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The Washington Post is looking to become a software provider to other news organisations to develop new revenue streams and raise its profile as a technology company.
《华盛顿邮报》(Washington Post)正寻求成为一家面向其他新闻机构的软件提供商，以开发新的营收来源，并树立其作为一家科技企业的形象。
The US newspaper, which has accelerated its search for digital revenues since being bought by Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezosfor $250m last year, has been approached about licensing the software it has developed to power its website. Potential clients could include the recently launched network of local and regional US newspapers whose subscribers receive free access to the Post’s digital products.
这家美国报纸自去年被亚马逊(Amazon)首席执行官杰夫•贝索斯(Jeff Bezos)以2.5亿美元收购以来，加快了搜寻数字业务营收的努力。一些潜在客户已接洽该报，涉及授权使用该报为自身网站开发的软件。这些潜在客户可能包括近期发起的美国地方和地区报纸网络，这些报纸的订户可免费访问《邮报》的数字产品。
The paper views “the partner programme as not just about content but about us offering technology solutions”, said Shailesh Prakash, chief information officer.
首席信息官沙雷什•普拉卡什(Shailesh Prakash)表示，该报“把合作伙伴计划的关键不仅视为提供内容，而是由我们提供技术解决方案”。
Student newspapers at Columbia, Yale and the University of Maryland already use the Post’s content management software in a trial for how it could be opened up to other professional news services.
哥伦比亚大学、耶鲁大学和马里兰大学的学生报纸已经在试用《邮报》的内容管理软件，看该软件如何能够被其他专业新闻服务利用。
Developing a licensing business would be a further step in the Post’s efforts to generate digital profits as its print business shrinks. It also comes as changing media consumption habits and pressure from new competitors are pushing news organisations to invest in beefing up their technological prowess.
在印刷版业务萎缩之际，发展软件授权业务将是《邮报》在努力创造数字利润方面迈出的又一步。另一个背景是，不断变化的媒体消费习惯和来自新竞争对手的压力，正在推动新闻机构投资于加强自己的技术实力。
The Post is swimming against strong currents. Standard & Poor’s estimated in September that US newspapers and magazines would see earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fall by mid-to-high single-digit percentages to at least the end of 2015. Print advertising revenue was set for further falls, S&P said, and “digital strategies alone will not halt the overall slide in ebitda for publishers, which must increase subscription and cover prices to try and stabilise revenues”.
《邮报》面临的阻力较大。标准普尔(Standard & Poor’s) 9月估计，美国报纸和杂志至少到2015年底将出现5%至9%的利息、税项、折旧及摊销前盈利(EBITDA)下滑。标普称，印刷广告收入肯定会进一步下跌，“数字战略本身并不能遏止出版商EBITDA的整体下滑趋势，它们必须提高订阅和零售价格，以求稳定营收”。
“In the short and medium term, print provides the money until digital can become self-sustaining over time,” said Steve Hills, Washington Post president. “In the very long term, the battle is all about digital. We’re taking that Jeff Bezos long view,” he said.
“在短期和中期，印刷版业务维持了收入来源，直到数字业务能够逐渐自我维持，”《华盛顿邮报》总裁史蒂文•希尔斯(Steve Hills)表示。“就非常遥远的长期而言，竞争的关键完全落在数字方面。我们正抱着杰夫•贝索斯的那种长远眼光，”他说。
In past the 16 months, Mr Bezos has been injecting money into the Post. It has hired 100 editorial staff, for a net gain of about 60, and launched blogs and digital products, including an app on Amazon’s Fire tablet that offers morning and evening editions. The publisher no longer releases financial information but executives point to traffic growth as evidence that the strategy is working. Unique visitors increased 62 per cent to 45.8m in November from a year ago, according to ComScore.
在过去16个月里，贝索斯一直在向《邮报》注资。该报已经聘请了100名编辑人员，使编辑人员数量净增加大约60人，并推出各种博客和数字产品，包括亚马逊Fire平板电脑上的应用，该应用提供晨报和晚报版本。这家出版商不再发布财务信息，但高管们将流量增长列为证据，证明这项战略正在奏效。根据ComScore的数据，11月独立访客数量同比增长62%，至4580万。
But it is the technology side of the business that shows the clearest signs of the Amazon founder’s influence. The Post hired 20 engineers in 2014, and now employs 225, split between developers working on its digital initiatives and more traditional IT functions at its printing plant and human resources, sales and advertising departments.
但从该报的整个业务看，科技方面展现出亚马逊创始人影响力的最明显迹象。《邮报》在2014年聘请了20名工程师，现在总共雇用225名工程师，其中一半是该报各项数字计划的开发人员，另一半执行比较传统的IT职能，分布于该报的印刷厂以及人力资源、销售和广告部门。
Mr Prakash said he was “borrowing a page out of Amazon” in developing software that both suits the Post’s needs and could be opened up to other users. Amazon Web Services, which provides cloud computing to customers from the CIA to Netflix, has become the ecommerce company’s fastest-growing division.
普拉卡什说，开发既适合《邮报》需要、又能被其他用户加以利用的软件，是在“借鉴亚马逊的做法”。提供云计算的亚马逊网络服务(Amazon Web Services)，已成为这家电子商务公司增长最快的部门，客户包括美国中央情报局(CIA)和流媒体提供商Netflix。
“Technology is core to our business,” Mr Prakash said of the push to develop more software in-house. “You wouldn’t outsource the business plan or the revenue plant. Why would you outsource technology?”
“技术是我们业务的核心，”普拉卡什在谈到自行开发更多软件的努力时表示。“你不会外包业务计划或产生营收的工厂。为什么要外包技术呢？”
