The Onion, the satirical news company that repeatedly spoofed conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, has won the bankruptcy auction for control over his media empire — most notably Infowars, the far-right, conspiracy-minded website that served as Jones’ primary online platform.
屡次欺骗阴谋理论家亚历克斯·琼斯的讽刺新闻公司《洋葱报》(The Onion) 赢得了对其媒体帝国控制权的破产拍卖——最著名的是 Infowars，这是一个极右翼阴谋网站，曾是琼斯的主要在线平台。
Jones announced the sale on X on Thursday morning.
琼斯周四上午在 X 上宣布了此次出售。
“I just got word 15 minutes ago that my lawyers and folks met with the U.S. trustee over our bankruptcy this morning and they said they are shutting us down even without a court order this morning,” Jones said.
“我 15 分钟前刚刚得到消息，我的律师和家人今天早上就我们的破产事宜与美国受托人会面，他们说即使今天早上没有法院命令，他们也会关闭我们，”琼斯说。
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m going to be here until they come and turn the lights off,” he added.
“我不知道会发生什么，但我会一直待在这里，直到他们来关灯，”他补充道。
The Onion plans to shutter Jones’ Infowars and rebuild the website featuring well-known internet humor writers and content creators, according to a person with knowledge of the sale. About an hour and a half after the announcement of the sale, Infowars’ website was shut down.
据一位知情人士透露，《洋葱报》计划关闭 Jones’ Infowars，并重建该网站，该网站由知名网络幽默作家和内容创作者担任主角。在宣布出售后大约一个半小时，Infowars 的网站被关闭。
Attorneys for First United American Companies, which was named as a backup bidder in the auction, filed a request Thursday seeking an immediate court-ordered meeting about The Onion’s win, claiming there were changing “procedures, lack of transparency, and inaccurate disclosures to interested bidders.”
被指定为此次拍卖的后备竞标者的第一美国公司的律师周四提出请求，要求法院立即下令就《洋葱报》的中标问题召开会议，声称“程序发生了变化，缺乏透明度，并且向感兴趣的人披露了不准确的信息”。投标人。”
The group said there was urgency because “the value of the assets is in the process of being destroyed at this very minute.”
该组织表示，情况紧急，因为“资产的价值此时此刻正在被摧毁”。
Jones, 50, one of the most-high profile and financially successful alternative media personalities, built a small empire off a radio show-turned-internet video operation centered around the Infowars brand that focused on false and often bizarre claims about grand conspiracies and government wrongdoing.
50 岁的琼斯是知名度最高、经济上最成功的另类媒体人物之一，他通过广播节目转型为互联网视频业务，建立了一个以 Infowars 品牌为中心的小帝国，该品牌专注于有关重大阴谋和政府的虚假且往往怪异的主张不当行为。
Details of Wednesday’s auction, including how much was offered for Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars, and related assets, were not immediately known. Funds generated from the sale are meant to satisfy Jones’ estate creditors, largely families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting to whom he must pay damages in defamation verdicts.
周三拍卖的细节，包括 Infowars 母公司 Free Speech Systems 及相关资产的出价多少，目前尚不清楚。出售所得的资金旨在满足琼斯的遗产债权人的要求，这些债权人主要是2012 年桑迪胡克小学枪击案受害者的家属，在诽谤判决中，琼斯必须向他们支付损害赔偿金。
Sandy Hook families filed lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas claiming Jones defamed them on his show and inflicted emotional distress by repeatedly suggesting the shooting, in which a gunman killed 20 first grade children and six adults, was a hoax.
桑迪·胡克的家人在康涅狄格州和得克萨斯州提起诉讼，声称琼斯在他的节目中诽谤他们，并多次暗示枪击事件是一场骗局，造成了精神困扰。枪击事件中一名枪手杀死了 20 名一年级儿童和 6 名成人。
Juries found Jones liable for defamation and awarded the families nearly $1.5 billion in total in their lawsuits, but they have been unable to collect anything from Jones, who claimed he can’t afford that massive a sum. He filed for bankruptcy in late 2022, and a judge in June allowed him to liquidate his personal assets to help pay off the verdicts.
陪审团认定琼斯犯有诽谤罪，并在诉讼中赔偿了这些家庭近 15 亿美元的赔偿金，但他们无法从琼斯那里收回任何东西，琼斯声称他负担不起这么大的一笔钱。他于 2022 年底申请破产，法官于 6 月允许他清算个人资产以帮助偿还判决。
The sale had the backing of several of the Connecticut families of the Sandy Hook shooting who were part of the lawsuit.
这次出售得到了康涅狄格州桑迪胡克枪击事件中参与诉讼的几个家庭的支持。
“Our clients knew that true accountability meant an end to Infowars and an end to Jones’ ability to spread lies, pain and fear at scale,” Chris Mattei, attorney for the Connecticut families, said in a statement. “By divesting Jones of Infowars’ assets, the families and the team at The Onion have done a public service and will meaningfully hinder Jones’ ability to do more harm.”
康涅狄格州家庭律师克里斯·马泰在一份声明中表示：“我们的客户知道，真正的责任意味着信息战的结束，以及琼斯大规模传播谎言、痛苦和恐惧的能力的终结。” “通过剥离 Infowars 琼斯的资产，《洋葱报》的家族和团队已经完成了一项公共服务，并将有意义地阻碍琼斯造成更多伤害的能力。”
The anti-violence organization Everytown for Gun Safety said it will be the exclusive advertiser in The Onion’s new venture as part of a multiyear agreement.
反暴力组织 Everytown for Gun Safety 表示，作为多年协议的一部分，它将成为 The Onion 新合资企业的独家广告商。
John Feinblatt, the group’s president, said in a statement that he hopes to “reach new audiences ready to hold the gun industry accountable for contributing to our nation’s gun violence epidemic.”
该组织主席约翰·范布拉特(John Feinblatt)在一份声明中表示，他希望“吸引新的受众，让他们做好追究枪支行业对我国枪支暴力流行的责任的准备。”
Since April, The Onion has been led by chief executive Ben Collins, who previously covered disinformation and conspiracy theories for NBC News, a beat that often meant covering Jones. Collins has introduced several changes meant to monetize the business, including subscriptions, organized live events, and bringing back physical copies of the paper and its television parody, the Onion News Network.
自 4 月以来，《洋葱报》一直由首席执行官本·柯林斯 (Ben Collins) 领导，他此前曾为 NBC 新闻报道虚假信息和阴谋论，这通常意味着报道琼斯。柯林斯推出了几项旨在将业务货币化的变革，包括订阅、组织现场活动以及带回报纸及其电视模仿版洋葱新闻网的实体副本。
In June, Collins answered calls from followers online that The Onion purchase Infowars with a meme “looking into it.”
六月，柯林斯接听了网上粉丝的电话，称洋葱新闻购买了 Infowars，并附上了“正在调查”的表情包。
Those interested in acquiring Jones’ media company had submitted their final offers to federal court-appointed trustee Christopher Murray, who was tasked with picking a best bid, but not necessarily the highest.
那些有兴趣收购琼斯媒体公司的人已向联邦法院指定的受托人克里斯托弗·默里（Christopher Murray）提交了最终报价，后者的任务是选择最佳出价，但不一定是最高出价。
The identities of potential buyers were secret as they had to agree to nondisclosure agreements in order to receive bid materials.
潜在买家的身份是保密的，因为他们必须同意保密协议才能收到投标材料。
The auction firms running the sale said that there are “no restrictions on the use of any acquired property in the bankruptcy order,” and that the winner has the choice of whether to continue Infowars’ operations.
负责此次拍卖的拍卖公司表示，“破产令中对任何收购财产的使用没有任何限制”，获胜者可以选择是否继续 Infowars 的运营。
On his show this week, amid pleas for listeners to buy subscriptions and the nutritional supplements he sells, Jones painted a picture of his potential buyers, describing one group of anonymous bidders as friendly backers who would allow his show to operate as normal. Others, he said, were “bad guys” who would shut Infowars down.
在本周的节目中，在恳求听众购买订阅和他销售的营养补充剂的过程中，琼斯描绘了一幅他的潜在买家的照片，将一组匿名竞标者描述为友好的支持者，他们将使他的节目正常运作。他说，其他人是“坏人”，他们会关闭 Infowars。
While he said he would continue to broadcast via an alternative channel if ordered to shutter by a new buyer, Jones noted he would be hampered by the loss of his brand, website and equipment, among other necessities.
虽然他表示，如果新买家下令关闭，他将继续通过替代频道进行广播，但琼斯指出，他将因失去品牌、网站和设备以及其他必需品而受到阻碍。
“All you leftists celebrating the end of Alex Jones and Infowars, you’re fools,” he said. “Just watch.”
“你们所有庆祝 Alex Jones 和 Infowars 结束的左翼分子，你们都是傻瓜，”他说。 “就看吧。”
Up for grabs at the auction were Infowars production rights and materials, the Infowars store, domain names, production equipment and other assets — including a Terradyne armored truck and a Winnebago motor home — that can be purchased in their entirety or in parts, according to the firm, ThreeSixty Asset Advisors. Jones broadcasts from the Austin, Texas, area.
据介绍，拍卖会上可供争夺的内容包括 Infowars 的生产权和材料、Infowars 商店、域名、生产设备和其他资产（包括一辆 Terradyne 装甲卡车和一辆 Winnebago 房车），这些资产可以全部或部分购买。 ThreeSixty 资产顾问公司。琼斯在德克萨斯州奥斯汀地区进行广播。
The auction is part of Murray’s “orderly wind-down process” under the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, which has overseen the latest phase of the case against Jones, stemming from the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.
这次拍卖是穆雷在德克萨斯州南区美国破产法院的“有序结束程序”的一部分，该法院负责监督针对琼斯的案件的最新阶段，该案件源于康涅狄格州纽敦的桑迪胡克大屠杀。
In fitting form for the satirical website, The Onion’s news release announcing the sale was written in the voice of a CEO of Global Tetrahedron, a fictional evil company created by Onion staff. Former tech executive Jeff Lawson took on the name Global Tetrahedron for his real company that acquired The Onion from G/O Media in April.
The Onion 宣布出售的新闻稿是由 Global Tetrahedron 的首席执行官撰写的，该公司是一家由 Onion 员工创建的虚构邪恶公司，这与该讽刺网站的形式很相称。前科技高管杰夫·劳森 (Jeff Lawson) 为他真正的公司取名为 Global Tetrahedron，该公司于 4 月从 G/O Media 手中收购了 The Onion。
“Through it all, InfoWars has shown an unswerving commitment to manufacturing anger and radicalizing the most vulnerable members of society—values that resonate deeply with all of us at Global Tetrahedron,” the release said.
新闻稿称：“自始至终，InfoWars 都表现出了对制造愤怒和激化社会最弱势成员的坚定承诺，这些价值观与 Global Tetrahedron 的所有人产生了深刻的共鸣。”
Jones founded Infowars, which operates under Free Speech Systems, in 1999. The company itself held about $6 million in cash and $1.2 million in inventory, according to previous court filings from June.
琼斯于 1999 年创立了 Infowars，该公司隶属于 Free Speech Systems。根据 6 月份提交的法庭文件，该公司本身持有约 600 万美元现金和 120 万美元库存。
The families in Texas and Connecticut have sparred in court over the liquidation process, with concerns over how the money will be distributed. Still, they have said, Jones’ loss of his company brings some accountability for his past words.
德克萨斯州和康涅狄格州的家庭就清算程序在法庭上发生争执，并对如何分配资金表示担忧。尽管如此，他们还是表示，琼斯失去公司让他对过去的言论承担了一些责任。
At his trial in Texas in 2022, Jones generally blamed “corporate media” for twisting his words and misportraying him, but didn’t specify how.
在 2022 年德克萨斯州的审判中，琼斯普遍指责“企业媒体”歪曲他的言论并错误地描述他，但没有具体说明是如何进行的。
While Jones also testified that he believes Sandy Hook was “100% real,” he has used the ongoing litigation to galvanize his listeners as he faces the loss of Infowars.
虽然琼斯还作证说，他相信桑迪·胡克“100%真实”，但在他面临 Infowars 的损失时，他利用正在进行的诉讼来激励听众。
美中快报 