Ambassador Terry Branstad 
作者： 布兰斯塔德大使
新闻中的图像和文字吸引我们的注意，塑造我们对世界的认知。从事开创性研究的科学家的照片；阐释突发新闻措辞敏锐的头条；两位总统会面握手的时刻通过全世界的电视荧屏传送出去，让他们的公民见证。优秀的新闻像阳光，澄清、照亮，并让社会知晓。在新闻自由日这天，我们思考为使所有人受益而保护这项基本权利的重要性。
作为驻中国大使，我因美国和中国记者的尽职尽责而受益。我喜欢与在北京和世界各地的新闻工作者互动。他们时常要在困难的条件下辛勤工作。他们报道美中关系这一全世界最重要的双边关系，工作至关重要。
美国人重视新闻工作者。约瑟夫·普利策是美国著名的媒体领袖，设立了普利策奖。他将新闻工作形容为“一份崇高的职业，因其对人们思想和道德的影响而无比重要。”
正因认识到新闻工作的重要性，美国的开国元勋们决定保护其免受干预。我们宪法的《权利法案》的第一句就是禁止政府限制新闻自由。
此举收效极佳。二百多年来，在美国和世界大多数地方，新闻工作者让社会有了展开激烈辩论的渠道，而这些辩论最终赢家永远是人民。当然，任何辩论当中——尤其是一个包含如此多声音的辩论——分歧与不满必然存在。重要的是：只要公众对话保持开放，公民就能全面了解一件事，可以自行对其加以评估和判断。
20世纪早期，调查性报道的诞生提供了这一原则如何贯彻到底的绝佳范例。1902年，一位年轻的女性新闻工作者艾达·塔贝尔撰写了一系列杂志文章，揭露老约翰·D·洛克菲勒——当时最富有且最具权势的美国人之一——在数十年间采用非法的垄断业务手段。他的公司将汽油和其他常见商品以过高价格贩售给上百万的美国消费者。艾达的报道揭露了这些对公众的侵害，导致该公司被政府监管者拆分。在报道过程中，许多人警告过艾拉不要触怒有权有势的洛克菲勒家族，但是这位新闻工作者勇敢地做了她的工作，调查真相并将其公之于众，从而帮助她的美国同胞们发掘并解决了一个严重的社会问题。
像艾拉一样，一代代的新闻工作者薪火相传，努力帮助公民理解我们面临的问题。新闻工作的作用要在社会中得以发挥，就必须让新闻工作者免受不当影响，并且能像艾达那样报道事实。在新闻自由日这天，让我们在这里赞扬美中两国的新闻工作者所做的努力。

Author Ambassador Branstad
Images and words in the news capture our attention and shape our understanding of the world.  The photo of a scientist engaged in groundbreaking research.  The sharply-worded headline explaining a breaking news story.  The moment two presidents meet and shake hands, beamed around the world for their citizens to witness.  Like sunlight, good journalism clarifies, illuminates, and informs society.  On Press Freedom Day, we reflect on how important it is to protect this fundamental right for the benefit of all.
As Ambassador to China, I benefit from the dedication of journalists, both American and Chinese.  I have enjoyed my interactions with journalists in Beijing and across the country.  They work hard, often under difficult conditions.  Their task is critical, reporting on the U.S.-China relationship, the most important bilateral relationship in the world.
Americans value journalists.  Joseph Pulitzer, the famous American media leader who created the Pulitzer prize, called journalism, “A noble profession and one of unequaled importance for its influence upon the minds and morals of the people.”
America’s founding fathers recognized the power of journalism.  So they decided to protect it against interference.  The very first line of our Constitution’s bill of rights forbids the government from limiting freedom of the press.
The results have been remarkable.  For over two hundred years, journalists have channeled society’s robust debates in America and in most parts of the world.  The winner of these debates is always the people.  Of course, as with any debate—especially one with so many voices—there is bound to be disagreement and dissatisfaction.  The important point is this: as long as the public conversation stays open, the citizens get a full picture of the story, which they can evaluate and judge for themselves.
The birth of investigative journalism in the early 20th century provides a fascinating example of how this principle plays out.  In 1902, Ira Tarbell, a young female journalists, wrote a set of magazine articles revealing that John D. Rockefeller Sr.—one of the wealthiest and most powerful Americans of his age—had engaged in decades of illegal monopolistic business practices.  His company overcharged millions of American consumers for gasoline and other common goods.  Ira’s reporting unveiled these abuses to the public, leading to the breakup of the company by government regulators.  Along the way, many people warned Ira against raising the ire of the powerful Rockefeller family, yet this journalist bravely did her job, researching and publishing the truth, thereby helping her fellow Americans root out and resolve a serious social problem.
Like Ira, generations of journalists have continued to help citizens understand the issues we face.  For journalism’s role in society to function, it is imperative for journalists to be free from undue influence, and, like Ira, report the facts.  On Press Freedom Day, let us all take a moment to commend the efforts of journalists in both the United States and China.