Whatever happened to the silly season?
今年的新闻饥荒期是怎么回事?
You
know,
that
time
of
the
year
when
the
wisdom
of
the
1
st
century
poet
Horace
is
adopted
by
news
editors,
新闻饥荒期,众所周知,就是每年记者们对公元1世纪的诗人贺拉斯说过的一句至理名言进行实践的一段时期。
"
Mix
a
little
foolishness
with
your
serious
plans,
it's
lovely
to
be
silly
at
the
right
moment".
"在你认真的计划里添加一些愚笨,在恰当的时候装糊涂是蛮可爱的。"
I
was
speaking
to
a
national
Sunday
newspaper
journalist
this
week
who
admitted
that
the
choice
of
Prime
Minister's
holiday
footwear
was
struggling
to
get
its
usual
coverage
this
year.
这周我和一家行销全国的周报的记者聊天时他说道今年首相度假穿的鞋子不能获得以往规模的版面了。
The
Olympics
had
got
in
the
way
for
a
start.
首先来抢版面的是奥运会,
And
since
then
there
has
been
a
constant
drip
feed
of
diplomatic
wrangles,
train
fares
and
franchises,
university
places
and
heinous
crimes.
之后是断断续续的关于外交纠纷、车费、商业授权、高校校区和几起重罪案件的报道。
It's
hardly
what
the
Americans
call
"
the
slow
news
season"
or,
much
more
dramatically
in
France, "
la
saison
morte",
the
dead
season.
以往这段时期被美国人称为"新闻淡季",而法国报界更是死气沉沉。但是今年情况有所不同。
One
of
the
great
advantages
of
times
like
this
if
the
traditional
silly
season
has
kicked
in,
is
that
the
usual
and
relentless
rhythm
of
life
is
positively
disturbed.
每年如果"新闻饥荒期"到了会有一个好处,那就是它会良性地打断我们一成不变的生活节奏。
Perhaps
more
than
ever,
in
a
24
hours
news
culture
we
need
those
moments
in
the
year,
the
period
between
Christmas
and
New
Year
is
another,
when
we
can
pause
a
little.
在如今24小时的新闻文化中,也许我们比以往任何时候都更需要一段那样的时期来歇一歇。圣诞节到新年期间也是一段这样的时期。
In
the
very
first
chapter
of
the
first
book
of
the
Bible
we
are
told
categorically
that
there
is
a
right
time
to
pause
and
to
reflect.
We
work,
we
go
about
our
business,
《圣经》第一卷第一章就明确告诉我们,有时我们需要停下来反省片刻。我们工作,我们处理日常,
but
equally
important
is
that
time
of
the
day
and
of
the
year
when
we
should
quite
simply
be
more
reflective
and
to
take
stock.
但同样重要的是,一天当中或一年当中我们有时间去思考,反省,进行自我提高。
This
is
a
recurring
theme,
again
and
again,
in
the
Wisdom
literature,
be
still,
reflect,
pause,
stop
it.
这是一个永恒的主题。在智慧文学中它一次又一次地出现--静下心来,反思,暂停,然后回归正常!
This
understanding
of
human
beings
needing
contrasting
times
of
activity
and
non-
activity
has
always
been
my
spiritual
argument
for
one
day
in
the
week
to
be
different
from
all
the
others.
我一直努力让一周中的一天与其他的日子有所不同。因为知道人类需要有两种相对的状态--静止与活动。
Whilst
the
commercial
reasoning
in
the
depths
of
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