspapers, which inhabit the most troubled corner of the global industry, have not only survived but often returned to profit. Not the 20% profit margins that were routine a few years ago, but profit all the same.
放眼全球报业，危机的征兆不明显。德国和巴西的报纸行业对危机不屑一顾。即使是栖身于全球经济最混乱角落的美国报纸也不仅幸存了下来，并重新开始盈利，虽然利润率不是几年前惯常的20%，但不管怎样至少现在有钱可赚。
It has not been much fun. Many papers stayed afloat by pushing journalists overboard. The American Society of News Editors reckons that 13,500 newsroom jobs have gone since 2007. Readers are paying more for slimmer products. Some papers even had the nerve to refuse delivery to distant suburbs. Yet these desperate measures have proved the right ones and, sadly for many journalists, they can be pushed further.
虽然情况好转，却不可过于乐观。许多报纸通过裁减记者渡过难关。据美国新闻编辑协会统计，2007年（全美）报社编辑职位缩减了13500。报纸售价上调，但提供的服务却在减少。一些报纸甚至下决心取消了偏远乡村的报纸配送业务。这些孤注一掷的措施发挥了效果，也让报社敢于采取更加极端的办法，这对于许多记者来说并不是好消息。
Newspapers are becoming more balanced businesses, with a healthier mix of revenues from readers and advertisers. American papers have long been highly unusual in their reliance on ads. Fully 87% of their revenues came from advertising in 2008, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation And Development (OECD). In Japan the proportion is 35%. Not surprisingly, Japanese newspapers are much more stable.
随着报业广告收益和发行收益结构更为合理，报业的运营日趋平衡。长期以来，美国报业畸形发展，过于依赖广告收益。经济合作与发展组织称：2008年，美国报业87%的利润来自广告。而同期日本的比例为35%。理所应当，日本报业更为稳定。
The whirlwind that swept through newsrooms harmed everybody, but much of the damage has been concentrated in areas where newspaper are least distinctive. Car and film reviewers have gone. So have science and general business reporters. Foreign bureaus have been savagely cut off. Newspapers are less complete as a result. But completeness is no longer a virtue in the newspaper business.
这场（人事调整的）旋风席卷编辑部，无人幸免。报社中最不具特色的部门损失惨重。汽车和电影评论员黯然离开，科学和普通商业新闻记者也未能幸免，驻外办事处被无情的精减，这使得报纸变得不那么全面完整了。但全面完整已不再被视作报业的一种优秀品质。