2012-13 Academic year Grade 9 Mass Media

Mass media are the means of communication that reach and influence a very large audience. They are radio, television, newspapers, magazines and the Internet. Media can be used for various purposes: information, education, entertainment. They communicate the world to individuals and, therefore, play a crucial role in shaping public opinion. It’s worth mentioning that most mass media are operated for profit and run by professionals whose job is to transmit ideas important to the owners of that medium.

Newspapers are known to be the oldest media. The British are believed to be the greatest newspapers readers in the world. The symbol of the British press is Fleet Street that used to be home to most British national papers. There are two types of newspapers in Britain: tabloids and broadsheets. The two most popular daily newspapers, “The Sun” and “The Daily Mirror”, are tabloids or “popular papers”. The values of mass journalism are energy, intuition, personality, sexuality, excitement and myth. Tabloids contain sensational stories, report scandal or gossip about famous people. The photos are large and eye-catching, the headlines are big and intriguing, and there is not much written text.

Broadsheets, or “quality papers”, such as “The Times”, are not so popular. They are twice as big in size. Broadsheets have long articles with lots of information. They produce serious journalism. The values of the serious press are those of analysis, truth, balance, reality and compassion. Broadsheets report on national and international news. However, the differences between tabloids and broadsheets are breaking down.

The press can be divided into daily or weekly, morning or evening, local, national or international (mostly magazines). British magazines fall into four main categories: specialist ones, such as the computer magazine “PC Weekly”; general ones, such as the TV listing magazine “Radio Times”; women’s magazines like “Cosmopolitan”, and teenage magazines.

Young people under the age of 18 do not buy newspapers, but they do buy magazines. The favourite magazines of 15-year-olds are “Just Seventeen”, “Smash Hits”, and “TV Hits”. Teens will always be concerned with the same stuff – fashion, movie stars, music and sports. But life today is not that simple. Behind all the make-up hints and movie reviews there are serious things too. These magazines educate and inform teens as well.

Probably the most popular of the mass media nowadays is television, which broadcasts its programmes all over the country. It borrowed most of radio listeners. Nevertheless, radio has survived and attracts special audiences by turning to music. Unfortunately, quite a lot of people spend their free time glued to the box watching their favourite programmes or just surfing the channels. Such TV fans can be called “couch potatoes”. The choice provided by modern television is really wide: the news, documentaries, educational and wildlife programmes, talk (chat) shows, quizzes, music request and other call-in programmes, docudrama, reality shows, to say nothing of feature films, soap operas and cartoons. There are programmes on the arts, history, technical inventions and all the hobby-type subjects like gardening, cooking or making toys. Much school broadcasting and children’s programs have a high factual content. Combining entertainment and information, TV has developed a genre of infotainment.

The strength of television should lie in its high quality, its willingness to experiment and its ability to please most tastes and preferences. At the same time, as the aim of television is to attract as many viewers as possible, there is no escape from the dictates of popular tastes. The result is not only the triviality but the portrayal of crime and violence for entertainment. As the effects of television violence on children and adults can be extremely strong, special “family viewing time” (from 7 to 9 in the evening) has been introduced in some countries. As for children, watching TV should be strictly limited to “treats”. Another target for criticism is the amount of advertisement (ads) forcing people to consume more and more.

Britain has 5 terrestrial (non-satellite) TV channels and the usual myriad of satellite and cable channels. BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has the advantage of no adverts.

Living in a multimedia society, we shouldn’t underestimate the role of the Internet as a medium. It’s the fastest way to keep up on the latest news; it provides access to any information. Moreover, it offers perfect opportunities for distant learning. The prime benefit of the Internet is its interactivity, when any willing person can make news, report or comment on it. On the other hand, the Internet impact can be negative, the worst effect being people’s addiction to it. Other problems are anonymity, information validity and security. Thus, some content can be misleading, wrong or destructive. By the way, only 36% of the Net users are reported to find necessary information. In addition, spam might be troublesome.

All in all, we have to admit that we are lucky to have such a wide choice of mass media and we should try to make the best of it.

Monologues and Dialogues to Topic 1:

1. Speak about the world of mass media. Remember to mention:

1. what mass media you know;

2. what media are popular with different ages;

3. what role they play in your life;

4. what is your favourite one.

2. Speak about the world of mass media. Remember to mention:

1. what role mass media play in our life;

2. what mass media you know;

3. what one names the oldest mass media;

4. what medium is more popular with the young generation.

3. Speak about the world of mass media. Remember to mention:

1. what is the oldest type of media;

2. why people read newspapers or magazines,

3. what you know about newspapers in Great Britain;

4. whether you are fond of using the press.

4. Speak about the world of mass media. Remember to mention:

1. whether television is popular now;

2. what are positive points of this medium,

3. which disadvantages of TV you can name;

4. what TV programmes you prefer.

1. You are to make a project on modern mass media. One of your older friends studies at the faculty of journalism. Ask him / her for help and discuss: the role of mass media in our everyday life; pluses and minuses of such media as newspapers, TV and the Internet.

2. You are to make a project on one of modern mass media. One of you is a TV fan; another spends hours surfing the Internet. Try to convince your partner to choose your medium, showing its advantages in comparison with your partner’s one as well as with radio and newspapers.