今日导读
鲁伯特·默多克是当今世界规模最大、国际化程度最高的综合性全球传媒公司之一“新闻集团”的领导者，是一位名副其实的“媒体大亨”。不少媒体的资源在默多克的手中重获新生，释放出巨大价值，默多克领衔的公司也逐渐涉足杂志、广播电视、出版、电影及更多的传媒领域，掌握更丰富的知识产权资源。然而近日，默多克的影视产业 21 世纪福克斯被迪士尼收购，包括福克斯电影和电视工作室、地区体育台、有线电视频道，以及主要国际资产。有人认为，默多克苦心经营的传媒“帝国”或将瓦解。事情真的是这样吗？
新闻正文
Rupert Murdoch: The media mogul says goodbye to much of the company he built
鲁伯特·默多克：传媒巨头告别其亲手打下的大半江山
It all started with a few glasses of wine and two media titans talking about how hard life is.
一切都始于几杯红酒，和两位传媒界巨贾关于人生多艰的感怀谈天。
注：mogul /ˈmoʊɡl/ n. 大亨；有权势的人。 guru:专家;领袖;权威; titan /ˈtaɪtn/ n. 巨人；伟人
Rupert Murdoch, the 87-year-old founder and co-executive chairman of 21st Century Fox and News Corp., and Bob Iger, the 67-year-old chief executive of the Walt Disney Co., met last August at Murdoch’s Moraga vineyard in the Bel Air hills of Los Angeles and discussed the myriad challenges their multibillion-dollar corporations faced.
现年 87 岁的鲁伯特·默多克，是 21 世纪福克斯和新闻集团的创始人兼联合执行董事长， 67 岁的鲍勃·艾格则是华特迪士尼公司的 CEO, 两人于去年八月会面，见面地点选择了默多克在加州贝莱尔山的莫拉加葡萄园。在那里他们分享了市值千亿的企业面临的无数挑战。
注：corp：公司。 vineyard /ˈvɪnjərd/ n. 葡萄园；葡萄酒厂 Los Angeles：洛杉矶。 myriad /ˈmɪriəd/ adj. 无数的；大量的
Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google were dwarfing their old-media conglomerates. As much as Murdoch liked positioning himself as the underdog and outsider, these new digital competitors were turning out to be too much. Not long after Iger drove away from the conversation, the two men sketched out a deal that involves Murdoch selling the bulk of the company to Disney.
脸书、亚马逊、网飞和谷歌令他们的传统媒体公司集团相形见绌。尽管默多克不介意将自己视为落败的一方，但事实证明，这些来自数字领域的新兴对手仍然做得太过分了。谈话结束，艾格驱车离开后不久，两人就攒了一个粗略的交易方案，默多克将会把公司的大部分业务卖给迪士尼。
注：dwarf /dwɔːrf/ n. 侏儒，矮人，v. 使矮小；使相形见绌 。 conglomerate /kənˈɡlɑːmərət/ n. 企业集团。 underdog /ˈʌndərdɑːɡ/ n. 劣势方，弱者。 sketch：素描;草图;梗概。 bulk /bʌlk/ n. 主体；大部分。
It is a seminal moment for Murdoch, who is turning over the power to run the company he has spent his career building. The media mogul is saying goodbye to his life’s work.
这对默多克来说是意义重大的时刻。他穷尽一生创办了这家公司，如今则要将管理权移交他人。这位传媒巨头是在和他毕生的心血告别。
注：seminal /ˈsemɪnl/ adj. 影响深远的，有重大意义的。 turn over：移交，仔细考虑，翻转。
Earlier in his life, Murdoch would have resisted the sale of his company, said Chase Carey, who worked for him for decades. “But life is never what you would have envisioned. People change and the world changes.”
在默多克麾下效力数十年的蔡斯·凯里说，“如果再早几年，默多克是不会同意把公司卖掉的。但生活永远都不像你设想的那样。人会改变，世界也是如此。”
注：resist：抵抗，抗拒;反对，抵制。envision：设想，构想。
Carey says that the media industry is in its fourth great revolution of the past century. First came film in the 1920s, then broadcast television in the 50s, then cable TV in the 80s, and now, of course, is the digital revolution, which has laid waste to the fortunes of many traditional media players. Murdoch — it seems — is intent on avoiding that fate.
凯里说，自上个世纪以来，传媒行业正经历着第四次巨大变革。第一次是上世纪 20 年代电影的问世，接着是 50 年代广播电视的出现，然后是 80 年代的有线电视，以及现在的数字革命，无需多言，传统媒体界有许多玩家都在这场变革中输得一败涂地。但默多克似乎打定主意要避开这样的命运。
注：cable：缆绳，绳索;发电报。lay waste to 彻底毁坏；把…夷为平地 e.g. lay waste to this land lay this land to waste A land is laid waste by war。 be intent on：下定决心...
About four months after that glass of wine with Iger, his vineyard narrowly avoided destruction in a California wildfire. With his latest move, Murdoch may have engineered the same kind of escape for his company.
和艾格举杯对饮之后过去了四个月，他的葡萄园在一场加州大火中勉强幸免于难。靠着他最新的决定，默多克说不定真能为自己的公司策划一场类似的虎口脱险。
注：narrowly：狭窄地;勉强地;严密地;仔细地。destruction：摧毁;破坏，毁灭。wildfire：野火;（消息）不胫而走，迅速传播开来。 engineer /ˌendʒɪˈnɪr/ v. 巧妙安排，策划，设计；工程师
————— 文章来源 / 华盛顿邮报