美國數位媒體大裁員
America’s free online news heavyweights, BuzzFeed and HuffPost, were hit by a new wave of layoffs last week, showing that digital media firms are struggling to monetize in an increasingly saturated attention economy.
美國免費線上新聞網站巨頭BuzzFeed及「哈芬登郵報」（HuffPost）上週雙雙受新一波裁員的衝擊，顯示數位媒體在日益飽和的注意力經濟中，越來越難盈利生存。
heavyweight(n.)(拳擊)重量級選手;重量級人物;巨頭giant(n.)巨頭=behemothlayoff(n.)解僱;解聘struggle to RV 努力、拼命地做～monetize(v.)從…賺錢=make money=turn a profitsaturated(adj.)飽和的saturated fat飽和脂肪unsaturated(adj.)不飽和的attention economy注意力經濟
At BuzzFeed, 250 employees, around 15% of its staff, were laid off over a period of several workdays. It was the second wave of job cuts in 14 months.
BuzzFeed在幾個工作天內裁掉約250位員工，約佔總人數的百分之十五，為近14個月來第2波裁員。
lay off解僱(某人);解聘(某人)
HuffPost will dismiss 20 writers and eliminate its Opinion and Healthcare sections as its parent company, Verizon Media, which also owns Yahoo and AOL, plans to cut 7% of its total workforce (a total of 750 employees).
哈芬登郵報將解僱20名撰稿人，並取消其「社論」和「醫療保健」頁面，哈芬登郵報的母公司威瑞森媒體，旗下還有雅虎和AOL等線上媒體，也裁掉百分之七的員工（共750人）。
dismiss(v.)(尤指因做錯事)使免職;將…解職;解僱eliminate(v.)排除、消除、清除=remove=get ride of~
Although no explanation was publicly given for the downsizing, the reasons are clear.
雖然兩家公司未對外說明，但裁員原因很清楚。
downsize(v)(使)減員;(使)(公司或組織)瘦身
It has become increasingly difficult for companies like BuzzFeed to build a thriving business based solely on advertising revenue.
對於像BuzzFeed這樣的公司來說，光靠廣告收入賺錢已變得越來越不容易。
thrive(v.)茁壯成長、興旺、繁榮、(生意)興隆=flourish=boom
“They were started pretty much with the idea of trying to assemble a great big audience and then sell advertising against those numbers,” said Rick Edmonds, a media business analyst at the Poynter Institute.
波因特學院媒體業分析師艾德蒙茲說：「他們一開始的想法是試圖集合一大群受眾，然後對這群人銷售廣告。
assemble(v.)聚集;集合
“But Google and Facebook have grown into much, much more of an audience. And they’re also better at gathering information and targeting people.”
但谷歌和臉書受眾群成長的越來越大，而他們也更擅長聚集資訊並瞄準對象。」
target(n.)目標(v.)(廣告、批評或產品)以…為目標(或對象)
The search engine giant and the social network behemoth are expected to capture more than half of global ad spending by 2020.
預期2020年，谷歌和臉書將掌握全球廣告支出的一半以上，
behemoth(n.)龐然大物;強大的事物;巨頭
Their market share is anticipated to grow by 75% between 2017 and 2020, compared with a 15% growth for other digital media companies, according to eMarketer forecasts.
市場研究公司eMarketer預測，2017年至2020年兩家公司的市佔率預期將成長75％，而其他數位媒體公司的成長率為15％。
be anticipated to RV=be expected to RV 預期將會…compared with~相較於…
“The free, ad-based model on which a lot of digital media projects are built is in jeopardy,” warned Dan Kennedy, journalism professor at Northeastern University.
東北大學新聞學教授甘迺迪警告：「免費、以廣告為基礎的數位媒體經營的模正受到威脅。」
in jeopardy=in danger=in peril處於危險之中;受到威脅
Neither BuzzFeed nor HuffPost are in danger of disappearing, but their status is tarnished in the eyes of many tech investors who are used to a double-digit annual growth, said the professor.
甘迺迪教授說，BuzzFeed和HuffPost都沒有立即消失的危險，但在許多習慣雙位數年成長率的科技投資者看來，他們的地位已經黯然失色。
tarnish(v.)(使)(尤指金屬)失去光澤;(使)變暗淡;(使)褪色、誹謗;中傷be used to~=be accustomed to~ 習慣於double-digit雙位數的single-digit單位數的