離開
進入中英對照讀新聞／China’s web spin doctors spread Beijing’s message 中國網路評論員散布北京政府訊息
◎俞智敏
With nearly half a billion people surfing the net in China, more than half of them using microblogs, the Internet has quickly become a vital forum for debate in the world’s most populous country -- and a major sounding board.
中國有近5億人使用網路，其中又有逾半數人使用微網誌，網路已迅速成為這個全球人口最多國家進行辯論的重要論壇，同時也是主要的意見徵詢機制。
That fact has obviously registered with the country’s Communist leaders, who pay careful attention to the conversations that unfold online despite the heavy government restrictions on what can and cannot be discussed in cyberspace.
中國共黨領袖顯然對這項事實了然於心，儘管中國政府對於能否在網路上討論的話題已設有嚴格限制，但他們仍對網路上的對話格外關注。
Enter the "web commentators" who, either anonymously or using pseudonyms, spread politically correct arguments -- many of them for money.
此時所謂的「網評員」就可以派上用場，這些人多半以匿名或假名方式，在網路上散播政治正確的主張，其中許多人是為了錢這麼做。
Experts are divided on the overall effectiveness of the massive web operation. "On the main hot topics, three days into the debate, only the propaganda remains online," creating a "false general opinion" which the great majority of web users will blindly follow, said Renaud de Spens, a Beijing-based expert on the Chinese Internet. "That is the major success of Chinese propaganda."
對於這種大規模網路行動的整體效益，專家的看法分歧。「在主要的熱門話題上，辯論展開三天後，網路上就只剩下官方的文宣言論，」製造出大多數網友盲目跟從的「輿論假象」，北京的中國網路專家德史班斯表示。「這正是中國政府網路文宣的重大成功之處。」
But Jeremy Goldkorn, editor of the China media website Danwei.org, counters that Chinese web users are "quite savvy... they tend not to trust anyone." "When there are large numbers of comments that are toeing a government line, it certainly makes it more difficult for people who disagree to have their voice heard above the noise," he nevertheless acknowledged.
但中國媒體網站「單位」編緝戈德孔恩則反駁說，中國網路使用者「相當精明……他們不輕易相信任何人。」但他也承認，「當大部份的網路言論都一面倒地支持政府立場時，異議者的言論自然更難被聽見。」
新聞辭典
sounding board：名詞，指共鳴板、回響板，引申為指被用作試探意見之人。例句︰My friend is my sounding board for new ideas.（我的朋友是我提出新想法時的徵詢對象。）
register with someone：片語，指讓某人理解某事。例句︰Suddenly, the import of what she had said registered with me. （突然間，我理解到她話裡的重要性。）
toe the line：片語，指遵守規定，乖乖聽話。例句︰Ministers who wouldn’t toe the party line were swiftly got rid of.（不肯遵從黨路線的部長們，很快就被撤換掉。）
