Whatever happened to the death of newspapers? A year ago the end seemed near

游客2023-09-06  31

问题     Whatever happened to the death of newspapers? 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 talks about how to save newspapers. Should they become charitable corporations? Should the state subsidise (补贴) them? It will hold another meeting soon. But the discussions now seem out of date.
    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.
    It has not been much fun. Many papers stayed out of debt or difficulties by laying journalists off. 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.
    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 & Development (OECD). In Japan the proportion is 35%. Not surprisingly, Japanese newspapers are much more stable.
    The whirlwind that swept through newsrooms harmed everybody, but much of the damage has been concentrated in areas where newspapers 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.
    It is grim to forecast still more writers losing their jobs. But whether newspapers are thrown onto doorsteps or distributed digitally, they need to deliver something that is distinctive. New technologies like Apple’s iPad only make this more true. The mere acquisition of a smooth block of metal and glass does not magically persuade people that they should start paying for news. They will pay for news if they think it has value. Newspapers need to focus relentlessly (持续地) on that. [br] Some newspapers refused delivery to distant suburbs probably because______.

选项 A、readers threatened to pay less
B、newspapers wanted to reduce costs
C、journalists reported little about these areas
D、subscribers complained about slimmer products

答案 B

解析 根据题干中的refused delivery to distant suburbs将本题出处定位到第3段倒数第2句。题干是对该句的信息复现,原因可以从上下文中找。前面提到,报纸裁员,读者正为更薄的新闻产品支付更多的钱。很显然,这些都是报业为了节约成本而采取的措施。定位处有even强调,说明有的报纸拒绝向边远郊区投递也是为了减少开支(reduce costs),故答案为[B]。[A]和[D]是对Readers are paying more for slimmer products的错误理解,[C]的信息在文中未提到。
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