蘋果從新聞業挖人打造Apple News
Apple is hiring a team of journalists to run its Apple News service, part of a broader push by the company to personalise the content it selects and delivers to users of its devices.
蘋果(Apple)正招聘新聞從業者組建編輯團隊，運營其Apple News服務。此舉是蘋果一項更宏大舉措的一部分，目的是對選送給蘋果設備用戶的內容進行人工干預。The Apple editorial team will liaise with publishers, which include the Financial Times, New York Times, The Guardian and The Economist, which have signed up to provide content to the news service.
蘋果編輯團隊將負責與出版商聯絡。這些出版商包括英國《金融時報》、《紐約時報》(New York Times)、《衛報》(The Guardian)和《經濟學人》(The Economist)，它們已和蘋果簽約，將爲其新聞服務提供內容。
A job ad posted for Apple News, which replaces Apple’s Newsstand and will compete with Facebook’s new Instant Articles service, said successful candidates would “identify and deliver the best in breaking national, global, and local news”.
在爲Apple News發佈的招聘廣告上，蘋果表示，符合條件的候選者應能“識別和發送最佳的國內、國際及地方突發新聞”。Apple News將取代蘋果的虛擬報攤(Newsstand)，並與Facebook新推出的Instant Articles服務展開競爭。
It is seeking candidates with more than five years of “newsroom experience” able to “recognise original, compelLing stories unlikely to be identified by algorithms”. Apple declined to comment beyond the job ad.
該公司希望找到這樣的人選：擁有五年以上“編輯部工作經驗”，能夠“識別不太可能被算法識別出的、扣人心絃的原創性報道”。蘋果拒絕就這個招聘廣告以外的事情置評。One publisher that has had negotiations with Apple over the news service said the hiring of journalists was “jaw-dropping” and “a real surprise”.
一個曾與蘋果就新聞服務進行過商談的出版商表示，蘋果聘用新聞從業者之舉“令人大跌眼鏡”、“着實令人意外”。Ken Doctor, an analyst with Newsonomics, pointed to other examples of technology companies hiring journalists, such as Flipboard and Yahoo. “Apple hasn’t done it so it’s a departure but it’s not a surprising departure,” he said. “To do curated distribution you either use algorithms, like Google News, or you use people.”
Newsonomics分析師肯•多克託(Ken Doctor)則提到其他高科技企業聘用新聞從業者的例子——比如Flipboard和雅虎(Yahoo!)。他說：“蘋果以前沒這麼做過，因此這算是一次新的嘗試，但它並不出人意料。做策劃發行，你要麼靠算法、就像谷歌新聞(Google News)那樣，要麼靠人。”Apple’s news recruitment drive is the latest example of a steady uptick in traffic from Fleet Street to Silicon Valley. In the last few years, social networks Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have hired reporters and editors from the likes of News Corp and NBC to help broker relationships between media groups and their distribution platforms. Within the past six months, Snapchat has hired reporters from CNN and tech site The Verge.
蘋果招聘新聞從業者之舉，是新聞業人士轉投硅谷的步伐逐步加快的最新例證。最近幾年，社交網絡Facebook、Twitter和領英(LinkedIn)已從新聞集團(News Corp)、美國全國廣播公司(NBC)等機構招了不少記者和編輯，以幫助處理媒體集團與其發行平臺之間的關係。過去六個月裏，Snapchat也從美國有線電視新聞網(CNN)及技術網站The Verge聘用了多名記者。The launch of Apple News comes as the company tries to introduce more of a human element to its other services. Apple Music, which was unveiled last week, includes personally selected playlists and Beats 1, an international radio station staffed by newly hired DJs — including Zane Lowe, formerly of BBC Radio 1.
蘋果推出Apple News的同時，也試圖向自己的其他服務引入更多人的元素。上週推出的Apple Music服務，就包括了人工挑選的歌單以及一個名爲“Beats 1”的國際廣播電臺。該電臺的人員由新近聘用的DJ組成，其中包括曾在英國廣播公司廣播一臺(BBC Radio 1)工作的贊恩•洛(Zane Lowe)。The publishers participating in Apple News will supply Apple with a few stories each day, which will be served as a stream from an icon on the homescreen of connected Apple devices. The publishers will keep any advertising revenue they generate from ads sold around these stories; if they want Apple to sell the ads the iPhone maker will keep a 30 per cent cut of any revenues.
參與Apple News的出版商每天將向蘋果提供數篇報道，這些報道將通過聯網蘋果設備主屏幕上的一個應用以流媒體的形式提供給用戶。出版商自己圍繞這些報道賣出的廣告，收入全歸它們自己所有。如果它們希望由蘋果來賣廣告，蘋果將獲得相當於收入30%的分成。
