Media and Communications

You can refer to systems of mass communication and the media by using a noun with the definite article (or sometimes by using a noun with a zero article). In this way you can distinguish them from actual objects; ‘a radio’ will always be a particular object, but ‘the radio’ could refer to a system, as in the following example:

• We gather facts and attitudes from the press, the television and the radio.

Words in this category are:

(the) television the box the telephone the press the post (BrE)

(the) telly (the) radio the phone the papers the mail (AmE)

(the) TV the news the newspapers the paper

• When referring to television as a form of entertainment or communication, you can use the definite article (which tends to be informal) or a zero article.

• They go on the television and smoke drugs in front of the viewers.

• He isn’t as serious as he is on television.

  • The abbreviations, ‘TV’ and ‘telly’ can be used in the same way, although ‘TV’ tends to occur with a zero article in this sense. ‘Telly’ is an informal alternative; another informal expression is ‘the box’ (always with ‘the’).

• I don’t want to be seen on the telly.

• ...anyone whose face appears regularly in newspapers and on TV.

• ...a constant background of telly or radio.

  • If someone says ‘on the television’ it can mean two things: ‘physically on’ (‘There’s a photo of him on the television’), or ‘being broadcast’ (‘There’s a good programme on the television tonight’). If you say ‘on television’, only the second meaning is possible.

  • You can refer to radio as a means of communication with either the definite article or a zero article.

• I just heard her speaking on the radio.

• He had already become a climbing spokesman on radio.

  • When using ‘telephone’ or ‘phone’ to refer to a means of communication, you use the definite article. Here we are not thinking of one particular telephone; we are more interested in the form of communication.

• A large part of Linda’s day is spent on the telephone.

• Haig and Nixon are regularly on the phone with each other.

• There are also the expressions ‘by telephone’ and ‘by phone’ in which ‘telephone’ and ‘phone’ refer to the system of communication, although there is a zero article.

• ...an attempt to reach her at the camp by telephone.

  • You speak of ‘the newspapers’ or ‘the papers’ when referring to newspapers as a form of media. The meaning is similar to ‘the press’.

• The papers are saying how unusual it is.

• How would it look in the papers?

• Sometimes ‘the paper’ is also used to mean newspapers generally, not one particular newspaper.

• This is what we read in the paper.

  • When you use ‘post’ (American equivalent ‘mail’) to refer to a system of communication, you use the definite article:

• One morning there arrived through the post an amazing letter.

• However, there is also the expression ‘by post’ which refers to the service.

• He acquired the necessary reference books by post.

Exercise 1. Add the definite article where necessary before the endings to make complete sentences.

Life would seem strange now without…

1. telephone;

2. video;

3. camera;

4. radio;

5. e-mail;

6. computer;

7. satellite television;

8. Internet;

9. press.

Exercise 2. Choose one of these nouns to complete each of the following sentences. (You will need to use some of the words more than once). Use an appropriate article.

newspaper papers phone post radio telephone television

1. If you go sailing you should listen to weather reports on ………….. .

2. Children spent too much time watching ………….. .

3. The Times is ………….. with a long tradition.

4. We bought ………….. with a 21-inch screen.

5. Before the days of television, people used to listen to ………….. .

6. All I know is what I see in ………….. . (W. Rogers)

7. Nowadays it’s possible to buy ………….. which you can speak into without lifting the receiver.

8. The letter is for you; it came in ………….. this morning.

9. I’ll send you a letter; it’s best not to talk about such things on ………….. .

10. Don’t believe everything you read in ………….. .

Exercise 3. Insert articles where necessary.

1. Paragraphs were sent to __ papers announcing the new venture and Michael and the publicity agent prepared interviews for him and Julia to give to __ Press. (W.S. Maugham)

2. She began to appear in __ media more and more often. (S. Sheldon)

3. __ telephone began ringing again from the little room. (D. du Maurier)

4. Now I don’t read anything but __ newspaper and detective stories. (W.S. Maugham)

5. She began to sing along with __ radio. (K. Saunders)

6. __ phone on my desk rings several times and I look at it as if I’ve never seen a phone before. “It’s __ phone,” says Fran. (M. Gayle)

7. __ free press is the mother of all our liberties and of our progress under liberty. (A. E. Stevenson)

8. __ morning paper is just as necessary for an American as dew is to the grass. (J. Billings)

9. __ newspapers are the world’s mirrors. (J. Ellis)

10. __ newspaper is a circulating library with high blood pressure. (A. “Bugs” Baer)

11. Time has convinced me of one thing: __ television is for appearing on – not looking at. (N. Coward)

12. __ media. It sounds like a convention of spiritualists. (T. Stoppard)

13. You know __ daytime television? You know what it’s supposed to be for? It’s to keep unemployed people happy. It’s supposed to stop them running to the social security demanding mad luxuries like cookers and windows. (V. Wood)

14. It is astonishing how articulate one can become when alone and raving at __ radio. Arguments and counterarguments, rhetoric and bombast flow from one’s lips like scurf from the hair of a bank manager. (S. Fry)