譯/王麗娟
One evening in mid-September, a gaggle of writers and bon vivant editors gathered by the outdoor fireplace and ivy-covered trellis of a West Village tavern. Steak was served, and the toasts lasted late into the night, the revelry trickling out to the nearby sidewalk.
It could have been a scene from the Jazz Age heyday of the Manhattan magazine set — or even the 1990s, when glossy monthlies still soaked up millions of dollars in advertising revenue, and editors in chauffeured town cars told the nation what to wear, what to watch and who to read.
九月中旬的一個夜晚，在西村的一家小酒館，一群作家和喜歡享受生活的編輯們聚集在一個室外壁爐和常春藤覆蓋的格狀架子旁。牛排上桌後，眾人杯觥交錯直到深夜，歡鬧聲流瀉到鄰近的人行道上。
這幕場景可能來自爵士時代曼哈坦雜誌業全盛時期，甚至是90年代，以亮光紙印刷的月刊還是廣告收入淹腳目，編輯們坐在司機駕駛的豪華轎車內，告訴全國該穿些什麼、欣賞什麼、閱讀什麼人的年頭。
This night, however, had an elegiac tinge. The staff of Vanity Fair was saluting the magazine's longtime editor, Graydon Carter, who had announced that he was departing after a 25-year run. In the back garden of Carter's restaurant, the Waverly Inn, star writers like James Wolcott and Marie Brenner spoke of their gratitude and grief.
Carter has always had a knack for trends. Within two weeks, three other prominent editors — from Time, Elle and Glamour — announced that they, too, would be stepping down. Another titan of the industry, Jann S. Wenner, said he planned to sell his controlling stake in Rolling Stone after a half-century.
不過，這一晚透著一種悲傷的況味。《浮華世界》的員工正向雜誌的長期總編輯葛雷登．卡特致敬。卡特在任職25年後，宣布即將離職。在卡特自家餐廳「韋佛利餐廳」的後花園中，一些明星作家如詹姆士．沃科特、瑪麗．布倫納都表達了他們的謝意和感傷。
卡特一向走在趨勢前端。不出兩星期，又有3位知名雜誌總編，分別是《時代》、《ELLE她》、《魅力》的總編也宣布準備下台。另一個業界巨頭，《滾石》創刊人詹恩．溫納則表示，打算出售他在《滾石》已保有半個世紀的控制性持股。
Suddenly, it seemed, long-standing predictions about the collapse of magazines had come to pass.
Magazines have sputtered for years, their monopoly on readers and advertising erased by Facebook, Google and more nimble online competitors. But editors and executives said the abrupt churn in the senior leadership ranks signaled that the romance of the business was now yielding to financial realities.
突然之間，長久來有關雜誌業終將崩潰的預言，似乎成真了。
雜誌業步履蹣跚已有多年，雜誌對讀者和廣告的壟斷遭到臉書、谷歌和更靈活的網路競爭對手侵奪。編輯和高管表示，高階領導階層的突然異動，說明這一行業的羅曼史正向財務現實低頭。
As publishers grasp for new revenue streams, a "try-anything" approach has taken hold. Time Inc. has a new streaming TV show, "Paws & Claws," that features viral videos of animals. Hearst started a magazine with the online rental service Airbnb. Increasingly, the longtime core of the business — the print product — is an afterthought, overshadowed by investments in live events, podcasts, video, and partnerships with outside brands.
The changes represent one of the most fundamental shifts in decades for a business that long relied on a simple formula: glossy volumes thick with high-priced ads.
"Sentimentality is probably the biggest enemy for the magazine business," David Carey, president of Hearst Magazines, said in an interview. "You have to embrace the future."
隨著發行人尋找新的收入來源，「無所不試」的作法開始出現。時代公司因此有了新的串流電視節目《寵物》，主要播出網路瘋傳的動物影片。赫斯特集團與網路出租服務公司Airbnb合辦了一份雜誌。但是雜誌業長久以來的核心─紙本產品卻越來越像後來才添加的產品，對於現場直播、播客、影片的投資，以及和外面品牌的合作關係，都讓紙本產品黯然失色。
這些變化代表這一行出現了數十年來最根本的轉變，而這個行業一向仰賴一個簡單公式存活，光鮮亮麗的書冊和滿滿的高價廣告。
赫斯特雜誌集團總裁大衛．凱里受訪時說：「多愁善感恐怕是雜誌業最大的敵人。你必須迎向未來。」
說文解字看新聞
文/張佑生
本文從標題就玩文字遊戲，glossy magazine是用高級亮光紙印刷、照片很多的雜誌，通常是時尚雜誌，但雜誌的前途並不怎麼光明（not so glossy）。
作者先描寫雜誌編輯與作家觥籌交錯的景象，讓人彷彿置身在爵士年代的雜誌全盛期（heyday）。狄更斯小說《荒涼山莊》（Bleak House）對戴洛克夫人（Lady Dedlock）的描述很有意思：She has beauty still, and if it be not in its heyday, it is not yet in its autumn.
廣告收入日進斗金；soak up接金錢或資源時一定是很大的數量。筆鋒隨即一轉，原來是餞別，歡宴帶有淡淡哀愁（elegiac tinge）。雖源自elegy（輓歌），但elegiac的原因未必是死別，也可能是生離。透過對比，雜誌的前景更顯悲涼。
沒有留言:
張貼留言