新闻集团陷窃听门 媒体版图或改变

U.S.-based News Corp. is at the center of a phone-hacking scandal in Britain that is having serious business and legal implications for the media giant. There is increased scrutiny in the United States of News Corp. and its chairman, Rupert Murdoch.

电话窃听丑闻将美国新闻集团推至风口浪尖，使得该媒体巨头在英国面临严肃的处理和法律问题。美国国内对新闻集团及其董事长鲁珀特·默多克的指责声也日益高涨。

Allegations that the U.S.-based News Corp. violated British law may have legal consequences for the company in the United States. Several U.S. senators and Republican Congressman Peter King have called for an investigation to determine if the company violated any American laws. Attorney General Eric Holder, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have responded with preliminary inquiries.

美国新闻集团被指违反了英国法律，这可能给该集团带来美国方面的法律后果。美国几个参议员和共和党众议员彼得·金呼吁进行调查，以查明该公司是否也违反了美国法律。美国司法部长艾瑞克·霍尔德、证券交易委员会以及联邦调查局已作出回应，展开初步调查。

Jay Fahy, a former federal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney, explains relevant laws.

美国前联邦检察官、刑事辩护律师杰伊·费伊解释了相关的法律。

“On the criminal side, from what we know, it’s the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and perhaps some privacy violations, or mail fraud or wire fraud as to breaking into cell phone records," said Fahy. "There may also be bribery if cell phone companies were somehow given money.”

他说：“我们知道，在刑事罪方面，相关法律是《海外腐败行为法》，窃听手机通话记录可能侵犯了隐私，或构成邮件欺诈、或通信欺诈。如果给手机公司金钱的话，可能还构成贿赂。”

News Corp. is alleged to have bribed British police to get information for stories run in its tabloid News of the World. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act extends a U.S. prohibition against bribery to include U.S. companies operating abroad. Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, who once served as a spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron, has been arrested in the case, which involves not only the possible tapping of cell phones in Britain, but of 9/11 victims in the United States.

新闻集团被指贿赂英国警方，为其旗下的小报《世界新闻报》获取报导信息。美国的《海外腐败行为法》禁止腐败行为，在海外运营的美国公司也不例外。前《世界新闻报》编辑、曾任英国首相卡梅伦发言人的安迪·库尔森已经被逮捕，此案不仅可能涉及在英国窃听手机信息，而且涉及窃听美国911恐怖袭击遇难者的通话记录。

News Corp. has also suffered multi-billion-dollar business losses. The media giant was forced to scuttle plans to buy a controlling share of the lucrative British Sky Broadcasting, Britain’s biggest satellite broadcaster.

新闻集团还遭受了数十亿美元的商业损失。该媒体巨头被迫放弃收购盈利丰厚的英国最大的卫星广播运营商英国天空广播公司的控股权。

Felix Gillette, a reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek, says the scandal has also pummeled the company’s stock.

彭博商业周刊的记者费利克斯·吉列指出，这一丑闻使新闻集团的股票遭到重挫。

他说：“该集团的帐面市值损失了超过50亿美元。我想股东对整个公司的未来感到紧张不安。”

News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, an Australian by birth, acquired U.S. citizenship to be eligible for media ownership in the United States. His assets include a Hollywood studio and the Fox television network, which is particularly influential among American conservatives.

出生于澳大利亚的新闻集团董事长鲁珀特·默多克获得了美国公民身份，从而有资格在美国拥有媒体的所有权。他的资产包括一家好莱坞电影制片厂和福克斯电视网，后者在美国保守派人士中尤其具有影响力。

Murdoch has been criticized for consolidating media, depriving the public of diverse viewpoints needed to make informed decisions in a democratic society. Among the critics is Dean Starkman, a fellow at the Columbia Journalism Review.

默多克被批评整合媒体，剥夺了一个民主社会的公众需要多样化观点来作出准确决定的权利。批评人士包括《哥伦比亚新闻学评论》的迪恩·斯达克曼。

“This moment, with the scandal in the U.K., it has the potential to radically change the media landscape both here in the U.S. and around the world," said Starkman.

他说：“在这一刻，在英国的这一窃听丑闻，有可能根本性地改变美国和全世界的媒体版图。”

Starkman says the phone-hacking scandal could give smaller media organizations an opportunity to challenge the power that News Corp. has acquired. That power includes 27 broadcasting licenses in the United States issued by the Federal Communications Commission. Jay Fahy says the FCC could refuse to renew those licenses.

斯达克曼说，电话窃听丑闻可能给规模较小的媒体机构一个挑战新闻集团权势的机会。该集团的权势包括联邦通信委员会颁发的美国的27个广播执照。杰伊·费伊说，联邦通信委员会可能会拒绝更新那些执照。

“If the FCC took a hard line on this, and it is proven that Murdoch knew of it, or his son knew of it, or very high level people in the company knew of it, this could cause them to lose those licenses, and if those licenses are lost, that’s the end of his empire," he said.

他说：“如果联邦通信委员会对此采取强硬行动，而且如果证实默多克对此事件知情，或者他儿子，或者公司的高层知情，他们将可能失去执照。如果失去那些执照，这将是该传媒帝国的终结。”

Fox News has made little mention of the scandal and did not respond to VOA’s request for an interview. Rupert Murdoch told The Wall Street Journal, which he owns, that he is creating an independent committee to investigate allegations of possibly illegal reporting tactics that have shaken his company.

福克斯新闻网对丑闻事件几乎只字不提，而且没有回应美国之音的采访请求。鲁珀特·默多克对他旗下的华尔街日报说，他正在设立一个独立委员会来调查可能的非法报导手段的指称，这一丑闻指称已经撼动了新闻集团。