UNIT 6
MASS MEDIA
Newspapers, magazines, television and radio are all part of daily life m Brit-
ain The British watch more television and listen to the radio more often than any
other people in Europe They are also avid readers of newspapers. Two out of three
people over the age of 15 read a national morning newspaper, while about three out
of four read a Sunday paper. The first newspaper published in Britain was the
Weekly News founded in 1622. And from the moment m 1784 when John Walter
declared his intention to publish a newspaper and The Daily Universal Register -
later renamed The Times - was born, through to the first television broadcasts by
the Scottish pioneer John Baird, and on to these times of satellite broadcasting and
cable TV, the British media have always provided a lively forum for comment and
debate on the issues of the day. They have also enjoyed a long tradition of freedom
and independence. Newspaper ownership m Britain is concentrated mainly in the
hands of comparatively small number of large press monopolies. These commer-
cial enterprises sell news, interpretation of news and advertising space. The propri-
etors of these monopolies are called press-lords. Some of them are given below.
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Company
Newspapers
Proprietor
News International
The Sun, News of the World, The
Times, The Sunday Times
Rupert
Mur-
doch
Telegraph News papers
Trust
The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Tel-
egraph
Conrad Black
Associated Newspapers
The Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday
Lord
Rother-
mere
The British public have a large range of newspapers and magazines to
choose from. There are about 120 daily and Sunday newspapers and about 1000
weekly newspapers. These figures include certain specialized newspapers (circula-
tion limited by interest- business, sporting, religious newspapers, newspapers in
foreign languages).
Types of Newspapers
International newspapers
The European, The Guardian International
National newspapers
The Times, The Independent, The Daily Mir-
ror, The Sun
Regional
or
provincial
newspapers
The Manchester Evening News, The Yorkshire
Post
Local newspapers
Newsletter, a newspaper of the university of
Bristol
The average size of the national daily newspapers varies from 13 to 30 pag-
es, that of the Sunday papers - between 30 and 60 pages. National newspapers can
be divided into "quality" and "popular" on the basis of difference in style, content
and format.
Quality daily newspapers, which are broadsheet in format, give more
or less full account of important or other news at home and abroad. The style is
clear-cut, the language is straightforward, free from sensation and slang.
Popular daily newspapers are mainly concerned with the so-called
"front-page" news' crises, conflicts, disasters, accidents, sex, crime, murder, etc.
Big pictures, big headlines, forceful language, all this is typical for the popular
press. It often distorts facts in an effort to make-news more catching.
Quality Sunday newspapers contain, in addition to news, sections in
which books films, plays, TV programmes are reviewed. There are also articles on
food, housekeeping, gardening and travel.
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Popular Sunday newspapers are characterized by their gossipy em-
phasis on crime, sex, personalities, etc.
Popular papers use many photographs and cartoons. It is often said that the
popular press aims to entertain its readers rather than inform them. The tabloid
press is far more popular than the quality press. The average daily circulation for
The Daily Mirror is almost 3,200,000 while for The Times it is 450,000. The most
popular quality paper is The Daily Telegraph with a circulation of around
1,100,000 per day, compared with The Sun’s circulation of over 4,170,000. It is
estimated that two out of every three adults regularly read a national daily newspa-
per.
In addition to 12 national daily newspapers there are 9 national papers which
are published on Sundays. Most of the Sundays papers contain more reading mate-
rial than the daily papers, and several of them include colour supplements — sepa-
rate colour magazines which have special supplements with articles on music, TV,
sports and a lot of advertisements of consumer goods. Reading a Sunday paper,
like having a big Sunday lunch, is an important tradition in many British families.
Nearly every area in Britain has one or more local newspapers — in England
alone there are around 90 daily papers and over 850 which are published once or
twice a week. Local newspapers report local news and advertise local business and
events.
Newspapers in Britain are privately owned and the editors of the papers are
usually allowed considerable freedom of expression. The offices of most papers
are situated in Fleet Street in the City of London, which is the centre of British
journalism. British papers are bought and read not only in the United Kingdom, but
also in many other countries.
Vocabulary:
avid - алчный, страстный, заядлый, жадный
intention - намерение, стремление, цель
satellite - вспомогательный; подчинённый
independence - независимый
comparatively-сравнительно, относительно
enterprise - предприятие
proprietor - собственник, владелец
specialized newspapers – специализированные газеты
average - средняя величина, среднее число
account - счет, расчет, учет
straightforward - простой, прямой, очевидный
headline - заголовок
to distort - искажать, искажаться, деформировать
circulation - тираж
1. Answer the following questions.
1. How do newspapers differ from each other?
2. What newspapers present important political news?
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3. What news do «popular» pay attention to?
4. Is the «quality» press more popular than the «tabloid» press?
5. Which newspapers include colour supplements?
6. What information do local newspapers publish?
7. Are British newspapers privately owned?
8. Where are the offices of most papers situated?
2. Find definitions to the following words
a) a serial; b) circulation; c) a viewer; d) mass media; e) news; f) maga-
zine;
g) readership; j) newspaper; k) radio; l) television.
1) what is reported about recent events;
2) a book with a paper cover which is printed every week or every month;
3) a person watching a TV programme;
4) a number of copies of a newspaper or other periodical sold to the public;
5) the people who read a newspaper or a magazine;
6) mass communications (TV, radio, newspapers);
7) a story appearing in parts on radio, TV, or in a newspaper;
8) printed publication, usually issued daily with news, advertisements, etc.;
9) communication by electromagnetic waves;
10) the process of transmitting pictures by radio waves with sound of at the
same time.
3. Match columns of words
.
1. Article
a) журнал
2. Column
b) газета
3. Daily
c) ежедневный
4. Editor
d) еженедельный
5. Editorial
e) заголовок
6. Headline
f) статья
7. Journalist
g) рубрика
8. Magazine
h) колонка
9. News
i) передовица
10. Newspaper
j) новости
11. Section
k) журналист
12. Weekly
l) редактор
4. Find the mistakes in the following sentences and correct them.
1 . Quality daily newspapers do not give full account of important or other
news at home and abroad. The language is slang.
2. Popular daily newspapers are mainly concerned with the so-called "front-
page" news' crises, conflicts, disasters, accidents, sex, crime, murder, etc.
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3. Quality Sunday newspapers, which are broadsheet in format, give more or
less full account of important or other news at home and abroad. The style is clear-
cut, the language is straightforward,
4. Popular Sunday newspapers contain, in addition to news, sections in
which books films, plays, TV programmes are reviewed. There are also articles on
food, housekeeping, gardening and travel.
5. Complete the following sentences.
1. The first newspaper published in … was the Weekly News founded in …
2. And from the moment m 1784 when John Walter declared his intention to
publish a newspaper and The Daily Universal Register - later renamed The
Times…
3. There are about … daily, Sunday newspapers, and about …weekly news-
papers.
4. These figures include certain specialized newspapers (circulation limited
by interest- …
5. National newspapers can be divided into … on the basis of difference in
style, content and format.
6. Read and translate the following text.
Television in Great Britain
Television is the most popular entertainment in British home life today. In
London, people have four TV channels: BBC I, BBC II, ITV=Independent Televi-
sion Channel III) and Channel IV.
The BBC is known for its objectivity in news reporting. The BBC is fi-
nanced by payments, which are made by all people who have TV-sets. People have
to pay the licence fee.
In 1932 the BBC World Service was set up with a license to broadcast first
to Empire and then to other parts of the world. There is no advertising on any BBC
programme.
ITV started in 1954. Commercial television gets its money from advertising.
The programmes on this channel are financed by different companies, which do
not have anything to do with the content of these programmes.
ITV news programmes are not made by individual television companies. In-
dependent Television News is owned jointly by all of them. So it has been protect-
ed from commercial influence.
There are different types of TV programmes in Great Britain. BBC and ITV
start early in the morning. One can watch news programmes, all kinds of chat
shows, quiz shows, soap operas, different children’s programmes, dramas, come-
dies and different programmes of entertainment on these channels.
News is broadcast at regular intervals and there are panel discussions of cur-
rent events. Broadcasts for schools are produced on five days of the week during
school hours. In the afternoon and early evening TV stations show special pro-
grammes for children.
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Operas, music concerts and shows are presented at various time. A large part
of TV time is occupied by serials.
Britain has two channels (BBC II and Channel IV) for presenting pro-
grammes on serious topics, which are watched with great interest by a lot of peo-
ple. These channels start working on early weekday mornings. But they translate
mostly all kinds of education programmes.
Weekend afternoons are devoted to sport. Sport events are usually broadcast
in the evening. These are the main channels in Great Britain. Only about a fifth of
households receive satellite or cable.
Notes:
7
. Answer the questions.
1. Can you describe some characteristics, which give the BBC its special po-
sition in Britain?
2. What is the difference between BBC and ITV?
3. What programmes are very popular in Great Britain?
4. When was the BBC World Service set up?
5. Which channels don’t have advertising?
8. Fill in the gaps.
1. Television is the most popular … in Great Britain.
2. In London there are . . . channels.
3. People have to pay ….
4. BBC is famous for its … .
5. Commercial television gets its money from ….
6. ITV started in . . . .
7. Weekend afternoons are devoted to … .
9. True or false?
1. BBC is a commercial television.
2. All TV channels have advertising.
3. Channel IV is famous for its objectivity.
4. Independent Television News is owned by a private company.
5. TV stations show different programmes for children.
6. English people are not fond of soap operas.
7. Most people in Britain receive satellite.
10. Agree or disagree with following statements. Tell your position.
1. TV is more interesting when you watch it in color.
2. Since television has been widely introduced into our home life we go to
the cinemas and theatres less often.
3. We listen to the radio for the information.
4. Reading newspapers is not my hobby.
11. Read the following dialogue and answer the questions.
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a)
What are the programmes Bob and his wife listen to the radio?
b)
What broadcasts does John’s wife listen to during the day?
John and Bob, two Englishmen, are speaking about radio programmes.
John: How often do you listen to the radio?
Bob: We usually switch on to the morning news and it often stays on till I
leave for the office.
John: Don’t you listen to any concerts?
Bob: Sometimes, when there is a programme that we like, but we don’t like
anything toо highbrow.
John: You don’t mean to say you listen to all variety programmes?
Bob: No, only to the best ones.
John: My wife says she always listens to the radio during the day while she
is doing her housework. She has even listened to the school broadcasts and learned
quite a lot of interesting things.
Bob: Doesn’t she watch television in the day-time?
John: No, she is toо busy for that.
12. Read and translate the following text.
BBC Radio
International BBC
The BBC provides the BBC World Service, an international Multilanguage
(43 languages) radio service funded by the Government seeks to present unbiased
news and to reflect British opinion and the British way of life. Its output includes
news in current affairs programmes and political commentaries, along with sport,
drama, phone-ins and general entertainment.
National BBC
The BBC operates 10 national radio stations, simply called numbers. These
are available throughout the UK. Most programmes are produced and broadcast
from broadcasting House in Central London, but all do features programmes from
other areas of the country.
All BBC National stations, along with the BBC World Service are also
broadcast across Europe on the Astra Satellite System on spare UK Gold and Live
audio channels. All national BBC radio stations are available on the BBC national
digital radio multiplex, though new DAB labelled digital set to receive signals is
necessary.
BBC Radio 1
Leading contemporary music station (24/7), reaching over 50
per-cent of 15-to-24 years old. It plays top-selling, new and spe-
cial music covers live performances, broadcast music documen-
taries and news programs.
BBC Radio 2
Round-the-clock music and speech stations that broadened its
output in recent years to attract younger audiences. It is now the
most listened to radio station in the UK, reaching 11.7 million
listeners a week who, on average, stay with Radio 2 for 13 hours
85
a week.
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 offers a wide repertoire of classical music and
jazz. It has broadened its appeal, adding a program called Late
Junction that offers an esoteric range of music not traditionally
associated with the network.
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4’s schedule (broadcast with some differences on
FM and long Wave) has undergone the most radical changes of
all the BBC’s national network in the pursuit of larger audience
– and now attract 9.2 million listeners a week. It has retained its
commitment to news and current affairs, complemented by dra-
ma, comedy, science, the arts, natural history , medicine, finance
and gardening.
Radio 5 Live
Radio 5 Live has been in existence since 1994. It has news and
sports coverage 24 hours a day, and reaches 5.4 million listeners
a week. It broadcasts live English Premier League football and
Formula 1 Motor Racing as well as hard-hitting journalism on
serious issues such as homelessness and race.
BBC Asian
Network
Broadcasting in English and variety other languages; available
as an analogue broadcast in some parts of Midlands and North-
ern Ireland.
BBC Five
Live Sports
Plus
Extended and extra commentary of sports events.
BBC Radio 1
Xtra
Contemporary black music
BBC Network
6
Adult Indie-oriented music
BBC 7
Speech, drama and comedy; launched in December 15, 2002.
13. Answer the questions.
1. What is the difference between International BBC and National BBC?
2. What radio stations are very popular in Great Britain?
3. Are most programmes produced and broadcasted from broadcasting
House in Central London?
4. What radio station plays top-selling, new and special music covers live
performances, broadcast music documentaries and news programs?
5. What can you tell about BBC Radio 2?
6. What is the difference between BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4?
7. What radio station has been in existence since 1994?
8. What are
peculiarities
of BBC Asian Network?
9. What is the difference between BBC Radio 1 Xtra and BBC Network 6?
10. What is BBC 7?
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14. Complete the following sentences.
1. The BBC provides …, an international Multilanguage (… languages) ra-
dio service funded by the … seeks to present unbiased news and to reflect …
2. The BBC operates … national radio stations, simply called numbers.
3. All BBC National stations, along with the BBC World Service are also
broadcast across Europe on the Astra Satellite System on spare … and … audio
channels.
4. All national BBC radio stations are available on the …, though new … set
to receive signals is necessary.
15. Tell about main peculiarities of BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Ra-
dio 3, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5, Live BBC, Asian Network, BBC Five Live
Sports Plus, BBC Radio 1 Xtra, BBC 7.
16. Answer the following questions.
1. What kind of mass media do you know?
2. What was the earliest kind of mass media?
3. Why is the television so exciting?
4. What is the reason for widespread use of radios?
5. What advantages do newspapers have over the other kinds of mass media?
6. What is the difference between the newspaper and the magazine?
7. What does the British Media consist of?
8. What are two main types of newspapers in Britain?
9. Who are “quality” papers for?
17. Prepare the report «The role of Radio and Television in my life»
87
GRAMMAR
__________________________________________________________________
Степени сравнения прилагательных
Сравнительная степень односложных прилагательных образуется при помощи
прибавления суффикса –er. Следует отметить, что некоторые двусложные прилагательные
также образуют сравнительную степень по этому правилу.
Положительная
степень
Сравнительная степень
Пример
clean – чистый
cleaner – чище, более
чистый
I think John's garden is cleaner than his
house – Я думаю, сад Джона чище, чем
его дом.
narrow – узкий
narrower – уже, более
узкий
Streets of our city are narrower than in
Moscow – Улицы нашего города более
узкие, чем в Москве.
easy – легкий
easier – легче
Sometimes it's easier to agree than to argue
– Иногда легче согласиться, чем спорить.
Превосходная степень односложных прилагательных образуется при помощи
прибавления суффикса –est и определенного артикля. Следует отметить, что некоторые
двусложные прилагательные также образуют сравнительную степень по этому правилу.
Положительная
степень
Превосходная степень
Пример
near – близкий,
ближний
the nearest – ближайший,
самый близкий
The nearest hospital is five kilometres away
from here – Ближайший госпиталь в пяти
километрах отсюда.
large – большой
the largest – самый
большой
I need the largest size of shoes – Мне нужен
самый большой размер туфель.
funny – смешной
the funniest – самый
смешной
It was the funniest day in my life – Это был
самый смешной день в моей жизни.
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Образование сравнительной степени многосложных прилагательных.
Сравнительная степень многосложных прилагательных образуется при помощи слова
more.
Положительная
степень
Сравнительная степень
Пример
modern –
современный
more modern –
современнее, более
современный
Her new flat is more modern than ours – Ее
новая квартира более современная, чем
наша.
comfortable –
удобный
more comfortable – более
удобный, удобнее
Can you find more comfortable place to
work? – Вы можете найти более удобное
место для работы?
Правило
Превосходная степень многосложных прилагательных образуется при помощи слова most
и определенного артикля перед прилагательным.
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