The media

1 Read these mini-dialogues. Which speaker do you agree with most?

A I hate watching TV. It's such a waste of time, and most of the programmes are quite boring. Really? I love TV. I watch quite a lot for relaxation - and I've learnt a lot from TV too. David and Sarah

В I don't buy a newspaper every day, but I like to read one whenever something important has happened: it's better than TV or the radio. I never buy them. You can't believe half of what you read; a lot of it just reflects the political beliefs of the owners. Mr Davies and Mrs Clark

C Do you think Jimmy should be watching that programme at his age? So much violence can't be good for adult viewers, let alone youngsters. Oh I don't know. Even kids can tell the difference between TV and real life. Mrs Davies and her daughter-in-law

2. What is your opinion of media? Put words from the list in the appropriate place on the line bellow. Then compare your answers with a partner’s

radio, television, newspapers, magazines

least informative 1________ 2________ 3________ 4________ most informative

least interesting 1________ 2________ 3________ 4________ most interesting

most harmful 1________ 2________ 3________ 4________ most least harmful

3 These words all have to do with the media. Put them in the appropriate box

publish broadcast edit article live (adj) record (v) censor

programme headline advertise report (v) column

TV and radio_____________________________________________________

Newspapers and magazines (The press) ____________________________________________________

Both____________________________________________________

4 Use the right form of the words from exercise 3 in these sentences.

a My friend is a__________She works for the BBC, which stands for British___________ Corporation, broadcast

b Many Sunday newspapers these days are just full of _______. advertise

с The assassination attempt wasn't_______in the press until two days later, report

d These days there are very few_______broadcasts on TV. They usually_______them and show them much later, live,record

e There is quite a lot of_______of the media in some countries, especially during times of conflict, censor

f The_______of this student magazine is a friend of ours, edit

g This_______in the Chronicle writes very well, doesn't she? I enjoy reading what she has to say every Saturday, column

5 Read the following passage. Then use the information in it to number the diagram below and to label it with the words in italics.

As a result of technological progress, many people in the world already have, or will soon have, access to many more TV channels than in the past.

As you can see from the illustrations, there are now three ways in which TV programmes can reach your home, compared with the one way which existed until a few years ago:

1 Most of the TV channels in the world operate in the traditional way: national public or commercial TV stations use transmitters to send UHF (ultra-high frequency) signals round the country. The aerials on our roofs receive these signals and pass them to our TV sets. Simple, and very similar to the way radio broadcasts work.

2 Some international TVchannels use satellites in space. Programmes are transmitted up to the satellite, which then re-transmits them to a wide geographical area. If

you have a special satellite dish aerial on your roof, you can receive these signals - though usually you have to pay for a signal-decoder. In this way, people can watch TV programmes transmitted on the other side of the hemisphere.

3 In many countries, and especially in the US, there is a third system which transmits programmes from studios or from satellites through a cable system. You pay a subscription for each channel that you receive, and the signals are transmitted to your home through underground fibre-optic cables. The advantage is that there is much less interference, and, if you want to, you can pay to receive many, many channels.

6 Answer these questions.

a How many hours per week do you watch TV?

b If you have a TV at home, how many different channels can you receive?

c Have you ever watched a satellite TV channel? What did you think of it?

d What's your favourite TV programme? Why?

7 a Tick any statements that you agree with, and put a cross against any that you disagree with.

If there are more TV channels available:

1 ____the quality of programmes is likely to improve.

2 ____there will probably be fewer differences between

channels, because they will all imitate the most popular one.

3 ____it will be good to be able to specialize and watch

the sport channel or the news channel.

4 ____it will be much harder to choose what to watch, and

people will keep switching from channel to channel.

5 ____there will be less money for making educational or

special-interest programmes; most money will be spent buying ready-made programmes or serials.

6 ____there will be more commercials as more TV

companies try to make money from advertising.

b Discuss your opinions with a partner. Do you agree with him/her?

8 Match these kinds of TV and radio programme with the descriptions. Which kind of programme do you like best?

soap opera ___

quiz game ___

documentary___

news ___

chat show___

sitcom ___

a 30 minutes of topical reporting from around the world.

B More drama and emotion as deserted Julia seeks revenge on her lover. . ,

C Your host, Dan Woods, meets actress Meryl Streep, author Chris Hughes, and singer Angelo.

D More questions to test the memory as four semi-finalists chase the Trivia Prize.

E Laughs galore as Johnny gets into trouble decorating Jenny's flat.

F Fascinating programme about the blue whale, which is threatened with extinction.

9 What kinds of TV or radio programme are:

a presented?

b read?

с hosted?

d starred in?

e chaired?

10 Which words go together? Tick the boxes.

	newspaper	magazine	section	supplement
daily
evening
Sunday
fashion
local
business
tabloid