2022年11月28日 VOA慢速英语：泰勒·斯威夫特的票务问题可能会推动政治组织

 

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·斯威夫特多年来首次现场表演的门票销售情况非常糟糕——她的歌迷很生气。
 
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.
斯威夫特的歌迷想让人们知道他们不再年轻了。他们有工作和资源。研究人员说，这是一个强大的政治驱动因素。
 
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.
问题始于 11 月 15 日，当时数百万年轻人试图使用 Ticketmaster 服务购买斯威夫特时代之旅的门票。但他们的努力导致了电脑问题、漫长的等待和仓促的购买。两天后，Ticketmaster 取消了此次销售，称剩余门票不足。斯威夫特自己说她很沮丧。
 
Ticketmaster, a company based in Beverley Hills, California, apologized. But now fans, who call themselves Swifties, and politicians have started acting on the frustration.
位于加利福尼亚州贝弗利山的 Ticketmaster 公司为此道歉。但现在，自称为 Swifties 的粉丝和政客们已经开始对这种挫败感采取行动。
 
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.
美国。来自纽约的众议院代表亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯 (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 指示斯威夫特的粉丝向美国司法部投诉。几位州政府官员已宣布展开调查。
 
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) 是纽约的一名专业人士，曾从事政治事业的社区组织工作。她认为，利用称为粉丝圈的粉丝群体来促进社会进步是个好主意。
 
"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."
“粉丝圈是天生的组织者，”33 岁的 Aly 说。 “如果你找到正确的问题并激活它们并让它们参与进来，那么你就能带来真正的改变。”
 
For example, K-pop fans, who follow Korean popular music groups, organized to support the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.
例如，关注韩国流行音乐团体的 K-pop 粉丝组织起来支持黑人2020 年“生命至上”运动。
 
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 和其他在不同行业工作的 Swifties 联手创建了 Vigilante Legal。该小组由具有法律、公共关系、网络安全和其他领域经验的人士组成。它通过创建电子邮件向顶级州律师或总检察长请愿并提供反托拉斯信息来瞄准 Ticketmaster。数千人表示有兴趣提供帮助。
 
"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.
“您刚刚在该国看到的围绕这个问题的愤怒程度令人震惊，”让·辛兹达克说。她在新泽西州罗格斯大学美国妇女与政治中心工作。
 
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.
辛兹达克说，票务问题让斯威夫特的许多年轻粉丝可以直接了解政策是如何制定的。该运动还针对政治家在选举季节通常不会考虑的年轻女性。
 
"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."
“没有人出去想，‘让我们以年轻女性为目标’，”北德克萨斯大学教授格温·尼斯贝特 (Gwen Nisbett) 说。她研究政治激进主义与流行文化之间的联系。 “无论是关于堕胎还是学生贷款，那个年龄段的人都被超级动员起来，年轻女性也被超级动员起来。”
 
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.
尼斯贝特说，成为粉丝社区的一员会增加动员的机会。她研究了 2018 年发生的事态发展。当时，非政治人物斯威夫特在社交媒体上支持民主党候选人竞选公职。尼斯贝特发现，这种社交媒体的努力并不能决定粉丝的投票。但他们影响粉丝寻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.
这不是粉丝或艺人第一次将目标对准 Ticketmaster。 Pearl Jam 乐队于 1994 年将该公司作为目标，尽管司法部决定不对该公司提起法律诉讼。最近，Bruce Springsteen 的歌迷对 Ticketmaster 的定价系统导致的高票价感到愤怒。
 
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，她小组的许多成员确实拿到了票。但她说这个问题比 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."
“......我们总是有足够的人来有所作为，”Aly 说。她补充说：“你的参与可能会把它推到迫使政府采取行动的边缘。”