[UPDATED 6 Nov 2008] Video and audio: click here, and the actual speech delivered here (PDF).

Source: CNN. As released by the Obama campaign:

Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama—as prepared for delivery
Election Night
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
Chicago, Illinois

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics – you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.

I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

火星警告：一个星期之前《金融时报》、《南方都市报》上的文章，网上反应很热烈。网址就不贴了，请自行搜索。

西藏：真相与民族主义情绪

长平

拉萨事件发生以后，小道消息迅速传开，但是国内媒体照例噤声。连续几天，各家媒体上都只有西藏自治区负责人的简短通报和谈话。通报中，对于事件的描述只有一句：“近日，拉萨极少数人进行打、砸、抢、烧破坏活动。”相当于一个标题新闻。民众从谈话对达赖集团的严厉谴责中，已经知道此事非同小可，自然愿闻其详。依循过去的经验，很多人通过境外媒体来获取更多消息。此时，几个揭露境外媒体虚假报道的帖子和视频却在网上流传开来，很快就酿成了一场中国民众愤怒声讨西方媒体的网络事件，出现了一些命名为“反 CNN”、“反BBC”、“反美国之音”的网站。

根据网民搜集的材料，包括德国、美国、英国和印度在内的一些国家的媒体对拉萨事件的报道中出现了明显的事实错误。从新闻职业规范来看，有些错误非常低级，甚至有刻意误导的嫌疑。尽管有几家媒体进行了道歉和更正，但是失实新闻造成的伤害既成事实，难以得到中国民众的谅解。跟任何虚假新闻一样，这个伤害首先指向媒体自身的公信力，一万个真实也挽救不了一个谎言。在此事的后续报道中，在将来的其他重大事件中，倘或中国媒体同样不能自由报道，而境外媒体又变得面目可疑，那么真相从何处来呢？

一些揭露境外媒体虚假报道的网民宣称，他们要用行动让世人看到拉萨事件的真相。这个说法逻辑不通，因为他们的行动只能让人看见西方媒体报道不实的这个真相。拉萨究竟发生了什么？大多数中国人看到的只有政府在封锁消息几天之后统一发布的新闻。对于任何来源单一的垄断性新闻发布，我不敢说它是假的，但是也不能确认它是真的。事实上，境外媒体大多称之为“中国政府精心编织的真相”。随后政府组织外国记者赴藏采访，他们的报道大多也没有翻译过来。由于声讨西方媒体热浪当头，即便翻译过来也没多少人相信。

愤怒仍在扩散。尽管“反CNN”网站声明，“我们并不反对媒体本身，我们只反对某些媒体的不客观报道；我们并不反对西方人民，但是我们反对偏见”，但事实并非总是如此，很多网民走到了相反的方向，甚至一开始就站在相反的方向：他们并不真的在乎新闻的客观公正，而在乎媒体本身的立场；偏见未必是不能接受的，关键是看你偏向哪一边。如果真的站在新闻价值的立场，那么他们就不会仅仅揭露西方媒体的虚假报道，而且应该质疑中国政府对消息源和国内媒体的双重控制。毫无疑问，后者对新闻价值的伤害更甚于前者。正如已经发生的事实，对个体媒体虚假报道的矫正相对容易，几个耐心细致的中国网民就可以做到；对新闻控制的抗议面对的是国家权力，全世界都徒唤奈何。

一些中国民众已经看到，虚假报道和偏见并不是最可怕的，只要有一个开放的舆论环境，允许充分的揭示和讨论，它们就有走向真相和公义的机会。这次网民对于境外媒体的成功反击，就是一个很好的例子。最早发现问题并及时反应的，是海外的中国留学生。他们制作的揭发图像在BBS上自由流传，也在Youtube这样的著名网站上火热播放。假如这些网络媒体都受到限制，那么揭发进程就会遇到很多困难。

这些虚假报道对新闻价值的最大伤害，在于让很多人进一步放弃了对客观公正的信赖，而选择了狭隘民族主义立场。他们从中得出结论说，普世价值都是骗人的玩意儿，只有国家利益的你争我夺。他们甚至以此为依据说，撒谎也是一种“国际惯例”，从而对自己身边或者历史上的谎言予以谅解。当然，一些人本来就是这样想的，这次媒体事件让他们又找到一个证据，从而去对别人宣讲而已。

但是我也看到，有很多中国人借此机会进行了更广泛的讨论和更深入的思考。他们发现，西方人对中国的偏见，源自一种居高临下的文化优越感。那么应该警惕的是，汉人在面对少数民族时，有没有这样一种由文化优越感而导致的偏见呢？西方人对中国的歪曲报道，源自不愿意倾听和了解，沉迷于萨义德说的那种东方主义想象，那么我们对少数民族又如何呢？如果我们以民族主义为武器来反抗西方，那么怎样说服少数民族放弃民族主义，加入到主流的国家建设中来呢？达赖喇嘛要求政府对他重新评价，那么他到底是一个怎样的人呢？除了官方的定性之外，能不能允许媒体自由讨论以进一步揭示真相？

注：本文仅代表作者本人观点。

本文作者长平，资深媒体工作者，曾任《南方周末》新闻部主任，《外滩画报》副总编辑，现为《南都周刊》副总编辑。