Mass media

Give a talk on the topic Mass Media.

Remember to say:

• what role mass media plays in people’s lives;

• If newspapers and radio are as popular nowadays as they used to be, why/ why not;

• what advantages and disadvantages television brings to our life;

• why the Internet has become so popular nowadays.

There is every reason to believe that mass media play a great role in modern society. Their positive aspects are obvious. They give us useful and interesting information and news and also help us to have an enjoyable free time.

On the one hand, popular TV programmes and newspapers interview people and take their views into consideration, but on the other hand mass media choose certain people to ask questions, describe definite facts and make evaluations. Thus, mass media specialists influence the attitudes of the society towards important events and tendencies.

The most important mass media are newspapers, radio, television and the Internet. Newspapers appeared the first of the listed. The first Russian newspaper was issued in 1702 on the initiative of Peter the Great. It was entitled “Vedomosty”. Now we have all kinds of newspapers- tabloids, sports papers, business papers, kids’ papers and political papers. There are a lot of magazines to all tastes. Both newspapers and magazines are sold in the streets all around the city, but you can also subscribe to any papers and magazines at the post-office. There are daily and weekly papers; weekly, monthly and quarterly magazines.

Radio appeared much later than the first Russian newspaper. It was invented by A.S. Popov in 1895.In Russia regular radio broadcasting began in 1924. Now we can’t imagine our life without radio. There are dozens of radio stations in Russia. Everyone can choose a station to listen to. Most of them broadcast music of different styles. Music attracts listeners. You can also listen to weather forecasts, sports news, radio theatre, agricultural, political, economical programmes, talk shows, advice of lawyers, news, daily horoscope, etc. You can take part in different intellectual quizzes and win a prize. Nowadays we have many radio channels and my favourite ones are: ...

The principle of television was offered at the end of the19th century by A. di Paiva and the Russian scientist P.I. Bakhmetyev independently. However, only in the 30-s of the 20^th century regular TV broadcasting began in Moscow and St. Petersburg and in the 50-s all over the USSR. The first TV sets’ screens were as big as a pocket book and they were black and white. Nowadays it is impossible to find a house without a TV set. No doubt, that television started to produce great influence on people. It combines all the advantages of other media and satisfies different tastes. TV has become more popular than radio and newspapers. Many programmes keep people informed of current events in politics, sports, and economics. Besides informational programmes, you can watch a lot of entertainments. They let people relax, make them forget about their problems and help them to focus on pleasant things. There is no doubt that different people choose different programmes. Some enjoy detective movies, other are fond of horror films. Some people are interested in music concerts. Others like “soap operas”, chat shows and TV games.

However, nowadays, many programmes and films show too much violence and blood. It is bad for all the people especially for children, because it can damage their ideas of normal life. Another negative influence of TV is that it doesn’t stimulate creative thinking and makes people dependent on the views expressed by others. People begin to forget how to occupy their free time. Television prevents people from communicating with each other, from visiting friends or relatives.

The Internet is the newest kind of mass media. In the Internet people can find any information they need. It can be called a kind of combination of newspapers, radio, TV and computers. All main newspapers and broadcasting companies have their sites in the Internet. So you can find the latest news there without buying a newspaper; you can find there information about different countries, pop stars’ songs and even prepared papers on all topics. Via e-mail and in chat rooms we can communicate with people all over the world.

All the mass media have their advantages. They supply us with political, cultural and other important information, entertain and give food for thought, but they also have some disadvantages. For example, you can watch TV only in the places with the TV aerial and electricity. The worst thing about mass media is advertising. They catch our attention and interrupt broadcasting. It is irritating especially if a good film is interrupted by advertising soap or beer. One more disadvantage is that information is not always reliable especially in the Internet. However, it is hard to imagine modern society without mass media today.

Speaking activity 1:

I. Give a talk of 2-3 minutes discussing all the 3 statements given below

These are some of the opinions about television:

• Television programmes gather big audiences. Apart from their entertainment value, they provide useful topics of conversation.

• Television helps us to relax after a hard day's work. We can then cope better with the next day's work.

• Television may lead to poor health through rushed meals, lack of sleep, lack of exercise and eyestrain.

Which of the above do you agree or disagree with? Share your opinions and experiences. You will be asked some further questions related to what you have said. Be prepared to make comments on the spot.

Speaking activity 2:

Here are some statements about watching TV. Put them into the column of advantages and the column of disadvantages. Explain your choice:

ADVANTAGES	DISADVANTAGES

• People forget the art of conversation, visiting their friends and relatives.

• Some kids do their homework in front of TV.

• TV brings the world into our living room: we learn about other countries, various peoples’ customs, occupations, opinions and problems.

• TV helps to rest after hard work.

• TV programs have entertainment value; they provide useful topics for conversation.

• Many people waste their time in front of TV.

• We see famous people and great events which will pass into history.

• Some children do not enrich their personalities watching TV instead of taking up a hobby, having an outside activity or visiting some club or society.

• TV leads to poor health- rushed meals, lack of sleep, lack of exercise and eyestrain.

• We become more cultured people by learning more of the arts and culture.

• We become better informed by watching documentaries, news and science programmes- they raise economic, social and political issues of the day.