紐時賞析／又一美國報紙 為種族歧視歷史致歉

Newspaper Regrets Racism Over Decades of Reporting

又一美報為種族歧視歷史致歉

The Kansas City Star recently issued an apology for having “disenfranchised, ignored and scorned” generations of Black people in Kansas City, Missouri, through much of its early history, saying the apology was long overdue.

美國「堪薩斯市星報」日前發表社論，為該報創立之初長期「忽略、鄙視」密蘇里州堪薩斯市數世代的非裔族群，並「剝奪他們的權利」而道歉，同時坦承早就該道歉了。

In an essay titled “The Truth in Black and White,” Mike Fannin, editor of The Star, said that an investigation of thousands of pages of articles had shown that the paper, over decades, had denied the Black community dignity, justice and recognition.

星報總編輯范寧在題為「黑與白的真相」的社論中說，社方檢閱數千個版面的報導後發現，該報曾有數十年未能給予非裔應享的尊嚴、公義與肯定。

“Before I say more, I feel it to be my moral obligation to express what is in the hearts and minds of the leadership and staff of an organization that is nearly as old as the city it loves and covers: We are sorry,” Fannin wrote.

范寧寫道：「星報是個與它所喜愛並報導的堪薩斯市歷史幾乎一樣久遠的機構，在論及其他之前，我自覺有道德義務先說出星報高層與員工的真心話：我們很抱歉。」

The newspaper’s investigation began after the killing of George Floyd in May, at the hands of the Minneapolis police, prompted many companies to examine their own biases and histories of systemic racism. Media companies, too, vowed to change their office cultures and pledged to take steps to create more diverse newsrooms.

去年5月，明尼蘇達州明尼亞波利斯市非裔男子佛洛伊德死於警察之手，促使許多公司檢討自己對非裔的偏見和制度性種族歧視的過往，星報的調查就從那時開始。一些媒體也矢言改變辦公室文化，並承諾採取行動讓編輯部的種族組成更多元。

Some went further. In September, the Los Angeles Times editorial board apologized for biased coverage of the city’s nonwhite population for much of the newspaper’s history, which it blamed on a shortage of Indigenous, Black, Latino, Asian and other minority groups in the newsroom. For at least the paper’s first 80 years, it was an institution that was “deeply rooted in white supremacy.”

有些媒體更進一步。洛杉磯時報編輯部去年9月發布社論，為該報曾有很長時期對有色人種報導偏頗致歉，並歸咎於編輯部缺乏原住民、非裔、西語裔、亞裔等少數族群員工，至少在該報創立後的80年裡，「白人至上心態根深柢固」。

The Kansas City Star’s investigation came out of internal discussions about how the paper should address racism in its past coverage.The Star published the result of those discussions: a six-part investigation by reporters who dug into the paper’s archives, dating to its founding in 1880, to compare coverage by The Star and its sister paper, The Kansas City Times, to coverage of the same events in local Black newspapers, The Kansas City Call and The Kansas City Sun.

星報就如何處理該報過去新聞中的種族歧視進行內部部討論後，啟動了調查。星報刊出了這些討論的結果，是一份分為六部分的調查報告，記者爬梳該報1880年創立以來的檔案，比較星報及其姊妹報「堪薩斯市時報」與當地非裔報紙「堪薩斯市呼聲報」和「堪薩斯市太陽報」，對同樣事件的報導內容有何不同。

Fannin said reporters were “frequently sickened” by what they found. In its 1977 coverage of a deadly flood, the newspapers fixated on the property damage at the Country Club Plaza, rather than on the lives of the 25 people who died, including eight Black residents.

范寧說，記者對發現的事「常會覺得難以忍受」。星報1977年報導一場致命洪災時，鉅細靡遺報導「鄉村俱樂部廣場」的財產損失，卻不關注包括8名非裔在內的25名罹難者。

Often, achievements and milestones of Black residents of Kansas City were overlooked, the editorial said, “as if Black people were invisible.”

社論寫道，堪薩斯市非裔居民的成就和重大事件往往被忽略，「彷彿非裔是隱形人」。

文／John Eligon and Jenny Gross 譯／李京倫 核稿／樂慧生