中國央視頻道對美開播
Hot button issues such as US-China tensions, the valuation of the renminbi and China's veto of a UN resolution on Syria are likely to dominate US television networks as China's vice-president begins his visit to Washington.
隨着中國國家副主席習近平展開訪美之旅，中美間的緊張情緒、人民幣匯率以及中國否決聯合國有關敘利亞問題的決議草案等熱門話題，很可能成爲美國電視網絡的關注焦點。
But at the weekend, Beijing started serving US citizens its own side of the story, as China Central Television, the national broadcaster, launched US-produced programming.
而在上週末，中國中央電視臺(CCTV)開始在美國播出其在當地製作的節目，從而開始向美國民衆傳達中國的聲音。
The Heat, a political talk show that aired for the first time on Saturday night, focused on Xi Jinping's stopover in Iowa tomorrow, highlighting the low unemployment rate in the Midwestern state, as its agricultural exports to China soar, and praising Mr Xi's "sense of kinship with the people of Iowa", where he spent a week in 1985.
上週六晚間首次播出的政治訪談類節目“熱點”(The Heat)，重點關注習近平明日將在愛荷華州作的短暫停留。節目重點談及這個美國中西部州對華農業產品的出口飆升，讓它保持了較低的失業率。節目還稱許了習近平對愛荷華州民衆的親近感——他曾在1985年對愛荷華州進行了爲期一週的訪問。
CCTV America, which operates out of a Washington studio and has hired more than 60 international staff, is the latest step in Beijing's efforts to make its voice heard abroad. Four months ago, the ruling Communist party reiterated its determination to increase its global "soft power" as it feels China is not presented objectively in a world dominated by western media.
成立CCTV北美分臺(CCTV America)，是中國政府努力在海外傳播自己聲音的最新舉措。這家分臺在華盛頓擁有一座新聞中心，聘請了逾60位國際員工。四個月前，中共重申提升全球“軟實力”的決心，它認爲在一個由西方媒體主宰的世界裏，中國沒有得到客觀的報道。
It is a problem Beijing has been trying to tackle for years. But much like its economic reforms, the effort has been led by experimentation. CCTV has been expanding its broadcasts in English and a handful of other foreign languages since 2009, but realised that only moving production overseas could give its programmes the necessary standards and credibility.
這是中國政府多年來一直試圖解決的問題。但就像它的經濟改革一樣，對外宣傳方面的努力一直以試驗爲主。自2009年以來，CCTV一直在增加英語和其它一些外語類節目的播出，但它意識到，只有將製作轉移到海外，才能讓節目具備所需的製作標準和可信度。
CCTV is now modelling its expansion on the pan-Arab news channel Al Jazeera, insiders say, because it also comes from a non-western background, has excellent technical standards and found a niche because its reporting on some international issues is seen as more in-depth and balanced than that of western networks.
內部人士稱，CCTV擴張模仿的是阿拉伯半島電視臺(Al Jazeera)。半島電視臺也來自非西方國家，技術標準出色，在市場中佔據了一個獨特位置——人們認爲，它對某些國際事務的報道比西方新聞網絡更有深度、更加不偏不倚。
"The Chinese are a bit late to the game," says Jim Laurie, a veteran broadcaster formerly with ABC News who has been advising CCTV since 2009, and now acts as a consultant for the new venture. "But they feel they can offer alternative perspective, and report underreported stories."
“中國人來得有些晚，”吉姆•勞裏(Jim Laurie)說。他曾是美國廣播公司(ABC News)的一名資深播音員，自2009年以來爲CCTV提供諮詢服務，目前是CCTV北美分臺的顧問。“但他們覺得自己可以提供另一種視角，報道別人沒有報道過的故事。”CCTV also sees opportunities in some corners of the world where cuts have forced the BBC to retreat, Mr Laurie said.
勞裏表示，CCTV也在世界上另一些角落看到了機會。由於削減成本，英國廣播公司(BBC)被迫退出了那些地方。
Americas Now, a news magazine show focusing on Latin America, launched on Sunday as part of that effort. The show featured reports on the demobilisation programme for the leftist Farc guerrillas in Colombia, on how Brazil is trying to pacify its violence-ridden slums and on women and machismo in Mexico.
比方說，CCTV聚焦於拉丁美洲的新聞雜誌類節目Americas Now上週日上線。這期節目報道了哥倫比亞左翼革命武裝力量(FARC)游擊隊的遣散計劃，報道了巴西如何努力安頓暴力衝突不斷的貧民窟，以及面對大男子主義的墨西哥女性。
"These are stories not covered by the western media," says Barbary Dury, the former producer of CBS news magazine 60 minutes who joined CCTV America to produce the programme.
Americas Now製作人巴伯裏•杜裏(Barbary Dury)說：“這些都是西方媒體沒有報道過的故事。”杜裏曾擔任美國哥倫比亞廣播公司(CBS)新聞雜誌類節目“60分鐘”製片人，現已加入CCTV北美分臺。
But things get more complicated when it comes to covering the US and China.
但是在報道美國和中國時，問題變得更爲複雜。
"US-based reporters will focus on human rights and China-US trade friction," says Wang Guan, political reporter for CCTV America who relocated to Washington two months ago after four years at CCTV's English service in Beijing. While he concedes that such are valid topics for US media, he argues that from a Chinese perspective, issues relating to people's livelihoods should take centre stage rather than the "utopian, vague topic of human rights".
“美國記者更加關注人權和中美貿易摩擦，”CCTV北美分臺政治記者王冠說。他曾在CCTV英語頻道工作4年，兩個月前被派駐華盛頓工作。儘管他承認，美國媒體關注這些議題很正常，但他認爲，從中國人的角度來，民生議題，而不是“烏托邦式的含糊不清的人權問題”，才應該佔據報道中心。
Mr Wang said he tries to find angles underreported by the US media, and points to President Barack Obama's recent State of the Union address as an example. "While MSNBC would say that was a very presidential, powerful speech, and Fox would not find anything they like about Obama, I focused on the five times Obama mentioned China, and noticed that it sounded very much like a campaign speech," he said.
王冠稱，他努力尋找美國媒體忽略的角度，並以美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)最近發表的國情諮文演講(State of the Union)爲例。他說：“微軟全國廣播公司(MSNBC)會說這是一場非常有力量的總統演講，而福克斯(Fox)則會把它說得一無是處，而我關注的是奧巴馬在演講中5次提到中國，並且注意到，它聽起來非常像一場競選演講。”
While there might be room for diversity in US television, CCTV's traditional role as the Communist party's propaganda outlet raises questions about whether it can fill that void. Ms Dury says there has been no hint of censorship in her work so far but she is keenly aware of the issue and believes that it could happen, for example, on topics such as Taiwan or Tibet.
儘管美國的電視廣播可能的確存在多樣化的空間，但CCTV傳統上扮演的中共宣傳工具的角色，令人懷疑它能否填補這一空白。杜裏表示，迄今爲止，她的工作中沒有任何被審查的跡象，但她完全清楚這個問題的存在，並相信有關臺灣或西藏等議題的報道可能會遭到審查。
Additional reporting by Geoff Dyer in Washington
傑夫•代爾(Geoff Dyer)華盛頓補充報道
譯者:何黎
