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companies can get?sucked?in to spending too much on their image
??? 公司可以会因为在形象上花费太多而堕入(suck)窘境
some decades ago bartleby was covering the results of a company that was then in the ftse 100 index. he was?ushered?into the offices of the firm’s public-relations outfit, whereupon the?smooth-talking?pr man (still a?titan?of the industry today) launched into a ten-minute monologue about the company’s strategy. at that point a subordinate popped?his head around the door and the pr man was called away. “thank goodness he’s gone,” said the chief executive. “now i can tell you what is really happening.”
??? 几十年前，巴托比专栏宣告了一家其时在富时100指数中的公司的成果。一位公关人员被带进(usher 引导,引领)这家公司公关(public-relation 简称pr)部分(outfit 悉数配备,集体,小组)的单位，随后(whereupon 因而,之后)这位能说会道(smooth-talking)的公关人员(如今仍是作业巨子(titan))就公司的战略初步了非常钟的独白(monologue)。就在这时，一个部下(subordinate)在门口探出头来，公关人员被叫走了。“谢天谢地，他走了，”ceo说。“如今我可以告诉你发生了啥。”
any big business may need a team to handle its public image and to deal with the “reptiles” of the press, as denis thatcher?dubbed?them. (this extends to pr firms: this week reports of inappropriate behaviour forced the boss of a big one, teneo, to resign.) but once you start employing pr people, it can be difficult to stop. in a?variant?of parkinson’s law, “pr expands to fill the budget available.” companies can hire an?in-house?team while also choosing to use an external pr firm. and if bad news strikes, bosses often want to call in a firm that specialises in “crisis management”.
??? 任何一家大公司可以都需要一个团队来控制这家公司的公共形象以及处置来自对手的压力，丹尼斯撒切尔(撒切尔夫人的丈夫)称之(dub 刺戳,配音,译制,起绰号,公布称谓,水潭)为“变色龙(reptile 爬行为物)”。(这也拖累到了公关公司：本周关于不当行为的报导致使一家大公司的老板teneo辞去职务。)可是一旦你初步雇佣公关人员，它就很难再中止了。在帕金森规则的一个变体(variant)中，“公关集体的拓宽可以加添可用的核算。”公司可以雇佣公司内部的公关集体也可以选择运用外部的(external) （eternal 永久的)公关公司。假定坏消息来袭，老板们一般会想请一家专门从事“危机打点”的公司。
a company’s aim is to frame the narrative in a favourable manner.any firm wants to be seen not as a money-grubbing corporation that pollutes the environment and exploits its workers but as an innovative pioneer with sustainable operations and a social conscience. an expert pr executive can hone such a message and identify the best way of communicating it to investors and the wider public, for example by selecting the journalists and publications which will lend it a sympathetic ear.
??? 一家公司的方针是以有利的方法来组织叙说(narrative)。任何公司都不想被视为是一家污染环境，压榨(exploit)工人的聚财(grub 蛆,翻找)公司，而是一家私有可持续运营和社会良知(conscience)的立异(innovative)前锋。一个专业的公关主管可以提炼(hone 训练)出这些信息，而且找到向出资者和更广泛的大众传达信息的最佳方法，比方经过选择记者和出书物来倾诉衷肠(lead a sympathetic ear)。
that is the theory, at least. in practice, most journalists’ dealings with pr professionals resemble “groundhog day”. day 1: pr person sends email about client. day 2: pr person sends follow-up email to check journalist received earlier missive. day 3: pr person calls journalist to make absolutely certain that they are aware of the emails’ existence. day 4: pr sends a fresh email about the same client, and the process begins anew.
??? 至少理论上是这样的。实践上，大有些记者与公关专业人士的交游类似于(resemble)“土拨鼠(groundhog)日(描述作业不断重复，是一部影片)”。第一天：公关人员发送关于客户的电子邮件。第二天：公关人员发送跟进邮件以查看记者是不是收到了之前的函件(missive)。第三天：公关人员给记者打电话，以必定断定他们晓得这些邮件的存在。第四天：公关人员发送一个关于同一客户的新的邮件，一起流程从头初步。
perhaps this frenetic activity has a use. there is a chance that some publication has a desperate need to fill space, or was looking for a random executive’s views on an issue of the day. but in most cases it only serves to irritate the correspondent who has to deal with the pestering.
??? 或许这种张狂的(frenetic)活动有其用武之地。有一种可所以，一些出书社火急(desperate 急迫的,绝望的)需要加添空白，或许随意寻找一位高管来采访他对当天某件作业的观点。但在大有些情况下，它只会激怒(irritate)有必要处置纠缠(pester)的记者。
the poor office juniors at the pr companies are given the thankless task of chasing emails. more senior staff operate face-to-face, or at least did in the pre-pandemic days. they tend to come in three types. the first is the interventionist mentioned earlier, who pontificates as if they were actually on the board of the company concerned. friendly on the surface, these pr people tend to get patronising or hostile if the journalist asks an uncomfortable question. an unfavourable piece will be followed up with an angry phone call (lord x will be very disappointed by your article) or even an attempt to influence the editor.
??? 公关公司里那些不幸的初级职工被分管担任去追电子邮件这种费劲不凑趣的作业。更多的高档职工则是面临面作业，至少在疫情之前是如此。他们有3品种型。第一种是前面说到的干与(intervene)主义者，他们自命特别(pontificate)，就如同他们是这个公司的董事会成员。他们表面上友爱，但当这些公关人员被记者问到一个不舒畅的疑问时，他们会变得狂妄(patronise)或充溢歹意。一篇晦气的文章将会被愤恨的电话跟进(x勋爵【代指一切男性贵族，此处为讥讽那些自认为是的公关人员，lord 主人,勋爵】将会对你的文章非常绝望)或许甚至企图影响文章的修改。
the second pr type is much more discreet. some issue the minimal amount of information as part of a deliberate policy to keep their clients out of the headlines. others are keen on publicity but maintain a trappist-like silence in meetings, content only to take notes and enjoy expensive lunches while the client talks. apart from inflating the revenues of the restaurant industry, it can be hard to discern 
what function this group serves.
??? 第二品种型的公关人员会愈加的稳重(discreet)。这类公关人员以发布(issue v.)最少量的信息，作为让他们的客户远离头条新闻的方针的一有些。其别人则热心(keen)于宣传但在会议中则坚持像捕兽者(trappist)相同的缄默沉静，只满足于做笔记以及在客户说话时享受名贵的午饭。除了添加餐饮作业的财务收入，很难再看出(discern 发觉)这个团队有啥作用。
there is a third group. some pr people supply useful facts about the company when asked, give an accurate steer on whether market rumours are true, and arrange an interview with the chief executive when required. these helpful pr people are scattered unevenly across the corporate sector. it is virtually impossible to predict where they will be found.
??? 还有第三品种型的公关人员。当被问到公司的情况时，这类公关人员会供给有用的实际，关于商场上的传言是不是实际会给出一个精确的辅导(steer 操作,控制,引导)，并在需要时组织对ceo的采访。这些有用的公关人员不均衡地(unevenly)散落(scatter)在公司的各个部分。几乎(virtually 虚拟地,实际上)不可以能预知他们将会在哪被找到。
the existence of these three categories is not the only reason journalists have a love-hate relationship with the pr industry. however
irritating pr people can be, they are often one of the only conduits for information about a company. and many hacks in their 30s and 40s opt to join the industry as a way of earning a bigger salary. in a sense, the relationship is an ecosystem, in which both parties regard the other as the parasites.
??? 这三类公关人员的存在不是记者对公关人员又爱又恨的仅有理由。不管公关人员有多烦人(irritating 愤恨的,影响,使振奋)，他们一般都是获取公司信息的仅有途径(conduit 水管,途径)。许多30到40多岁的黑客选择参加这个作业就是为了赚取更多的钱。从某种意义上来说(in a sense)，这种联络就像是一个生态体系，两边都视对方为寄生虫(parasite)。
whether companies need to finance this system is another matter, as the main benefits go to the participants. a lot of pr activity has zero impact on the client’s public profile. it seems like a more extreme version of the famous quote about advertising: three-quarters of the money i spend on public relations is wasted—the problem is knowing which three-quarters.
??? 公司是不是需要拿出资金来坚持这个体系是另一个疑问，因为首要的利益归于参加者(指公司)。许多公关活动关于客户的大众形象(profile)没有任何影响。这如同是关于广告的名言的一个更极点的版别：我花在公关上的钱有四分之三被浪费了—但疑问是我不晓得哪四分之三被浪费了。
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