Sports Section

The Sports Section of a newspaper features information on local sports events, including high school sports teams. Also, college level sports are covered in this section, both on a regional and national level. National sports leagues like the NBA, NHL, and the NFL are featured on a regular basis. Different days of the week will usually emphasize different sports events. You are more likely to see national teams featured after a weekend when there are more sporting events. Sports journalism is a form of journalism that reports on sports topics and events. While the sports department within some newspapers has been mockingly called the toy department, because sports journalists do not concern themselves with the 'serious' topics covered by the news desk, sports coverage has grown in importance as sport has grown in wealth, power and influence. Sports journalism is an essential element of any news media organization. Sports journalism includes organizations devoted entirely to sports reporting — newspapers such as L'Equipe in France, La Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy, Marca in Spain, and American magazines such as Sports Illustrated and the Sporting News, all-sports talk radio stations, and television networks such as Eurosport, ESPN and The Sports Network (TSN). Sports teams are not always very accommodating to journalists: in the United States, while they allow reporters into locker rooms for interviews and some extra information, sports teams provide extensive information support, even if reporting it is unfavorable to them. As with reporters on other news beats, sports journalism involves investigating the story, rather than simply relying on press releases and prepared statements from the sports team, coaching staff, or players. Sports journalists verify facts given to them by the athletes, teams, leagues, or organizations they are covering. Entertainment Section

The Entertainment Section of a newspaper has feature articles that can focus on different aspects of culture.  Human Interest stories are most likely to appear in this section. A human interest story is a feature story that discusses a person or persons in an interactive and/or emotional way. It presents people and their problems, concerns, or achievements in a way that brings about interest or sympathy in the reader or viewer.  Diverse topics as food, fashion, the arts, trends, music, film, gaming, and a variety of other interests are likely to appear in the entertainment section. Comics, advice columns and horoscopes will usually be included in this section.

Classifieds

Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, e.g. free ads papers. Classified advertising differs from standard advertising or business models in that it allows private individuals (not simply companies or corporate entities) to solicit sales for products and services. Classified advertising is usually text-only and can consist of as little as the type of item being sold and a telephone number to call for more information. It can also have much more detail, such as name to contact, address to contact or visit, a detailed description of the product or products ("pants and sweaters, size 10" as opposed to "clothing", "red 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix" as opposed to "automobile"). There are generally no pictures or other graphics within the advertisement, although sometimes a logo may be used. In 2003, the market for classified ads in the United States was $15.9 billion (newspapers), $14.1 billion (online) according to market researcher Classified Intelligence. Newspapers have continued their downward trend in classifieds revenue as internet classifieds grow. Research from The Washington Post.com tells us that classified advertising at some of the larger newspaper chains has dropped 14% to 20% in 2007 while traffic to classified sites has grown 23%.

Exercise 1. Answer the questions:

1. What kind of news is the front page usually devoted to?

2. How many sentences are there in the lead?

3. What does the term “standard of objectivity” refer to?

4. How does photojournalism differ from the neighboring branches?

5. What is most specific in the photojournalist’s work?

6. Can opinion section contain biased stories or views?

7. What is the main role of cartoons?

8. What are the topics that can be covered in entertainment section?

9. What does a typical classified ad look like?

10. Why are classifieds essential for printed media?

11. Is the classified ads market growing or declining? What is the reason?

Exercise 2. Mark the statements as T (True) or F (False).

1. Local news are always the centerpiece of the front page, while international and national news can be featured in the rest of the section.

2. News stories are likely to be unbiased and based on eye-witness reports.

3. The term “photojournalism” does not refer to video broadcasting.

4. Editorials are written in order to make a reader accept the journalist’s viewpoint about an issue.

5. Cartoons are much more popular in the Internet than in the newspapers.

6. All sports teams are very enthusiastic about being interviewed or reported in media.

7. Sports journalism has nothing to do with investigative reporting.

8. Human interest stories are often featured in entertainment section.

9. Newspapers’ revenue from classified advertising went down in the last few years.

Exercise 3.Choose the expression that best completes the sentence:

Diverse topics, internet classifieds, instant decisions, celebrity photography, newsworthy stories, accurate representation

1. Are there any _____________ in the wire? We should select some of them for today’s copy.

2. A reporter’s professional skills include combination of _____________ of events with posing controversial and thought-provoking questions.

3. During University students’ meeting with the prominent writer a whole range of _____________ was discussed.

4. Many websites generate considerable revenue from _____________, but most users find them viral and are not very happy about them.

5. My friend started his career in media as a cameraman, but later switched to _____________.

6. In business, top executives often have to make _____________, as the situation on the market can change any minute.