Unit 3. Personality of a Journalist

Volabulary

Exercise 1. Make sure that you remember the following words and expressions.

Hard-bitten – закаленный

As the stereotype goes, newspapermen are hard-bitten, rude, shouting people who unravel crime mysteries, call their editor “Chief” and seem to have unlimited expenses.

Rewarding – приносящий моральную или материальную пользу

Despite its drawbacks and frustrations, journalism is a rewarding profession.

Exciting – волнующий

Reporters know the thrill of meeting important people and of writing a good story – the excitement of being a journalist.

Responsible – ответственный

Very often a reporter has to make his own decisions and shoulder responsibility.

Curious – любопытный

To be a good journalist you must have a great deal of curiosity. It means having inquiring mind so that you can really get to the bottom of the thing you are asking about. 

Open-minded – без предубеждений

Open-mindedness helps a journalist not to make hasty ill-informed judgements but to look at an issue from different perspectives.

Rebuff – отпор, давать отпор

Journalism has no room for the shy person who finds it difficult to talk to strangers; a good journalist is not easily rebuffed.

Pleasant personality – хороший характер

When we hire new freelance writers, we look for good writing skills, a university background, a knowledge of journalism and a pleasant personality.

Dedicated – преданный

Award-winning local newspaper is seeking a dedicated general assignment reporter to cover public events in a fast-growing urban area.

Pushy – нахальный, пробивной

Cristiano Ronaldo lost his patience with a pushy reporter at Real Madrid’s training ground.

Compulsive urge to write – настоятельная потребность писать

Naturally, you have to have a compulsive urge to write, be able to express yourself clearly, enjoy reading, and be ready to study beyond office hours.

Sincere – искренний

On last weekend’s Chris Matthews Show, New York Times columnist David Brooks made the following loose-lipped declaration: “One of the things I’ve found in life is that politicians are a lot more sincere than us journalists and we are more sincere than the people that read and watch us.”

Persistent – настойчивый

The winner of 2016 EU Award for Investigative Journalism in Macedonia Biljana Nikolovska said that a lot of investigation, reading, contacting people and institutions, and adhering to journalistic standards are critical for the profession, pointing out that persistence is the most important. 

Exercise 2. Match the words in Column A with their definitions in Column B. Make up your own sentences with these words.

A	B
Pushy	To turn down, reject
To rebuff	Interesting and thrilling
Hard-bitten	Without prejudice or bias
Personality	Feature of character
Urge	Trying to fulfil one’s duties and obligations
Persistent	Bringing money or satisfaction
Curious	Necessity, drive
Rewarding	Unpleasantly self-assured and ambitious
Sincere	Eager to learn something new
Open-minded	Assertive, firm
Ill-informed judgements	Devoted
Dedicated	Opinions based on wrong information
Responsible	Tough and experienced
Exciting	Character
Characteristic	Frank and honest

Exercise 3. Match the words in Column A with the words in Column B to make up word combinations. Use them in your own sentences.

A	B
Critical	veteran
Hasty	decisions
Inquiring	manners
To rebuff	judgements
University	public attention
General assignment	profession
Pushy	standards
Compulsive	skills
Rewarding	to get to the bottom of things
Responsible	to one’s profession
Journalistic	mind
Writing	task
To make	quality
An urge	reporter
Dedicated	urge
Hard-bitten	background