Pre-reading task

Do a quick survey in your class:

• Where do you look for the news? How often do you read/watch the news?

• What paper or magazine do you read and what do you like about it?

• What sections of a newspaper are you most interested in?

• What do you look for in a newspaper: entertainment, human-interest stories or comment and analysis?

• How often do you watch TV? Describe the main purpose of watching it.

“What the mass media offers is not popular

art, but entertainment which is intended to

be consumed like food, forgotten, and

replaced by a new dish” (W.H. Auden)

Mass Media

The role of mass media in the life of the present society is difficult to overestimate. The mass media in many countries are privately owned and help businesses to earn an extra buck, which they do mainly by selling space or air time to advertisers. Both print and electronic media determine which events are newsworthy, a determination made on the basis of audience appeal. The rise of mass-circulation newspapers in the 1830s produced a politically independent press in the United States and Europe. In their aggressive competition for gripping readers` attention, those newspapers often engaged in sensational report­ing, a charge sometimes leveled at today's media.

The broadcast media operate under technical, ownership, and content regulations set by the gov­ernment, which tend to promote the equal treatment of political contests on radio and television more than in newspapers and news magazines.

The major media maintain staffs of professional broadcasters, newscasters, anchors,newsgathers,journalists, reporters, correspondents and even hacks in major cities across the world. They all recognize rules for citing sources that guide their reporting. What actually gets reported in the media depends on the media's gatekeepers, the publishers, editors, subeditors and continuity persons.

The mass media transmit the immediate information to large, heterogeneous, and widely dispersed audiences and cater simultaneously for people of different interests. The main function of the mass media is entertainment, but the media also perform the political functions of reporting news, interpreting news, influencing citizens` opinions, setting the political agenda, and keeping citizens posted about topical political issues.

Printed media or published mediaprovide information through the publication of written words and pictures. Prime examplesare newspapers and magazines. There are popular (tabloid)and quality papers, which come out daily, weeklyandfortnightly and can be presented byglossies, periodicals orserials, fashion-papers, etc.Magazines do not focus on daily, rapidly changing events. They provide more profound analysis of events of proceeding week. Magazines are designed to be kept for a longer time so they have cover and binding and are printed on better paper. Magazines can be distributed through mail, through sales by newsstands,bookstores, newsagentsor other vendors or through free distribution at selected pick up locations. Sometimes the subscriber gets a better editionof the one being sold, because they have either postersor something extra to add. Many magazines are available both on the Internet and in hard copy,usually in different versions, though some are only available in the internet version (known as online magazines).

Broadcast media provide information electronically through sounds or sights. Prime exam­ples of broadcast media are radio, television and the Internet. People can start their day listening to live broadcasts on favouriteFM channels: news, music programs, radio translation of sports events and others. However, nowadaysradio is not as popular as it used to be some 50 years ago but it is still popular due to its portability: it can be easily carried around. People like to listen to the radio in the park, at the seaside, in the car while driving. With the appearance of television it has become an essential part of our life. TV gives us food for thought, introduces us to new ideas and activities. It helps us to relax after a hard day`s work and to escape from reality. Can we imagine a day without TV news,current affair programs, special reports, live footage, quizzes, chat shows (talk shows), panel discussions,vox-pop, interviews, educational and children program, weather forecasts, sports programs, music programs, variety shows, sitcoms, slapsticks , soap operas, reality shows and even all those commercials. People severely criticize the ^“one-eyed monster”, grumble at the poor quality of programs and the appearance of presenters. They are annoyed and irritated by frequent commercials interrupting their favourite films and programs. Still they cannot live without it.

The youngest kind of mass media is the Internet.The Internet is, indisputably, the most amazing phenomenon of the 21^st century, a new generation of mass media. Gradually it replaces all other means of communication and mass media. This global computer network embraces hundreds of millions of users all over the world and helps us to communicate with each other due to its e-enables. Various documents and other services such as chat-rooms (newsgroups), live communication through Skype, e- mail, e-learning, e-signatures, interactive forums, online shopping, e-commerce, online hotel and ticketbooking, "googling", blogging,social networks.

The Internet gives access to so many interesting information resources and newsflashes practically in no time. Thanks to the Internet, we can use the resources of electronic/digital libraries, online dictionaries and encyclopedias, academic repositories and archives. Moreover, unique archive documents are now digitized and are available to be studied by everyone through the Internet. All this allows us to save time and make out work resultant and efficient.

Exercise 1. Give Ukrainian equivalents.

Earn an extra buck; continuity persons; topical political issues; profound analysis; mass-circulation newspapers; sensational reporting; commercial; e-signature; broadcaster; quiz; widely dispersed audiences; newsstand.

Exercise 2. Give English equivalents.

Обкладинка; заволодіти увагою читачів; передплатник; опит суспільної думки; гідний висвітлення в пресі; палітурка; телеконференція; друкована копія; зйомка наживо; різнорідний; політичне змагання; естрадний концерт; архив; журнал на глянцевому папері; невідкладна інформація; обслуговувати когось; ексцентрична комедія, фарс; екстренне повідомлення.

Exercise 3. Explain in English.

subscriber	Overestimate	fortnightly
newsflash	privately owned	sitcom
mass-circulation newspaper	Portability	disperse audiences
live footage	profound analysis

Exercise 4. Find the antonyms for the following words from the text.

1) influence	a) impossible, inappropriate
2) prime	b) minor, needless, unimportant
3) available	c) ugliness, retraction
4) essential	d) disliked, unpopular, hated
5) annoyed	e) alike, connected, similar
6) independent	f) diminish, lessen
7) frequent	g) usualness, normality
8)favourite	h) gratified, pleased
9) phenomenon	i)neglect, prevent, discourage
10) various	j) worst
11) overestimate	k) inconsistent, irregular
12) appeal	l) subordinate

Exercise 5.Distribute the following words and phrases in two columns and define each of them.

Article, story, feature, scoop, editorial, exclusive, coverage, reporter, journalist, correspondent, political/ foreign/ education etc correspondent, editor, fashion/ sports/ political etc editor, hack.

What is written in newspapers	People who work for newspapers

Exercise 6.Give definitions of the following words and expressions:

Publisher Editor (in chief) Reporter/journalist Daily/weekly newspaper Popular/quality newspaper Tabloid The yellow press The gutter press Periodical News service/wire service/ press agency Investigative reporting/journalism Source of information Objectivity Bias To be objective/ balanced

To be biased/ unbalanced To obtain/gather/withhold information To seek confirmation of something To interview somebody To report on something Sensationalism To intrude on somebody’s privacy To inform/mislead the public Freedom of the press A free press The nationwide press To impose censorship Subscription To subscribe to a newspaper Newsagent

Exercise 7. Newspaper Headline Language

Harmony seldom makes a headline.

Silas Ben