美国国家公共广播电台(NPR) 对四川地震的报导 -- 新闻媒体的献身精神与人道主义 (图)

图 1：Melissa Block hosts NPR's newsmagazine All ThingsConsidered, public radio's longest-running national program and becameco-host in 2003. Block has reported on many major domestic and internationalevents for NPR News.

图 2：Andrea Hsu files audio from her laptop computer on the lobbyfloor of the Chengdu Sheration once the all-clear was given, as All Things ConsideredHost Melissa Block and Robert Siegel discuss plans to go out to outlying areaswhere quake damage was greatest.

美国国家公共广播电台 (NPR)上周预告，两名记者在5 月中旬将从成都报导，向美国听众介绍中国，四川与成都的发展，经济建设和人民的生活。大概任何人都没有想到，他们会遇上这场地震。昨天早晨，Melissa Block ， ALL THINGS CONSIDERED 节目栏目的主持人之一，报导了发生在四川的地震消息。一整天， NPR 的网站与新闻节目中，连续追踪报导四川地震的伤亡情况与各方面救援的努力。尤其是下午，NPR 播放了她在 Juyuan 中学现场目击的报导，她的声音充满了同情与悲哀，当描述失去孩子的父母的悲痛场面时，可以听到她的声音在颤抖。当时我不得不中断实验室的工作，停下来擦眼镜，当年在唐山地震过程中经历的感觉一下子涌上来。在NPR 的网站上，几位听众留下了非常感人的信息，被MelissaBlock 的报导所深深地打动，也感谢NPR 的努力。对在异国他乡发生的自然灾害的这种真诚的关注是这样的感人。

今天早晨，Melissa Block 在NBC 的GOODMORNING AMERICAN 节目中从成都接受电话采访。当节目主持人重放了那段现场报导录音，提到她的不寻常的声音时，她说从未经历过这样悲惨的场面，目睹父母在等待救援者从废墟中寻找幸存者。作为母亲，在现场她能体会那些失去孩子的父母的无比悲痛。

作为一个在异国采访的记者，能在10 几个小时内，把这样的消息从不同的地震灾害现场用文字，图片和录音报导回来，这不仅是出于一般记者的职责，也是出于对生命的热爱，珍惜的人道主义，这才是作为新闻媒体的令人尊重之处。前一段，网上常见认为西方媒体充满对中国的偏见的批评，可以访问 NPR 的网站，参考一下真正专业的记者是如何从现场采访报导的，你能看到的是新闻记者对新闻的真实，及时，且带有感情的报导。相比之下，在国内能有多少次机会见到这样的现场报导。

说句公道话，与以往发生的严重自然灾害相比，这次政府采取的措施是大有改进。首先，对于地震的情报和灾情报导的及时，尤其是对于伤亡人数，在很短的时间内做连续报导，让人们了解到灾害的严重性，对救援的组织情况也基本是公开的，这才能使人民有信心相信，政府在尽一切可能挽救生命，减少损失。唯愿抢救工作能顺利进行，灾区的人民能够尽快恢复。

 

Melissa Block 在Juyuan 中学现场目击的报导：

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90366623

A Horrific Scene at a Middle School in Dujiangyan

NPR 报导的连接：

http://www.npr.org/blogs/chengdu/2008/05/a_horrific_scene_at_a_middle_s.html

We are just leaving the horrific scene at the Juyuan Middle Schooloutside the city of Dujiangyan.Hundreds of parents are still standing in the rain as the army works to findchildren trapped in the rubble. One parent told us she could hear her soncalling. A scene of utter desperation. Back a couple hundred feet was an areawhere rescuers -- peoples armed police -- were bringing bodies that had beenretrieved. Families were rushing over to see whether the child was theirs.Under tents are families burning incense and candles and paper money next tothe shrouded bodies of their loved ones. A terrible, terrible scene.

-- Andrea Hsu

1:44 PM ET | 05-12-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

I read on some Chinese Internet about Juyuan Middle School. My heart goes out for all those kidsthere. I can't imagine how those parents were feeling right now. My pray goesto all those lives lost in this tragic incident. I hope more people be rescuedand the death toll stop climbing.

I was able to talk with my mom on the phone againaround 11 pm Chengdutime. She felt many aftershocks, and according to TV news report there, two ofthem were over 6.0, while six of them were between 5.0 and 5.9.

Fortunately, Chengduis mostly OK according to my mom, and it is partly due to the fact that manybuildings were built to withstand some degree of earthquake impact. However,for safety reason my parents are staying in a four floor hotel in suburban areaand plan to go home tomorrow.

One thing my mom told me that really touches me is thatlots of people volunteered to donate blood to support the rescue work, here isa link with photos of people donating blood and it said there were five to sixplaces set up in Chengdu city for people to donate blood:

http://www.6park.com/news/messages/81570.html

I just hope I can do something to help the rescuework. For mow I will donate money to the red cross in China, here isthe link: http://www.redcross.org.cn/

Thank you Andrea, Robert, and Malissa and all NPRcrew there for your reports. Please do take care!

Sent by yang | 2:10 PM ET | 05-12-2008

So sorry you have to witness the aftermath of thisdisaster. I wish there were anything I could do to ease their pain for the lossof loved ones, especially those who lost their children. God bless, and I am atruly believer that " to live is to suffer." I hope people affectedby this tragedy will heal soon and move on.

Sent by Matthew | 2:30 PM ET | 05-12-2008

This brought back the memory of those terrible scenesI witnessed during Tangshanearthquake in 1976. The whole downtown area was leveled, no building standing,hundreds of thousands of people died. Just wish God bless everyone in Sichuan area safe.

Sent by Peter, OH | 4:34 PM ET | 05-12-2008

I was just listening to Melissa Block recount what shesaw at the school, her voice breaking. I had to pull over as the tears camedown my face. My heart breaks for those parents, and it aches for the teamthere covering it. I pray for thier safety and strenght during what must be ahorrible time.

Sent by Annie | 4:56 PM ET | 05-12-2008

I just heard Melissa Block's report on the parentsidentifying their child's body at the scene of the middle school in Sichuan Province. I would like to to say thatwas the finest piece of reporting I have heard in years. Ms. Block made me feellike I was their, with the grieving parents. It was better than a picture couldhave done. All I can say this report is why I listen to NPR.

Sent by Dr. David Wachtel | 4:56 PM ET | 05-12-2008

I wept as I listened toMelissa Block's report. My heart broke for the parents of those kids. Thanksfor this excellent piece of journalism.

Sent by Beverly Peng | 5:44 PM ET | 05-12-2008

Melissa Block's report of the earthquake's effect onthe middle school in Juyuan was one of the most evocative radio pieces I haveever heard ~ thank you for such outstanding journalism...

Sent by martin johnsen | 6:17 PM ET | 05-12-2008

I am in tears as I write this note.Disasters happenalmost daily somewhere in the world, it is so easy to just accept it-because itis not personal.Melissa Blocks report was so touching. She made it personal.

Sent by Todd Barneck | 6:28 PM ET | 05-12-2008

Melissa Block's first handreport on the devastation and personal loss at the Juyuan Middle Schoolwas one of the finest examples of broadcast journalism that I have heard inover 25 years of listening to NPR. You could hear the barely controlled emotionin her voice as she conveyed the unimaginable grief of the parents who lostchildren in this disaster. Congratulations to Melissa and her on-the-groundteam.

Melissa Block, NPR Biography (brief)

Block has reported on many major domestic and international events for NPRNews. While based in New York,she covered police brutality and terrorism trials. Her reporting duringSeptember 11 was part of coverage that earned NPR News a George Foster PeabodyAward. Reporting from Kosovo in 1999, Block's investigation into rape as aweapon of war was cited among stories for which NPR News won an Overseas PressClub Award.

Block graduated from Harvard University in 1983 with a degree in French historyand literature, and spent the following year as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Geneva. She is married to WallStreet Journal reporter, author, and NPR contributor Stefan Fatsis. Theyhave a daughter and live in Washington, D.C.
Http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2100245