2022年11月28日 VOA慢速英語：泰勒·斯威夫特的票務問題可能會推動政治組織

 

Ticket sales for popular singer Taylor Swift's first live performances in years went very poorly this month —and her fans are angry.
本月，流行歌手泰勒·斯威夫特多年來首次現(xiàn)場表演的門票銷售情況非常糟糕——她的歌迷很生氣。
 
Swift's fans want people to know that they are not young anymore. They have jobs and resources. That is a powerful political driver, researchers say.
斯威夫特的歌迷想讓人們知道他們不再年輕了。他們有工作和資源。研究人員說，這是一個強大的政治驅動因素。
 
The problems started November 15 when millions of young people tried to use the service Ticketmaster to buy tickets for Swift's Eras Tour. But their efforts resulted in computer problems, long waits and hurried purchases. Two days later, Ticketmaster had canceled the sale, saying there were not enough remaining tickets. Swift herself said she was upset.
問題始于 11 月 15 日，當時數(shù)百萬年輕人試圖使用 Ticketmaster 服務購買斯威夫特時代之旅的門票。但他們的努力導致了電腦問題、漫長的等待和倉促的購買。兩天后，Ticketmaster 取消了此次銷售，稱剩余門票不足。斯威夫特自己說她很沮喪。
 
Ticketmaster, a company based in Beverley Hills, California, apologized. But now fans, who call themselves Swifties, and politicians have started acting on the frustration.
位于加利福尼亞州貝弗利山的 Ticketmaster 公司為此道歉。但現(xiàn)在，自稱為 Swifties 的粉絲和政客們已經開始對這種挫敗感采取行動。
 
U.S. House Representative from New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez directed Swift fans to the U.S. Department of Justice to make complaints. Several state officials have announced investigations.
美國。來自紐約的眾議院代表亞歷山大·奧卡西奧-科爾特斯 (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 指示斯威夫特的粉絲向美國司法部投訴。幾位州政府官員已宣布展開調查。
 
Stephanie Aly is a New York-based professional who has worked on community organizing for political causes. She thinks using groups of fans, called fandoms, for social progress is a good idea.
斯蒂芬妮·阿里 (Stephanie Aly) 是紐約的一名專業(yè)人士，曾從事政治事業(yè)的社區(qū)組織工作。她認為，利用稱為粉絲圈的粉絲群體來促進社會進步是個好主意。
 
"Fandoms are natural organizers," said the 33-year-old Aly. "If you find the right issues and you activate them and engage them then you can effect real change."
“粉絲圈是天生的組織者，”33 歲的 Aly 說。 “如果你找到正確的問題并激活它們并讓它們參與進來，那么你就能帶來真正的改變。”
 
For example, K-pop fans, who follow Korean popular music groups, organized to support the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.
例如，關注韓國流行音樂團體的 K-pop 粉絲組織起來支持黑人2020 年“生命至上”運動。
 
Aly and other Swifties who work in different industries have teamed up to create Vigilante Legal. The group is made up of people with experience in law, public relations, cybersecurity and other fields. It is targeting Ticketmaster by creating emails to petition top state lawyers, or attorneys general, and to provide antitrust information. Thousands have expressed interest in helping.
Aly 和其他在不同行業(yè)工作的 Swifties 聯(lián)手創(chuàng)建了 Vigilante Legal。該小組由具有法律、公共關系、網絡安全和其他領域經驗的人士組成。它通過創(chuàng)建電子郵件向頂級州律師或總檢察長請愿并提供反托拉斯信息來瞄準 Ticketmaster。數(shù)千人表示有興趣提供幫助。
 
"The level of anger that you've just seen in the country around this issue is astounding," said Jean Sinzdak. She is with the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
“您剛剛在該國看到的圍繞這個問題的憤怒程度令人震驚，”讓·辛茲達克說。她在新澤西州羅格斯大學美國婦女與政治中心工作。
 
Sinzdak said the ticket problems are giving Swift's many young fans a direct line to learning how policy is created. The movement also is targeting young women who politicians often do not consider during election season.
辛茲達克說，票務問題讓斯威夫特的許多年輕粉絲可以直接了解政策是如何制定的。該運動還針對政治家在選舉季節(jié)通常不會考慮的年輕女性。
 
"Nobody goes out and thinks, ‘Let's target young women,'" said Gwen Nisbett, a University of North Texas professor. She researches the connection between political activism and popular culture. "Be it about abortion or student loans, that age group is super mobilized and young women are super mobilized."
“沒有人出去想，‘讓我們以年輕女性為目標’，”北德克薩斯大學教授格溫·尼斯貝特 (Gwen Nisbett) 說。她研究政治激進主義與流行文化之間的聯(lián)系。 “無論是關于墮胎還是學生貸款，那個年齡段的人都被超級動員起來，年輕女性也被超級動員起來。”
 
Being part of a fan community increases the chance of mobilization, Nisbett said. She has studied developments that took place in 2018. At that time, Swift, who had been non-political, gave her support to Democratic candidates for office on social media. Nisbett found that such social media efforts do not decide fans' votes. But they influence fans to look for more information and to possibly vote.
尼斯貝特說，成為粉絲社區(qū)的一員會增加動員的機會。她研究了 2018 年發(fā)生的事態(tài)發(fā)展。當時，非政治人物斯威夫特在社交媒體上支持民主黨候選人競選公職。尼斯貝特發(fā)現(xiàn)，這種社交媒體的努力并不能決定粉絲的投票。但他們影響粉絲尋找更多信息并可能投票。
 
This is not the first time fans or artists have targeted Ticketmaster. The band Pearl Jam targeted the company in 1994 although the Justice Department decided not to bring a legal case against the company. More recently, Bruce Springsteen fans were angered over high ticket prices because of Ticketmaster's pricing system.
這不是粉絲或藝人第一次將目標對準 Ticketmaster。 Pearl Jam 樂隊于 1994 年將該公司作為目標，盡管司法部決定不對該公司提起法律訴訟。最近，Bruce Springsteen 的歌迷對 Ticketmaster 的定價系統(tǒng)導致的高票價感到憤怒。
 
Aly noted that many of the members of her group did get tickets. But she said the issue is bigger than Ticketmaster.
Aly 指出，她小組的許多成員確實拿到了票。但她說這個問題比 Ticketmaster 更重要。
 
"…There are always enough of us to make a difference," Aly said. She added: "Your involvement may be the thing that pushes it over the edge that forces the government to act."
“......我們總是有足夠的人來有所作為，”Aly 說。她補充說：“你的參與可能會把它推到迫使政府采取行動的邊緣。”