中国网站品牌栏目（频道）
My comments:
A fixer is slang for someone who gets things fixed, i.e. solves problems for you.
Problems that, apparently, not everyone else can fix.
In prison, for example, the fixer is someone who’s been there for a long time and has established connections with the guards, someone who can buy cigarettes for fellow prisoners. Prisoners all want to have cigarettes to help kill time but don’t know where and how to get them.
The fixer knows where and how to get them.
Actually, the fixer knows where and how to get many things done for you, things that can only be done privately, sometimes dishonestly.
It’s a not an entirely honorable reputation to acquire but the fixer helps get things done and dealt with and that is, sometimes, what matters.
In our example, Abobaker being a journalistic “fixer” is able to arrange interviews for you, with someone whom you want to talk to but can’t. They won’t talk to you. But if you can get Abobaker to talk to them first, they’ll probably talk to you.
That way, for better or worse, you’ll get an interview.
Related stories:
Take something with a pinch of salt
本文仅代表作者本人观点，与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题，尊重他人，禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。
About the author:
Zhang Xin（张欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
