Text 1 On Newspapers

Newspapers are archives, objects of record. They can be referred to, checked back on, in a way that the television or radio news cannot. They can describe events at greater length, add more relevant detail, give authoritative comment from people in a position to detect trends and the likely lines in which a news story will develop.

But the old concept of a newspaper “scoop”¹ the presentation of a startling hard news story² a day before its rivals, is virtually dead – killed by radio and television.

What is newsworthy?

During the day, newsworthy events will happen that are quite unpredicted. A passenger plane may crash, a bank raid take place, a film star arrives in Heathrow without her husband and announces she is getting a divorce.

“Newsworthy?” But are these things newsworthy? Who says they are newsworthy? Different countries have different customs. So who says these things are newsworthy? Who chooses to report a bank raid rather than the one hundredth birthday of Mrs. Jemima Snooks, who has had a telegram from the Queen?

Let us look at the finished product and work back from there. Every newspaper, every radio and television news bulletin³ has a “lead” story – the first story, given greatest prominence on the front page or put first in the bulletin. The editor – or more usually the chief subeditor, since the editor is too busy to be concerned with the minute-by-minute running of the organization – chooses which story he thinks will be most important to the readers, listeners or viewers.

If there is an earthquake in Peru with an estimated 2,000 dead, the quality papers in Britain would probably put that prominently on their front pages. The popular papers would try to discover whether any Britons were working in the area, and if they found that an English girl was there – and particularly if the picture department could produce a photograph of her – that might rate the first page.

Otherwise, if the death toll were entirely local, the popular press would probably place the disaster on an inside foreign page.

If a house fell down in Liverpool trapping a family, The Liverpool Echo would put that prominently on the front page. The national papers might put it briefly lower down their front pages, and the popular tabloids¹ would probably put the story inside the paper.

Each newspaper, each news bulletin is thus a product manufactured from what is available. No newspaper ever comes out with blank columns and the comment there is “no news today” except in those countries where governments impose press censorship.

The quality papers², sometimes called the ”papers of records”, do however print stories that they fell should be recorded, even if they are dull and unlikely to appeal to many readers. It is said there used to be a competition on the foreign desk of The Times to write the dullest headline, which was once won by a journalist who wrote the headline: “Small Earthquake in Chile: Not Many Dead”.

From D. Wainwright

Preparing the Text

A. Studying the language

1. Transcribe the following words and practice their pronunciation:

archive, refer, authoritative, scoop, virtually, newsworthy, predict, passenger, prominence, bulletin, earthquake, quality, prominently, area, particularly, otherwise, echo.

2. Translate the following phrases into Russian and use them in the sentences of your own:

objects of record, to be referred to, at greater length, to give authoritative comment, the likely lines, a startling hard news story, the finished product, to give greatest prominence, to be concerned with smth, to run the organization, to put the story prominently on the front page, to rate the first page, an inside foreign page, newsworthy events, popular tabloids, quality papers, to impose press censorship, the dullest bulletin.

3. Explain in English what is meant by the following phrases:

to be concerned with smth; the minute-by-minute running of the organization; this photograph might rate the first page; a startling hard news story; a “lead” story; this event is newsworthy; this story is unlikely to appear in a quality paper.

4. Read the text. Use the word given in capitals at the end of each line to form a word that fits in the space in the same line.

In Britain there are 12 national (1) _____newspapers DAY

and most people read one of (2) _____ every THEY

day. Daily newspapers are (3) _____on every day PUBLISH

of the week except Sunday. Sunday newspapers are

(4) _____ than daily newspapers. All the Sunday LARGE

newspapers are (5) _____ . Most national newspapers NATION

in Britain express (6) _____ opinion, most POLITICS

of them are right-wing, and people (7) _____ the CHOICE

newspaper that they read according to (8) _____ THEY

own political (9) ______ . BELIEVE

B. Points for comments and discussion

1. Answer the following questions about the text:

1). Why does the author think that newspapers are archives? Do you agree with this viewpoint? Have you ever read any old newspapers in search for some necessary information?

2). Do you agree that newspapers always reflect the actual information in the world events? Can they always serve as a reliable source of news?

3). Do all the newspapers give prominence to the same news?

4). Can you name any British tabloid newspaper? Have you ever tried to compare news stories published in quality and tabloid newspapers dealing with the same problem?

5). Can you name any latest news, which may be described as predictable or unpredictable?

6). Do you agree that the concept of a newspaper “scoop” is nowadays outdated? Explain why?

7). Can you give examples of Russian quality newspapers and tabloids? Describe them in detail.

8). What specialists have to refer to old newspapers? Why?

9). Do you agree that newspapers are more interesting than radio and television?

10). What is newsworthy from your viewpoint?

11). What is your favourite Russian newspaper? What news does it usually give greatest prominence to?

12). What is the approach of tabloid and quality newspapers to the choice of news?

2. Give a short summery of the text.

3. Describe the national press in Russia making use of the following words and phrases:

on an average weekday; an average total circulation; the total readership; regional and local newspapers; to be financially independent of; periodical publications; daily newspapers; weekly newspapers; quality papers; “mid-market” publications; tabloids; to be addressed to; a wide range of public matters; to be printed in colour; to be directed at readers.