
- •Государственный университет – высшая школа экономики
- •Introducing news…………………………………………….31
- •От авторов
- •Vocaвulary exercises:
- •Vocabulary and comprehension tasks:
- •Video task
- •1. Watch the Guardian commercial – Points of View on YouTube. What characteristics of the newspaper does this video emphasize?
- •2. Think of synonyms to the expression point of view. (go to supplement 1 section I for more in-depth information).
- •Introducing news
- •The Vocabulary of Headlines
- •III. False friends
Introducing news
This news item deals with/focuses on/comments on
The main domestic news item on the front page is …
The main news of the day is …
The main front-page story is …
The main editorial subject in the papers is …
The main foreign news is … . Other prominent items of international news include …
The leading front-page news is … . Other front-page news items include …
Another prominent item of front-page news is …
The subject of the main story on the front page is …
The subject of the main foreign news story on page one (two) is …
The subject of the biggest home news story on the front page is …
The subject of a cartoon on page one (two) is …
The main editorial topic is …
One of the most widely discussed subjects is …
The paper carries a long editorial examining …
The newspaper carries a front-page report on …
Opinion columns concentrate on …
Most papers focus their attention on …
Most papers concentrate on domestic matters.
Several newspapers concentrate on foreign affairs.
Several papers comment on the news that …
Several other subjects are discussed on page three (four). Among them are …
Most editorials deal with domestic affairs.
Editorial comment today deals largely with …
In a front-page editorial the paper looks at the situation in …
Comment covers a variety of international topics.
Almost all major news stories come in for comment in the editorials.
The news columns today are dominated by …
Editorials in almost every paper are concerned with one subject. It is …
Complete the sentences providing up-to-date information
The biggest talking point in the media this week is………………
…………..aroused a great deal of comment.
…………..continues to be one of the main subjects discussed in newspapers.
………..makes front pages in the mass media.
………..provides the main topic for comment.
………..is the main foreign news story on many front pages.
………..continues to be the main topic in comment columns.
………..are discussed at length in comment columns.
………..the chief talking point in editorial comments.
……….. receives wide attention in today’s newspapers.
Translate into Russian paying attention to the underlined words
These newspapers shifted their reporting away from serious, often probing journalism to more tabloid-style coverage.
The newspaper alleges that the policeman shot the suspect without warning.
The amount of media hype that went on around the Litvinenko case led to the deterioration of British-Russian relations.
The high-profile trial got wide coverage in most Russian papers.
Some politicians seem to enjoy a high profile whereas others prefer to keep a low profile.
Free newspapers provide little actual news, practically every page is given to advertising.
Tabloids differ from quality press both in the content and the way of reporting.
Translate from Russian into English focusing on active vocabulary
Перестановки в правительстве Великобритании продолжают оставаться главной темой комментариев.
Громкое убийство известного журналиста вызвало множество комментариев в прессе.
Вся мировая пресса широко освещала церемонию открытия Олимпийских игр.
Популярные газеты часто публикуют новости о королевской семье.
На первых страницах качественной прессы обычно помещаются статьи, посвященные актуальным проблемам.
REPORTING WORDS
Newspapers often make it clear that they are simply reporting what they have heard from some other source:
…a senior state official said yesterday.
…a hospital spokesman said.
…Jaguar’s American subsidiary reported yesterday
Sometimes they use words which show that they are not certain of the truth of what is said:
… A man was arrested last night after allegedly walking on the roof of the Holyhead-Euston 60 mph express train.
... Haitians face starvation, according to the country’s Interior Minister.
…Incomes have never been higher, a ministry spokesman claimed last night.
When they do not want to name a source they often use the “it” form with a passive verb or the “there” form:
It is reported/believed/alleged that…
There is speculation that…
There are rumours that…
There are signs/ indications that…
Some reporting words like “report” and “announce” imply that the source of the story has some official status:
It was announced yesterday that the prime minister would speak on television that evening.
A. Study the examples with reporting words and translate them into Russian.
1. Russians to get Georgian visas only in third-party countries
From September 8 only diplomatic representations and consulates in third-party countries will issue Georgian visas to Russian citizens, Georgia announced on Saturday. The Director of the Russian Department in the Georgian Foreign Ministry has already served a corresponding note to a Russian Embassy official.
2. One killed, ten injured in alleged terrorist attack
There are reports a serviceman has been killed and another ten wounded in a terrorist attack in Russia’s southern Republic of Chechnya. The incident took place in the town of Vedeno, where Russian Interior Ministry troops have been stationed
3. Pentagon denies high civilian death toll in Afghanistan
The Pentagon is denying claims that its policy in Afghanistan is causing a high death toll among civilians. Hundreds of Afghan citizens have died. Only last week up to 90 people were killed by NATO air raids on Heart province, according to UN and Afghan officials.
4. Georgia admits dropping cluster bombs
The Georgian government has admitted dropping cluster bombs in its military offensive to regain control of South Ossetia, reports Human Rights Watch.
5. Iran’s banking, shipping and insurance sections are reportedly targeted for sanctions
B. Listen to 5 news items. Identify the reporting words used there. What sources of information are they used to indicate?
News Item |
Reporting words |
Source of information |
Item 1 |
|
|
Item 2 |
|
|
Item 3 |
|
|
Item 4 |
|
|
Item 5 |
|
|
C. Look in a newspaper to find some reporting words. Explain what they mean.
D. While preparing current events find three reporting expressions in the stories that show that the reporter:
is not sure of the truth of the story;
wants to conceal the source of the story;
implies some official status for the story.
SAMPLE 1 CURRENT EVENTS REVIEW
My current events review today (news roundup of what has happened over the week/ in the past 24 hours) consists of three news items, two of which deal with world news and one with home news.
I’d like to start with international news. The leading news that keeps making front pages in world mass media is the latest earthquake in Haiti. World community is doing its best to help: raises funds, sends humanitarian aid and rescue teams that search for survivors. Yet, the situation remains tense, death toll is rising, looting has started.
My second news item focuses on the outcome of the presidential elections in the Ukraine. Ukraine voter turnout was relatively high and exceeded 67%. Opposition leader Victor Yanukovytch and current Prime-minister Julia Tymoshenko are heading for a run-off. V.Yanukovytch has a 10% lead over J. Tymoshenko, while the incumbent Viktor Yushchenko trailed behind with only a little over 5% of the vote. The second round of the elections is scheduled for February 7.
The last piece of news deals with President Medvedev’s remapping the federal structure. Russia’s president has established the new, North Caucasian Federal District and appointed Aleksandr Khloponin the presidential Representative to the new district and the vice premier. The North Caucasus remains Russia’s most troubled region due to corruption, unemployment and low economic development. A. Khloponin will be given strong authority to tackle these problems.
ПОДАЧА МАТЕРИАЛА
Care should be taken while translating this phrase into English since it may imply different things. «Подача материала» must be translated as “way of reporting” when the focus is on the reporter’s attitude to the content which manifests itself in how the material is presented, while layout stresses the technical aspect of arranging material on the page.
A. Compare the two sentences below and fill in the gaps:
Serious newspapers never play up sensational news or write down to the reader. This is where they differ dramatically in their …………………….. from popular press.
I think, something must be done about improving ………………….. . Too much reading matter and no visuals make the paper appear dull.
ALLOTMENT OF SPACE AND PAGE LAYOUT
B. Study the vocabulary below and make up sentences with them based on authentic current events:
to give the main front-page space – отводить много места на первых полосах
to get a considerable amount of space – занимать значительное место
to get most space on the front page – отводить больше всего места на первой странице
to devote plenty of front-page space – занимать большую часть площади на первой странице
to continue to give a considerable amount of space – по-прежнему отводить значительное место
to fill the front pages – заполнять первые полосы
to occupy a lot of space in editorial and comment columns – занимать много места в передовицах и комментариях
C. Fill in the gaps with the current events of the day;
The news of … arouses most editorial comment in the papers.
The paper gives the whole of its front page to …
The paper gives most space on page two to a topical article on …
Domestic topics fill the front page today.
Reports from … fill the news pages and are the main topic discussed in the editorial columns.
Plenty of front-page space is given to …
D. Give Russian equivalents and translate the sentences below:
the skillful arrangement of the reading matter
to improve the layout of the page
a page contains seven columns / the material on the page stretches over seven columns
to carry news. The front page carries news. Page three carries a sensational story of a bank robbery / a murder / a hold-up, etc. Page 4 carries a feature on the situation in …
to give space / position to. The most prominent position on the front page is given to a picture, illustrating the most important event of the day.
to devote space to … . Most of the space is devoted to women’s problems.
to place an article in a box. A box is a rectangular block of type bordered by black lines. You can find the item placed in a box in the lower right-hand corner.
to print. To be printed / placed in the left-hand column / in the right-hand column / in the upper left-hand corner / in the lower right-hand corner / in the upper (lower) half of the page. The editorial is printed in heavy / small type. The major news story is printed under a banner headline splashed across the page.
to run. The article runs from the top to the bottom of the page.
to take up. A photo of … takes up half the page or, perhaps, more. The rest of the page is taken up by news items. Most of the space is taken up by items of home and foreign news. The major news story is accompanied by a picture taking up the most prominent position on the page.
a headline, a heading, a subtitle.
Translate from Russian into English:
Новости о переговорах между Россией и США продолжают заполнять первые полосы газет по всему миру.
Больше всего место отводится новостям с Северного Кавказа, поскольку ситуация на юге России до сих пор вызывает большое количество комментариев.
Освещение последних событий в Москве занимает все пять полос газеты.
Статья о визите Государственного секретаря США занимает всю полосу целиком и сопровождается рядом фотографий.
Материал подается мастерски – передовица напечатана жирным шрифтом, она сопровождается фотографиями и продолжается на третьей странице.
Российские газеты отводят много места на первой полосе террористическим актам в Московском метро. В некоторых из них эти трагические события занимают всю первую страницу.
Под крупным заголовком через всю страницу «Нет терроризму» газета «Известия» помещает передовую статью.
Как правило, в таблоидах сенсационные фотографии занимают половину страницы и больше.
Качественные ежедневные газеты освещают политические, деловые и культурные события.
Газета «Гардиан» поместила статью о досрочных выборах в стране на первой полосе.
SAMPLE 2 FRONT PAGE REVIEW
This is a review of the front page of the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of the New York Times, dated March 24, 2010.
As the title of the newspaper suggests, it gives comprehensive coverage to a wide range of highly topical world issues. Since this is a serious paper, the reading matter prevails over visuals, yet some space is given to pictures, illustrating the most important events of the day.
The material on the page stretches over six columns; most of the stories are run over articles, which is a more effective way of conveying news.
The picture of U.S. President Barack Obama, signing into law a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. health care system, dominates the front page. The caption under the picture, which introduces a run over article, continued on page 4, calls this a historic event and the most significant social legislation to be enacted in decades, though Republicans vowed to keep fighting this law.
Right under this piece of news the front page carries a sensational story of Britain expelling an Israeli diplomat over fake passports. This decision represented a new and startling turn in Israel’s recent frictions with its closest Western allies – Britain and the US.
Two right-hand columns that run from top to bottom are devoted to Google. The Internet giant search engine is in trouble both in Europe and Asia though for different reasons. European companies, fearing a loss of control over their brand names, file suits against Google for its allegedly unfair practices – selling brand names as ad keywords to multiple bidders. To avoid censorship in China, Google redirected tens of millions of mainland Chinese users to uncensored Hong Kong Web site. But the remaining mainland operations came under pressure from Google’s Chinese partners and from the government itself.
Two mid left-hand columns carry a short comment on the latest developments in Greece, the EU country hit hardest by the economic crisis. Ways to help Greece are further developed on page 15. Hints of a compromise come from Germany, which might help Greece but on tough conditions.
Short news items of minor importance at the bottom of the page deal with business, world news and views respectively.
At the very bottom of the page major currencies exchange rates, stock indexes of the day as well as reference to other materials carried in this issue can be found.
This takes care of the front page review.
E. Give a front-page review of a representative British or American newspaper guided by the sample above. Use the resources PRESS DISPLAY at http://library.hse.ru/e-resources/e-resources.htm.
F. Read the text in Supplement 2. Stage a mock editorial board meeting to discuss the layout of tomorrow’s paper using the expressions from the unit and from the text.
HEADLINES
The special language of newspaper headlines is one of the major problems faced by learners of English when they begin to read English newspapers. There is, however, a clear pattern in that special language and once the rules have been understood and the key words mastered, a lot of the difficulty disappears.
A headline writer has to keep two principles in mind. First, he must attract the attention and interest of the reader. Some newspapers are more sensational than others. But even the so called “serious” newspapers use fairly dramatic language in their headlines. Secondly, the headline writer is influenced by the fact that in a very limited space he must give the reader some idea of what the article deals with. The result is a language characterized by
a very condensed structure;
words chosen for their brevity and / or their dramatic quality;
the use of cultural allusions or associations from the latest TV show to quotations from the Bible.
The Structure of Headlines
articles and the verb “to be” are frequently omitted, e.g. MAN HELD; COMPANIES MORE CHEERFUL
The verb system is greatly simplified.
The present simple tense is used to describe something happening in the present or the past, e.g. WOMEN DRIVE BETTER THAN MEN CLAIMS REPORT; DYNAMITE KILLS 52 (meaning “52 were killed”).
The present simple tense is used to describe both something happening now, and something that happens repeatedly, e.g. US VISIT TESTS THE POPE AS POTENTIAL WORLD LEADER.
The present progressive tense is used, mostly to give the meaning of something that is developing. The auxiliary is omitted, e.g. RAIL CHAOS GETTING WORSE.
The infinitive is used to refer to the future, e.g. POPE TO VISIT US; TV TO AID THE DEAF.
In passive constructions the auxiliary is omitted and only the past participle is used, e.g. QUEEN TOLD OF DRINK AT BOYS SCHOOLS; HIJACKER ARRESTED.
As and in are often used instead of longer connecting expressions, e.g. HOSPITAL BOSS AXED AS PATIENTS DIE.
A colon (:) is often used to separate the subject of a headline from what is said about it, e.g. STRIKES: PM TO ACT.
A series of nouns used as adjectives are blocked together, often without any verbs or conjunctions, e.g. SHOTGUN DEATH RIDDLE DRAMA; PAY ROW BLACKOUT THREAT; SOCCER BOY RAIL VICTIM.