中国央视频道对美开播

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.

随着中国国家副主席习近平展开访美之旅，中美间的紧张情绪、人民币汇率以及中国否决联合国有关叙利亚问题的决议草案等热门话题，很可能成为美国电视网络的关注焦点。

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.

而在上周末，中国中央电视台(CCTV)开始在美国播出其在当地制作的节目，从而开始向美国民众传达中国的声音。

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.

上周六晚间首次播出的政治访谈类节目“热点”(The Heat)，重点关注习近平明日将在爱荷华州作的短暂停留。节目重点谈及这个美国中西部州对华农业产品的出口飙升，让它保持了较低的失业率。节目还称许了习近平对爱荷华州民众的亲近感——他曾在1985年对爱荷华州进行了为期一周的访问。

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北美分台(CCTV America)，是中国政府努力在海外传播自己声音的最新举措。这家分台在华盛顿拥有一座资讯中心，聘请了逾60位国际员工。四个月前，中共重申提升全球“软实力”的决心，它认为在一个由西方媒体主宰的世界里，中国没有得到客观的报道。

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.

这是中国政府多年来一直试图解决的问题。但就像它的经济改革一样，对外宣传方面的努力一直以试验为主。自2009年以来，CCTV一直在增加英语和其它一些外语类节目的播出，但它意识到，只有将制作转移到海外，才能让节目具备所需的制作标准和可信度。

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.

内部人士称，CCTV扩张模仿的是阿拉伯半岛电视台(Al Jazeera)。半岛电视台也来自非西方国家，技术标准出色，在市场中占据了一个独特位置——人们认为，它对某些国际事务的报道比西方资讯网络更有深度、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."

“中国人来得有些晚，”吉姆•劳里(Jim Laurie)说。他曾是美国广播公司(ABC News)的一名资深播音员，自2009年以来为CCTV提供咨询服务，目前是CCTV北美分台的顾问。“但他们觉得自己可以提供另一种视角，报道别人没有报道过的故事。”

CCTV also sees opportunities in some corners of the world where cuts have forced the BBC to retreat, Mr Laurie said.

劳里表示，CCTV也在世界上另一些角落看到了机会。由于削减成本，英国广播公司(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.

比方说，CCTV聚焦于拉丁美洲的资讯杂志类节目Americas Now上周日上线。这期节目报道了哥伦比亚左翼革命武装力量(FARC)游击队的遣散计划，报道了巴西如何努力安顿暴力冲突不断的贫民窟，以及面对大男子主义的墨西哥女性。

"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制作人巴伯里•杜里(Barbary Dury)说：“这些都是西方媒体没有报道过的故事。”杜里曾担任美国哥伦比亚广播公司(CBS)资讯杂志类节目“60分钟”制片人，现已加入CCTV北美分台。

But things get more complicated when it comes to covering the US and China.

但是在报道美国和中国时，问题变得更为复杂。

"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".

“美国记者更加关注人权和中美贸易摩擦，”CCTV北美分台政治记者王冠说。他曾在CCTV英语频道工作4年，两个月前被派驻华盛顿工作。尽管他承认，美国媒体关注这些议题很正常，但他认为，从中国人的角度来，民生议题，而不是“乌托邦式的含糊不清的人权问题”，才应该占据报道中心。

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.

王冠称，他努力寻找美国媒体忽略的角度，并以美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)最近发表的国情咨文演讲(State of the Union)为例。他说：“微软全国广播公司(MSNBC)会说这是一场非常有力量的总统演讲，而福克斯(Fox)则会把它说得一无是处，而我关注的是奥巴马在演讲中5次提到中国，并且注意到，它听起来非常像一场竞选演讲。”

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.

尽管美国的电视广播可能的确存在多样化的空间，但CCTV传统上扮演的中共宣传工具的角色，令人怀疑它能否填补这一空白。杜里表示，迄今为止，她的工作中没有任何被审查的迹象，但她完全清楚这个问题的存在，并相信有关台湾或西藏等议题的报道可能会遭到审查。

Additional reporting by Geoff Dyer in Washington

杰夫•代尔(Geoff Dyer)华盛顿补充报道

译者:何黎