亞馬遜進軍新聞媒體
2013-08-01
Web only
作者：史書華編譯
圖片來源：flickr.com/photos/jornijorni
亞馬遜獨家專訪美國總統歐巴馬，透露全球電子零售龍頭，對新聞內容的企圖。
這兩天的美國財經新聞，全圍繞在兩個關鍵字：歐巴馬和亞馬遜（Amazon）。
美國時間7月30日，歐巴馬大動作飛到 位於田納西州的亞馬遜物流中心，發表經濟前瞻演說，在2,000位亞馬遜員工和家屬的面前，直接稱許亞馬遜積極投資本土、提供大量工作機會，是全美經濟發 展的燈塔，更趁美國新會計年度10月1日開始之前，大膽宣布，企業倘若積極投資、製造工作機會，提議把企業稅率從35%下修至28%。
會後 的隔天，亞馬遜也回了一記漂亮的球，立即宣布招募5,000名物流人員和2,000名客服。儘管有批評指出，亞馬遜的薪水並沒有想像中優渥，倉儲物流人員 的年薪僅剛好超過美國政府定義的貧窮線，但這段歐巴馬和亞馬遜的友好關係，還被美國媒體戲稱為「歐巴馬的亞馬遜經濟學（Obama’s Amazon Economy）」。
而歐巴馬和亞馬遜的關係還不只如此。
在歐巴馬發表演說的隔天，亞馬遜獨家邀請歐巴馬，坐下來進行一對一訪談，談工作機會、談「美國夢」，全文刊登在亞馬遜旗下出版品Kindle Singles上，目前15頁訪談文章開放免費下載。
（圖片來源：Amazon.com）
Kindle Singles到底是什樣的出版品？借用唱片單曲的概念，亞馬遜於2011年推出電子出版品Kindle Singles，內容定位於「比雜誌長、但比書輕薄」。
這 次歐巴馬的採訪報導，也不是第一次Kindle Singles跨足新聞領域。上週，亞馬遜剛完成以色列總理西蒙·佩雷斯（Shimon Peres）的採訪，單篇文章以0.99美元在Kindle Singles上販售。除此之外，今年4月，亞馬遜執行長貝佐斯（Jeff Bezos）也宣布掏出私人500萬美金，投資財經新聞網站Business Insider。
國際新聞媒體《基督教科學箴言報》（The Christian Science Monitor ）採訪相關媒體專家，認為亞馬遜這一步，無非是想販售獨家內容，來刺激載具Kindle的銷量。如果亞馬遜還想藉由Kindle Singles踏入長篇訪問的新聞領域，也可能為新聞業帶來新震撼。
但諷刺的是，歐巴馬才稱讚亞馬遜是「美國再起」的信號之一，美國出版協會卻隨即發出聲明，認為亞馬遜打亂出版市場行情，亞馬遜本身才是打壓小型出版商、中傷美國經濟的罪魁禍首。
不論如何，有觀察家評論，歐巴馬和亞馬遜拉抬彼此的聲勢，讓過去兩天的美國，彷彿上演了一齣精心策劃的政治公關戲碼。（史書華編譯）
FORTUNE -- Amazon's announcement that it is planning to create thousands of new jobs in warehouses across the country is good news. Thousands more Americans will be working, paying taxes, and shopping. It will pull some families out of poverty and keep some others from falling into it.
But the very fact that the announcement is being heralded as a big deal -- and coordinated (at least in the media) with a speech on the economy by President Obama -- is actually bad news. Amazon's (AMZN) warehouse jobs do not in any way represent even a hint of a resurrection of the American economy. They represent only the continued slow, weak recovery from the latest recession. Structurally and in the long term, things still look grim. Nevertheless, Obama has chosen an Amazon facility as the site of his speech Tuesday, one of a series of speeches he's giving to promote his efforts to spur the economy.
Amazon is opening new warehouses in a bunch of states across the country, creating 5,000 full-time warehouse jobs and 2,000 customer-service positions in both existing and new facilities. The company boasts that the jobs pay on average 30% more than retail jobs. Yes, 30% better than not great is good. But it's far from great. The jobs pay between $11 and $13 an hour. That amounts to about $23,000 to $27,000 a year -- just a little above the official federal poverty line for a family of four. It's hard to know how many of the people taking the jobs will be supporting families solely on that income, but no matter what, it's clear the jobs don't represent the kind that are needed to put the country on a sound, sustainable economic footing. They are not middle-class jobs, or they shouldn't be. It's arguable whether they're adequate as working-class jobs.
MORE: How the Publicis-Omnicom deal started as a joke
Amazon is doing nothing wrong here, of course, but it's also not doing much to help rebuild the economy. The jobs are comparatively fairly decent. They include health benefits and stock grants to full-time employees that the company says average about 9% of workers' wages. The positions are a net gain for the economy at least in the short term, but they are also a symbol of its underlying weakness. As our manufacturing base continues to erode, jobs like this, while welcome, fail to serve as a panacea.
So why is Obama using an Amazon warehouse as a stage setting for his speech on jobs? Amy Brundage, a deputy White House press secretary, said this to the Chattanooga Times Free Press: "The Amazon facility in Chattanooga is a perfect example of the company that is investing in American workers and creating good, high-wage jobs." And: "What the president wants to do is to highlight Amazon and the Chattanooga facility as an example of a company that is spurring job growth and keeping our country competitive."
As the Times Free Press' Mike Pare notes, the median household income in Chattanooga is about $37,000. The median for Tennessee as a whole is $44,000, or just short of double the lower end of Amazon's pay rate for warehouse jobs.
美國時間7月30日，歐巴馬大動作飛到 位於田納西州的亞馬遜物流中心，發表經濟前瞻演說，在2,000位亞馬遜員工和家屬的面前，直接稱許亞馬遜積極投資本土、提供大量工作機會，是全美經濟發 展的燈塔，更趁美國新會計年度10月1日開始之前，大膽宣布，企業倘若積極投資、製造工作機會，提議把企業稅率從35%下修至28%。
會後 的隔天，亞馬遜也回了一記漂亮的球，立即宣布招募5,000名物流人員和2,000名客服。儘管有批評指出，亞馬遜的薪水並沒有想像中優渥，倉儲物流人員 的年薪僅剛好超過美國政府定義的貧窮線，但這段歐巴馬和亞馬遜的友好關係，還被美國媒體戲稱為「歐巴馬的亞馬遜經濟學（Obama’s Amazon Economy）」。
而歐巴馬和亞馬遜的關係還不只如此。
在歐巴馬發表演說的隔天，亞馬遜獨家邀請歐巴馬，坐下來進行一對一訪談，談工作機會、談「美國夢」，全文刊登在亞馬遜旗下出版品Kindle Singles上，目前15頁訪談文章開放免費下載。
（圖片來源：Amazon.com）
Kindle Singles到底是什樣的出版品？借用唱片單曲的概念，亞馬遜於2011年推出電子出版品Kindle Singles，內容定位於「比雜誌長、但比書輕薄」。
這 次歐巴馬的採訪報導，也不是第一次Kindle Singles跨足新聞領域。上週，亞馬遜剛完成以色列總理西蒙·佩雷斯（Shimon Peres）的採訪，單篇文章以0.99美元在Kindle Singles上販售。除此之外，今年4月，亞馬遜執行長貝佐斯（Jeff Bezos）也宣布掏出私人500萬美金，投資財經新聞網站Business Insider。
國際新聞媒體《基督教科學箴言報》（The Christian Science Monitor ）採訪相關媒體專家，認為亞馬遜這一步，無非是想販售獨家內容，來刺激載具Kindle的銷量。如果亞馬遜還想藉由Kindle Singles踏入長篇訪問的新聞領域，也可能為新聞業帶來新震撼。
但諷刺的是，歐巴馬才稱讚亞馬遜是「美國再起」的信號之一，美國出版協會卻隨即發出聲明，認為亞馬遜打亂出版市場行情，亞馬遜本身才是打壓小型出版商、中傷美國經濟的罪魁禍首。
不論如何，有觀察家評論，歐巴馬和亞馬遜拉抬彼此的聲勢，讓過去兩天的美國，彷彿上演了一齣精心策劃的政治公關戲碼。（史書華編譯）
Why is Obama giving his economy speech at an Amazon warehouse?
July 30, 2013: 11:29 AM ETThe White House says Amazon's warehouses provide "high-wage" jobs. Not quite.
FORTUNE -- Amazon's announcement that it is planning to create thousands of new jobs in warehouses across the country is good news. Thousands more Americans will be working, paying taxes, and shopping. It will pull some families out of poverty and keep some others from falling into it.
But the very fact that the announcement is being heralded as a big deal -- and coordinated (at least in the media) with a speech on the economy by President Obama -- is actually bad news. Amazon's (AMZN) warehouse jobs do not in any way represent even a hint of a resurrection of the American economy. They represent only the continued slow, weak recovery from the latest recession. Structurally and in the long term, things still look grim. Nevertheless, Obama has chosen an Amazon facility as the site of his speech Tuesday, one of a series of speeches he's giving to promote his efforts to spur the economy.
Amazon is opening new warehouses in a bunch of states across the country, creating 5,000 full-time warehouse jobs and 2,000 customer-service positions in both existing and new facilities. The company boasts that the jobs pay on average 30% more than retail jobs. Yes, 30% better than not great is good. But it's far from great. The jobs pay between $11 and $13 an hour. That amounts to about $23,000 to $27,000 a year -- just a little above the official federal poverty line for a family of four. It's hard to know how many of the people taking the jobs will be supporting families solely on that income, but no matter what, it's clear the jobs don't represent the kind that are needed to put the country on a sound, sustainable economic footing. They are not middle-class jobs, or they shouldn't be. It's arguable whether they're adequate as working-class jobs.
MORE: How the Publicis-Omnicom deal started as a joke
Amazon is doing nothing wrong here, of course, but it's also not doing much to help rebuild the economy. The jobs are comparatively fairly decent. They include health benefits and stock grants to full-time employees that the company says average about 9% of workers' wages. The positions are a net gain for the economy at least in the short term, but they are also a symbol of its underlying weakness. As our manufacturing base continues to erode, jobs like this, while welcome, fail to serve as a panacea.
So why is Obama using an Amazon warehouse as a stage setting for his speech on jobs? Amy Brundage, a deputy White House press secretary, said this to the Chattanooga Times Free Press: "The Amazon facility in Chattanooga is a perfect example of the company that is investing in American workers and creating good, high-wage jobs." And: "What the president wants to do is to highlight Amazon and the Chattanooga facility as an example of a company that is spurring job growth and keeping our country competitive."
As the Times Free Press' Mike Pare notes, the median household income in Chattanooga is about $37,000. The median for Tennessee as a whole is $44,000, or just short of double the lower end of Amazon's pay rate for warehouse jobs.
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