2020年10月16日 星期五

Journalists Are Leaving the Internet for Your Inbox 網媒記者 投奔付費電子報平台


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讀紐時學英文
2020/10/23 第318期 訂閱/退訂看歷史報份
 
 
紐時周報精選 Journalists Are Leaving the Internet for Your Inbox 網媒記者 投奔付費電子報平台
Who Gets Hurt When the World Stops Using Cash 疫情期間零接觸停用現金 衝擊弱勢
紐時周報精選
 
Journalists Are Leaving the Internet for Your Inbox 網媒記者 投奔付費電子報平台
文/Marc Tracy
譯/陳韋廷 核稿/樂慧生

網路媒體記者 投奔付費電子報平台

Casey Newton recently announced that he was leaving The Verge, the website where he has covered the tech industry since 2013, to write a subscription newsletter hosted by Substack, a 3-year-old platform that is growing in popularity.

凱西•紐頓日前宣布,準備離開他自2013年起主跑科技業新聞的網站The Verge,到一個愈來愈受歡迎、有3年歷史的Substack平台撰寫訂閱制電子郵件時事通訊。

Newton is joining the ranks of journalists who have left the relative comfort of an established publication to try their luck at Substack.

紐頓繼另一些記者後,也離開現有出版品相對安適的環境,去Substack碰運氣。

Newton, 40, said in an interview that he would start his newsletter, Platformer, next month. The time was right to go solo, he added, because of the changing relationship between readers and media outlets.

40歲的紐頓受訪時說,他將在下個月開始他的時事通訊Platformer。他還表示,現在是單飛的時候了,因為讀者和媒體間的關係正在改變。

"You might follow a publication," Newton said, "but it's more likely you care about an individual reporter or writer or YouTuber or podcaster. People are increasingly willing to pay to support those people."

紐頓表示:「你可能會屬意某個出版物,但你更可能屬意某個記者、作者、YouTuber或者播客主。人們愈來愈願意掏錢支持這些人。」

Most Substack writers offer a mix of paid and free email newsletters. They make money through subscriptions, not ads. Writers own their newsletters, and the platform takes a 10% cut. Substack also offers a legal defense service to writers of paid newsletters in the United States.

Substack平台上的大多數作者提供付費與免費兩種電郵報導的組合。他們透過訂閱而非廣告來賺錢。撰稿人擁有自己的電子報,該平台則從中抽成10%。Substack還幫美國的付費時事通訊作者提供法律辯護服務。

Hamish McKenzie, one of the platform's founders, said Substack writers could make $100,000 a year if they bring in "a couple thousand people" who spend $5 a month on a subscription. "It's not easy — it takes time, dedication and care — but it's more doable than ever," he wrote in his own Substack newsletter.

該平台創辦人之一哈米希•麥肯錫說,若能吸引「兩、三千人」每月花5美元訂閱,Substack上的作者每年可賺到10萬美元。他在自己的Substack時事通訊中寫道:「這並不容易,需要投入時間、全副心力與關懷,但當下它比以往任何時候都更可行。」

The platform appeals to some journalists partly because the news media business has been in steady decline. From 2004 to 2019, roughly half of all U.S. newspaper jobs were eliminated, according to a University of North Carolina study, and more than 30,000 journalists in the country have been laid off or furloughed or had their pay reduced during the coronavirus pandemic.

該平台吸引到一些記者,部分原因是新聞媒體業一直在持續衰落。根據北卡羅來納大學的調查,從2004年到2019年,美國報業約有一半職位遭裁撤,且在新冠肺炎大流行期間,美國有3萬多名記者遭裁員、休無薪假或減薪。

The most popular paid Substack offering is The Dispatch, a conservative newsletter started last year by Steve Hayes, former editor-in-chief of The Weekly Standard, along with Jonah Goldberg, a former editor at National Review, and Toby Stock, a former executive at the American Enterprise Institute. With more than a dozen employees, The Dispatch has nearly 100,000 subscribers, almost 18,000 paid, and is close to pulling in $2 million in first-year revenue, most of it derived from Substack subscriptions, Hayes said.

最受歡迎的Substack付費產品為The Dispatch,一份由標準周刊前主編史提夫.海斯、國家評論前編輯約拿.戈柏格、及美國企業研究所前高管托比.史托克在去年創辦的保守派時事通訊。海斯說,The Dispatch有十餘名員工,訂戶近10萬,付費訂戶幾達1.8萬,首年收入逼近200萬美元,大部分來自Substack上的訂戶。

 
Who Gets Hurt When the World Stops Using Cash 疫情期間零接觸停用現金 衝擊弱勢
文/Ann Carrns
譯/陳韋廷 核稿/樂慧生

停用現金 衝擊弱勢

Cash doesn't have the status it used to.

現金的地位不比從前了。

In fact, some state and local governments are forcing businesses like restaurants and retail shops to continue accepting cash — concerned that cashless businesses effectively discriminate against consumers who do not have bank accounts or credit cards.

事實上,一些州跟地方政府正強制餐廳與零售店等商家繼續收受現金,擔心不收現金形同歧視沒有銀行帳戶或信用卡的消費者。

Concerns about a decline in the acceptance of cash surfaced well before the coronavirus arrived, as consumers grew more comfortable shopping online with credit or debit cards and paying quickly with mobile apps. Many businesses like electronic payments because they speed up purchases and reduce concern about theft.

早在新冠疫情出現前,對現金接受度下滑的憂慮即已浮現,因為消費者更習於在網路上用信用卡或簽帳卡購物,並用手機應用程式快速付帳。許多商家喜歡電子支付,因它加快購買速度且減少對盜竊的擔憂。

Then, during the pandemic, restaurants and stores emphasized online ordering and digital payment to reduce interactions — and the risk of infection — among customers and employees. And as consumers stayed home, coin shortages occurred, making it difficult for some stores to give change. That added to a preference for electronic payments.

後來在疫情大流行期間,餐廳與商店重視線上訂購與數位支付,以減少顧客與員工間的互動與感染風險。隨著消費者待在家中,硬幣短缺了,一些商店很難找零。這增高了對於電子支付的偏好。

"The concern has been heightened as a result of the pandemic," said Susan Grant, director of consumer protection and privacy at the Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit advocacy group.

非營利倡議組織美國消費者協會的消費者保護與隱私業務負責人蘇珊·葛蘭特說:「這場大疫情加深了人們的憂慮。」

But as digital payments become more widespread, "we're concerned that people aren't going to be able to pay for necessities," said Linda Sherry, director of national priorities at Consumer Action, an advocacy group.

倡議組織消費者行動的國家優先事務負責人琳達·雪莉表示,隨著數位支付日益普及,「我們擔心人們將無法付現購買生活必需品。」

Businesses that refuse cash put at a disadvantage people who lack traditional bank accounts or can't qualify for credit cards, consumer advocates say. About one-fourth of American adults were unbanked or underbanked in 2019 — meaning they did not have a bank account or had one but also used alternatives like check-cashing services, the Federal Reserve found. Those consumers are more likely to be in a racial or ethnic minority group, have lower incomes and be less educated.

消費者權益保護人士表示,拒收現金的商家讓沒有傳統銀行帳戶或不夠資格申請信用卡者陷入不利的處境。美國聯邦準備理事會發現,在2019年,約有四分之一美國成年人沒有銀行帳戶或屬次級銀行用戶,這意味他們沒有銀行帳戶或是雖有帳戶,但使用的卻是支票兌現等非主流服務。這些消費者有較高可能屬於少數種族或族裔,收入和教育程度較低。

Some may like cash because it helps them budget their money or teach their children about spending. Others may be wary of a loss of privacy and vulnerability to hacking with electronic payments, or simply prefer cash, Grant said. "The decision should be the consumer's."

有些人喜歡現金是因為它能幫他們規劃預算或教孩子如何花錢。葛蘭特說,另有些人可能因擔心失去隱私及電子支付容易被駭,或者就只是喜歡現金。「這應交由消費者決定。」

The federation and dozens of other advocacy and privacy rights groups are backing federal legislation that would prohibit brick-and-mortar retailers from refusing to accept cash.

美國消費者協會跟其他數十個倡議與隱私權保護組織,支持由聯邦立法禁止實體零售業者拒收現金。

Consumers still use cash for more than one-quarter of all payments, according to Federal Reserve data from October, its latest comprehensive study of payment behavior.

根據聯邦準備理事會去年10月的最後一次支付行為綜合調查,消費者在所有付款中使用現金比例超過四分之一。

說文解字看新聞【陳韋廷】

電子支付交易近年蔚為潮流,在疫情期間零接觸(contactless)概念帶動下更加蓬勃,愈來愈多商家僅接受信用卡、簽帳卡或電子支付平台,使得弱勢族群保障與隱私權保護問題再次發廣泛討論。

而cashless store這兩個字,則形容這些拒收現金的商家。

文中單字unbanked是用來形容沒有銀行帳戶,或是沒有跟銀行往來關係者,而underbanked則形容雖有銀行帳戶,但未獲完整服務的次級銀行用戶,這些人需要現金時,除了使用支票兌現服務外,還會利用payday loan(發薪日貸款)來進行短期融資。

brick-and-mortar這個形容詞字面意義為磚與水泥,衍生出「實體的」之意,與之相反的單字有virtual(虛擬的)、online(線上的)等字。

 
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