Vocabulary

citizen journalism=information collected by people who are not formally employed as journalists; their material is not always edited and published by recognised media sources

trained=learned how to be a reporter through courses or lessons

social media=websites where people interact socially via different types of technology and software

democratisation=a process which makes it easier for people to find out about and contribute to the information available

to publish=to make your work available to the public through printed or electronic media (e.g. books, newspapers, the internet)

media brands=well known companies or corporations which produce media content (e.g. the BBC)

to go through them=to read, analyse and organise them

verify=confirm something is true

hasn't really been tested yet=not yet known if it works well in really challenging situations

valuable source=place where useful and trusted information can be found

39. Billionaires list grows despite downturn 11 March 2011

T here are 1,210 people in the world now worth more than $1 billion, according to business publisher Forbes. That is 214 more billionaires than last year. There is a growing number of fortunes in Asia and emerging countries.

Caption: Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim is the world's richest man

Forbes has been tracking the world's billionaires since 1987 and this year there are more mega-wealthy individuals than ever before.

The world's richest man is still Carlos Slim; the Mexican telecoms tycoon is worth $74 billion. The US has Microsoft's Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett, plus six Facebook billionaires - 413 American billionaires in all.

But fast-growing rivals are challenging US dominance. Asia now has 332 billionaires, even more than in Europe. One hundred and fifteen billionaires are in China, many created as Chinese companies have listed on the stock market. And Moscow is the city with the most billionaire residents.

Valuable things, like steel and oil, have soared in price creating fortunes this year. The authors warn that they may not last.

Vocabulary

tracking=here, watching the business movements and lives of billionaires

tycoon=extremely rich, successful and powerful business person

investor=person who buys stocks and shares or pays money into a bank in order to make a profit

in all=in total

dominance=position of power that is ahead of competitors

listed=here, included on the international list of companies which sell stocks and shares to the public

stock market=place where stocks and shares of companies are bought and sold

soared=suddenly increased to an unexpectedly high price

warn=make aware of a possible danger or threat

40. Electricity company criticised over communication

16 March 2011 Reporter: Mark Gregory

The Tokyo Electric Power Company has been criticised for not telling the public very much about emergency repairs at the Fukushima nuclear power station. Engineers are still trying cool down the nuclear radiators and prevent a major radiation leak.

Caption: Technicians have battled to prevent further explosions at the power station

Usually, governments take the lead in national emergencies, but not in this one. Preventing the catastrophe at Japan's Fukushima power complex has been primarily the responsibility of a commercial concern: The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, which runs the site.

There's mounting concern in Japan at Tepco's handling of the crisis. In particular, the firm has been accused of failing to communicate. There've been reports of the firm's public spokesman appearing ill-informed and not honest or direct in dealing with journalists at press conferences. The Japanese prime minister was reported to have been furious on Tuesday, when the company failed to inform him of a new fire at one of the affected reactors for an hour after it knew of this serious escalation in the crisis.

Nuclear experts outside Japan have complained the company has kept them in the dark, by releasing information slowly and with little detail. The company, of course, has a lot to deal with. Public relations probably ranks low on the list of priorities, as Tepco coped with a complex nuclear emergency in a region destroyed d by a major earthquake.

Tepco is the world's fourth largest power utility company. It supplies about a third of Japan's electricity. The firm's reputation has yet to fully recover from accusations made in 2002. A Japanese government report found evidence of false reporting in routine inspections, and efforts were made to hide a lot of facts of safety mistakes over many years.

Vocabulary: a commercial concern=a business or company; mounting concern=increasing or growing anxiety; ill-informed=not to know all the facts of what happened; escalation=increase in size or intensity

kept them in the dark=made certain they were not fully up to date about what happened