在民主国家，任何限制新闻自由的行为都理所当然地受到谴责。
In democratic countries any efforts to restrict the freedom of the press are rightly condemned.
然而，这种自由却很容易遭到滥用。
However, this freedom can easily be abused.
关于人的故事往往比政治事件吸引更多的公众关注。
Stories about people often attract far more public attention than political events.
尽管我们或许喜欢阅读别人的生活故事，但我们是否同样喜欢阅读自己的故事，这是极其值得怀疑的。
Though we may enjoy reading about the lives of others, it is extremely doubtful whether we would equally enjoy reading about ourselves.
记者们以"事实神圣不可侵犯"为由，通过发布当事人私生活的细节，可以给个人造成难以言喻的痛苦。
Acting on the contention that facts are sacred, reporters can cause untold suffering to individuals by publishing details about their private lives.
报纸发挥着如此巨大的影响力，以至于它们不仅能给普通人的生活带来重大改变，甚至还能推翻一个政府。
Newspapers exert such tremendous influence that they can not only bring about major changes to the lives of ordinary people but can even overthrow a government.
一个贫穷家庭一夜之间获得名誉和财富的故事，生动地说明了新闻媒体的力量。
The story of a poor family that acquired fame and fortune overnight, dramatically illustrates the power of the press.
这家人住在阿伯丁，这是南达科他州的一个有两万三千名居民的小镇。
The family lived in Aberdeen, a small town of 23,000 inhabitants in South Dakota.
由于父母已有五个孩子，生活是一场与贫困永无止境的抗争。
As the parents had five children, life was a perpetual struggle against poverty.
他们正期待着第六个孩子的降生，同时也面临着更为紧迫的经济问题。
They were expecting their sixth child and were faced with even more pressing economic problems.
如果他们只是多生了一个孩子，这件事情本会悄然无声地过去。
If they had only had one more child, the fact would have passed unnoticed.
他们本会继续与艰难的经济困境抗争，并在默默无闻中度过一生。
They would have continued to struggle against economic odds and would have lived in obscurity.
但他们突然生了五胞胎——四个女孩和一个男孩——这一事件从根本上改变了他们的生活。
But they suddenly became the parents of quintuplets, four girls and a boy, an event which radically changed their lives.
五个孩子出生后的第二天，一架飞机飞抵阿伯丁，带来了六十名记者和摄影师。
The day after the birth of the five children, an aeroplane arrived in Aberdeen bringing sixty reporters and photographers.
成名的速度之快令人咋舌。
The rise to fame was swift.
电视摄像机和报纸将这一消息传递到了全国每一个人那里。
Television cameras and newspapers carried the news to everyone in the country.
报纸和杂志为家庭提供了巨额金钱，以换取独家发布故事和照片的权利。
Newspapers and magazines offered the family huge sums for the exclusive rights to publish stories and photographs.
礼物不断涌来，不仅来自陌生人，也来自那些希望借此宣传产品的婴儿食品和肥皂制造商。
Gifts poured in not only from unknown people, but from baby food and soap manufacturers who wished to advertise their products.
这家人居住的旧农舍将被一栋价值五十万美元的新房所取代。
The old farmhouse the family lived in was to be replaced by a new $500,000 home.
记者们持续不断地要求采访，因此不得不雇用律师，在新闻发布会上充当家庭的发言人。
Reporters kept pressing for interviews so lawyers had to be employed to act as spokesmen for the family at press conferences.
就在五个婴儿还在医院育婴室的氧气帐篷里静静地沉睡的时候，他们的父母已经在为名声付出代价了。
While the five babies were still quietly sleeping in oxygen tents in a hospital nursery, their parents were paying the price for fame.
他们将永远不可能再过上正常的生活了。
It would never again be possible for them to lead normal lives.
他们已经成为商业化的受害者，因为他们的名字已经具有了市场价值。
They had become the victims of commercialization, for their names had acquired a market value.
这些孩子没有成为五个新的家庭成员，而是立刻变成了一种商品。
Instead of being five new family members, these children had immediately become a commodity.