喬治?奧斯本的“新聞復(fù)仇戰(zhàn)”

Pride of place above George Osborne’s new desk at the Evening Standard is a front page from his first day as editor. “Brussels twists the knife”, the paper’s headline declares, reflecting Theresa May’s turmoil over the UK’s Brexit negotiations with the EU.

喬治•奧斯本(George Osborne)在《旗幟晚報(bào)》(Evening Standard)新辦公桌的顯眼位置上，擺著他擔(dān)任主編首日該報(bào)的頭版。頭條標(biāo)題上寫(xiě)著，《布魯塞爾落井下石》(Brussels twists the knife)，反映了特里薩•梅(Theresa May)與歐盟的英國(guó)脫歐談判陷入混亂。

Six weeks on and following a disastrous election for the prime minister, who unceremoniously dumped Mr Osborne in the wake of Brexit, it is the former chancellor who has been turning the knife, using the platform of one of Westminster’s most widely read papers to exact his revenge.

6周過(guò)去了，脫歐公投后毫不客氣地炒掉了奧斯本的梅也已經(jīng)歷了一場(chǎng)災(zāi)難性的大選，現(xiàn)在是這位前財(cái)政大臣在落井下石，利用英國(guó)政府中閱讀最廣泛的報(bào)紙之一作為平臺(tái)，實(shí)施自己的復(fù)仇。

“A dead woman walking,” was how Mr Osborne described Mrs May on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show last Sunday, as the prime minister attempted to tie up a deal with the DUP, a unionist party in Northern Ireland, to secure a parliamentary majority.

“一具仍在行走的女尸”，不久前奧斯本在英國(guó)廣播公司(BBC)《安德魯•馬爾秀》(Andrew Marr Show)上如是形容梅，這位首相正試圖與北愛(ài)的民主聯(lián)盟黨(DUP)達(dá)成協(xié)議，以使她能在下議院獲得多數(shù)議席。

With rival papers full of stories of Tory plotting against Mrs May, how long does he think she can hold on?

對(duì)手報(bào)紙滿(mǎn)篇都在講保守黨密謀反對(duì)梅，那么他認(rèn)為她能堅(jiān)持多久呢?

“She is now very weak at a time when the country needs leadership,” Mr Osborne said in his first newspaper interview since taking up the new role.

奧斯本在履新后首次接受報(bào)紙采訪時(shí)表示：“眼下正是國(guó)家需要領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的時(shí)候，而她現(xiàn)在極端無(wú)力。”

“It’s either up to her to demonstrate that she can provide that leadership or someone else will. You do, at the moment, have this government that is in office but not in power.”

“要么她自己證明她能提供這種領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力，要么別人會(huì)證明。目前這屆政府雖然在位，但并不當(dāng)權(quán)。”

There is no mistaking that Mr Osborne is relishing his new life in newspapers. While the FT awaits his return from the newsroom, where he is just sending the day’s first edition, one journalist brings in proofs of next week’s magazine for the editor’s approval.

毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，奧斯本在報(bào)界煥發(fā)新生。當(dāng)英國(guó)《金融時(shí)報(bào)》記者等候他從新聞編輯室返回時(shí)——他在那里發(fā)送當(dāng)日?qǐng)?bào)紙的第一版——一位記者拿來(lái)了請(qǐng)他批準(zhǔn)的下周雜志的校樣。

When Mr Osborne arrives, he proudly displays that day’s front page on his smartphone, which carries details of the £2m the paper has raised for victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

奧斯本回來(lái)時(shí)，自豪地用自己的智能手機(jī)展示了當(dāng)天的頭版，上面刊登了該報(bào)為格倫費(fèi)爾大樓(Grenfell Tower)火災(zāi)受害者籌集的200萬(wàn)英鎊的詳情。

“An amazing response,” he says, adding: “The Evening Standard has a role as the paper of the city and has the ability to bring the city together in moments of tragedy.”

他說(shuō)：“多么驚人的響應(yīng)?！镀鞄猛韴?bào)》身為這座城市的報(bào)紙，有能力在悲劇時(shí)刻將這座城市團(tuán)結(jié)起來(lái)。”

But after a life spent in politics, many critics argue the man once tipped to take over from former prime minister David Cameron at Number 10, is bending one of the country’s great newspapers to his own political will.

許多評(píng)論家認(rèn)為奧斯本一度有望從前首相戴維•卡梅倫(David Cameron)手里接過(guò)唐寧街10號(hào)。但經(jīng)過(guò)一段政壇生涯后，這個(gè)男人正讓英國(guó)最偉大的報(bào)紙之一服從于其個(gè)人政治意愿。

An analysis by the newspaper industry’s weekly magazine Press Gazette found that in Mr Osborne’s first month in charge the paper’s front page was overwhelmingly negative about the Tories. The magazine’s editor, Dominic Ponsford, nevertheless concluded that it has made “compulsive reading”.

據(jù)報(bào)刊行業(yè)周刊《Press Gazette》分析發(fā)現(xiàn)，奧斯本接手《旗幟晚報(bào)》后的第一個(gè)月，其頭版充斥著關(guān)于保守派的負(fù)面報(bào)道?！禤ress Gazette》主編多米尼克•邦斯福德(Dominic Ponsford)認(rèn)為這是“強(qiáng)制閱讀”。

So, is he just out for revenge?

那么他只是為了復(fù)仇嗎?

“I’m trying to edit this paper as the editor of the Evening Standard not as the ex-chancellor of the exchequer,” he replies diplomatically. “I actually voted for Theresa May to be leader of the Conservative party.”

奧斯本回以外交辭令：“我正努力以《旗幟晚報(bào)》主編的身份、而不是前財(cái)政大臣的身份編輯這份報(bào)紙。實(shí)際上我投票支持了特里薩•梅擔(dān)任保守黨領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人。”

But one only needs to read the scathing series of leader columns the Standard has published throughout the election and its aftermath to understand Mr Osborne’s views.

但人們只要讀過(guò)《旗幟晚報(bào)》社評(píng)專(zhuān)欄在整個(gè)大選期間以及之后發(fā)表的尖銳點(diǎn)評(píng)，就能了解奧斯本的觀點(diǎn)。

A week before polling day, the paper launched a devastating attack on the Conservative campaign, arguing it had “meandered from an abortive attempt to launch a personality cult around Mrs May to the self-inflicted wound of the most disastrous manifesto in recent history”.

在投票日前一周，《旗幟晚報(bào)》對(duì)保守黨陣營(yíng)發(fā)起了猛烈攻擊，稱(chēng)對(duì)方“先是企圖發(fā)起對(duì)梅的個(gè)人崇拜，失敗后又發(fā)表了近期歷史上最災(zāi)難性的宣言，不啻于自殘。”

“The leaders are a team effort,” he says, with a mischievous smile. “But let’s say I am taking a close interest.” The former chancellor has also become a prolific tweeter, rallying his following of 214,000 to promote the paper’s front pages and articles.

奧斯本狡黠地笑道：“這些社評(píng)文章是團(tuán)隊(duì)的結(jié)晶。但可以說(shuō)我非常關(guān)注。”這位前財(cái)政大臣也成了個(gè)多產(chǎn)的Twitter發(fā)帖者，利用他的21.4萬(wàn)名關(guān)注者推廣《旗幟晚報(bào)》的頭版及內(nèi)容文章。

Is he responsible for everything that’s posted? “Oh, yes. No one else is allowed near my Twitter account. That would be inviting a disaster.”

他對(duì)發(fā)布的所有內(nèi)容負(fù)責(zé)嗎?“噢，是的。我的Twitter賬戶(hù)不允許任何人插手。否則將招致一場(chǎng)災(zāi)難。”

Mr Osborne’s abrupt career move in March — he was still an MP for Tatton at the time and only stood down once the snap election was called — startled both Fleet Street and Westminister. Journalists sniped that he would be exposed by his lack of editorial experience.

奧斯本今年3月突如其來(lái)的職業(yè)變動(dòng)——他當(dāng)時(shí)仍是塔頓(Tatton)選區(qū)議員，只是在梅宣布提前選舉后才去職——震驚了艦隊(duì)街(Fleet Street，英國(guó)新聞界的代稱(chēng)——譯者注)和威斯敏斯特。記者們冷言冷語(yǔ)地表示，缺乏編輯經(jīng)驗(yàn)很快將讓他出丑。

He now confesses to having had doubts.

現(xiàn)在，他承認(rèn)自己有過(guò)懷疑。

“When I turned up at the beginning of May I didn’t really know if this was going to work for me and work for the newspaper,” he says. “I confidently asserted I could do the job but I didn’t know. And I didn’t know if I was going to enjoy it or feel if I had made a wrong move.

“當(dāng)我在5月初來(lái)到這里的時(shí)候，我不確定自己能不能行，能否為這份報(bào)紙效力，”他說(shuō)，“我自信地聲稱(chēng)能勝任這份工作，但實(shí)際上我并不知道。我不知道自己將會(huì)享受這份工作，還是會(huì)覺(jué)得自己做了錯(cuò)誤之舉。”

“Within 24 hours I was thinking I had definitely done the right thing. I was not ready aged 46, to just sort of retire or live off the fact I was the ex-chancellor or spend the rest of my life giving speeches about what I did when I was 40 years old.”

“不到24小時(shí)，我就覺(jué)得自己絕對(duì)是做了正確的事。我才46歲，還沒(méi)有準(zhǔn)備好退休，或是依靠自己曾擔(dān)任過(guò)財(cái)政大臣這件事為生，或者在余生中發(fā)表演講，講述我在40歲時(shí)做了些什么。”

Still, Mr Osborne is not ruling out a political comeback: “It was odd covering it [the election] from a newsroom. Having run two general elections, I was conscious of this; ‘do I want to be there on the podium?’

然而，奧斯本并沒(méi)有排除在政治上東山再起：“在新聞編輯室報(bào)道它(大選)有點(diǎn)怪怪的。在參加過(guò)兩次大選之后，我意識(shí)到這一點(diǎn);‘我真的想呆在政治舞臺(tái)上嗎?’”

“I reflected; ‘no I don’t’. So I don’t miss it, I don’t yearn for it, I’m not looking for a return. I don’t rule it out but that’s more because I think it’s silly to say you will never do something in the future.”

“我開(kāi)始反思;‘不，我不想’。所以，我不懷念，我不渴望，也不期待回歸。我不排除回歸的可能，但這更多是因?yàn)槲艺J(rèn)為，說(shuō)自己未來(lái)永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)做某事很傻。”

But with newspapers facing an uncertain future as readers and advertisers shift online, even a Westminster career might be a safer bet.

但隨著讀者和廣告商轉(zhuǎn)向網(wǎng)絡(luò)，報(bào)紙正面臨著不確定的未來(lái)，即使留在威斯敏斯特從政或許都是一個(gè)更保險(xiǎn)的賭注。

Mr Osborne says he “has a pretty stable budget” and that the Standard, which is handed out free across the capital and almost entirely reliant on print advertising revenues, is “bucking the trend”. Since Mr Osborne took charge circulation has increased by nearly 3 per cent to over 900,000 a day.

奧斯本表示，他“有一份相當(dāng)穩(wěn)定的預(yù)算”，而且《旗幟晚報(bào)》——在整個(gè)首都免費(fèi)發(fā)放，幾乎完全依賴(lài)印刷廣告收入——正“逆勢(shì)而上”。自?shī)W斯本上任以來(lái)，日發(fā)行量增加了近3%，至90多萬(wàn)份。

While his arrival has energised the newspaper, the jump in readers may also reflect an extraordinary run of big news stories — including the election, two terror attacks and the Grenfell Tower disaster.

雖然他的到來(lái)給這份報(bào)紙帶來(lái)了活力，但讀者的激增或許還是因?yàn)樵搱?bào)對(duì)大新聞事件的密集報(bào)道，包括此次大選、兩次恐怖襲擊和格倫費(fèi)爾大樓火災(zāi)。

The concerns about Mr Osborne’s politics and conflicts of interest (he remains a £650,000 a year adviser to BlackRock, the asset management firm) are likely to persist. So, too, will his insistence that he is studiously determined to edit the paper for its readers and in line with his liberally open and business-friendly values.

對(duì)奧斯本的政治活動(dòng)及利益沖突的擔(dān)憂(yōu)(他仍擔(dān)任資產(chǎn)管理公司貝萊德(BlackRock)的顧問(wèn)，年薪65萬(wàn)英鎊)很可能會(huì)一直存在。同樣，他很可能會(huì)一直堅(jiān)稱(chēng)，他將堅(jiān)決按照他秉持的自由開(kāi)放和商業(yè)友好的價(jià)值觀為讀者編輯報(bào)紙。

“I don’t want the Evening Standard to be a nasty paper,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be vindictive or personal or unpleasant about individuals. You are not going to get pictures of celebrities with cellulite on the beach.”

“我不希望《旗幟晚報(bào)》變成一份令人討厭的報(bào)紙，”他說(shuō)，“不需要報(bào)復(fù)，個(gè)人化，或是對(duì)誰(shuí)不滿(mǎn)。你不會(huì)看到社會(huì)名流在海灘暴露脂肪的照片。”