Go back to passage 1. Look it through and comment on the sentence: “The educational role of press is extremely great”. Prove your opinion by examples from your own experience.
11. Scan passage 2. Pay attention to the positive and negative features of television. Discuss them with your partner. Use the following word combinations in your discussion:
| a | Admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes; used to have hobbies, to entertain our friends and be entertained by them; used to read books and listen to music; used to go outside for amusements, to theatres, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events; grow addicted to the telly; watch rubbishy commercials or spectacles of sadism and violence; encourage passive enjoyment; cut off from the real world. |
| b | Nobody imposes TV on you; enjoy civilized pleasures; watch to be well informed; considerable variety of programmes; cheap source of information and entertainment; enormous possibilities for education; language teaching; ideals of democracy, political argument, etc...; world net communication via satellite; unifying force of the world. |
12. Look through passage 4 and decide what the phrase “rip and read” means:
| a | the announcer reads paper news reports for some five minutes; |
| b | he gives detailed analysis of the events. |
Scan passage 5 and discuss with your partner all possible uses of the Internet. Speak about the role of the Internet in your life.
Learn and set out the dialogue. Make your own dialogue on the subject.
| A: | Where from do you learn about what happens in your country and abroad? |
| B: | From TV and newspapers. I enjoy watching the news, documentaries, nature programmes, cartoons, variety shows. |
| A: | Which channel do you watch most? |
| B: | Well, actually it is The Discovery, but I watch other channels too. |
| A: | What do you think of foreign films and television programmes? |
| B: | Some, of them are quite enjoyable, but I’m not keen on foreign soaps. They are not really my kind of thing, I’m afraid. And it’s a mistery to me why soap opera is so popular? |
| A: | Well, some people argue that the key is that soaps deal with feelings first, ideas and actions second. And it’s a matter of choice. For example, it is accepted that men have good reasons to watch hours of football on TV – they are sports fans. Soap opera viewers are stereotyped as soap addicts. |
| B: | I agree that everyone has the right to choose – football or soap. They say: “Tastes differ”. |
| A: | You are probably right. |
15. Use the following situations to start a short talk:
| a | The editor-in-chief of the newspaper you work for has looked through the article you wrote for the paper and is now making critical remarks. His opinion is that the coverage of the event in your article is not objective and biased (предвзято). Give reasons to defend your opinion. |
| b | Television, newspapers, magazines and other media pay too much attention to the personal lives of famous people such as public figures and celebrities. Use special reasons and details to explain your opinion. |
Think of a situation where the following proverb can be used: “No news is good news”. Discuss it with your partner.
SECTION III.
Reading.
Starter activity
Before you read the text below say what British newspapers you know. Which of these can be considered quality newspapers: The Financial Times, The Daily Express, The Daily Mirror, The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph. Do you think newspapers in Britain are owned by the government? Read the text and check your answers.
Press in Britain
Probably in no other country are there such great differences between the various national daily newspapers – in the type of news they report and the way they report it.
On the one hand, there are the quality newspapers: The Times, The Independent, The Guardian, The Financial Times and The Daily Telegraph. Quality newspapers are serious national daily newspapers, appealing mainly to the upper and middle classes. They concern themselves mainly with factual reports of major national and international events, with the world of politics and business and with arts and sport. The Daily Telegraph, for example, contains reports on national and international news, gives a full coverage of sports and other topics. The Financial Times is read mainly by professional and business people as it contains coverage of industry, commerce and public affairs. The Guardian gives a wide coverage of news events and reports on social issues, the arts, education, etc. The Times is the most famous newspaper. It is not actually the oldest newspaper in Britain, but some years ago it celebrated its two hundredth birthday. The Times represents the views of the establishment and is well-known for its correspondence column.
On the other hand, there are the populars and tabloids, so-called because of their smaller size. The tabloids – the most widely read of which are The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, The Daily Mirror, The Sun and The Daily Star – concentrate on more emotive reporting of stories often featuring sex, violence, the Royal family, film and pop stars, and sport. The popular press aims to entertain its readers rather than inform them.
In some countries, newspapers are owned by government or by political parties. This is not the case in Britain. Newspapers here are mostly owned by individuals or by publishing companies, and the editors of the papers are usually allowed considerate freedom of expression. This is not to say that newspapers are without political bias. Papers like The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express and The Sun, for example, usually reflect conservative opinions in their comment and reporting, while The Daily Mirror and The Guardian have a more left-wing bias.
In addition to the 12 national daily newspapers there are eleven national papers which are published on Sundays. Most of the “Sundays” contain more reading matter than daily papers, and several of them also include colour supplements – separate colour magazines which contain photographically-illustrated feature articles. Reading a Sunday paper, like having a big Sunday lunch, is an important tradition in many British households. Besides, nearly every area in Britain has one or more local newspapers. They give national but mostly local news. These are often evening newspapers, which people can buy in the afternoon or in the early evening on their way home from work.
There are magazines for all kinds of groups of people and for every type of hobby you can imagine, yet the British have nothing quite like many “news magazines”, serious and popular, that are, for example, on the German market. Information and articles of the type you would find in these “news magazines” appear in Britain in the national daily and Sunday newspapers.
The British are one of the biggest newspaper-reading nations in the world.
2. Read the text “TV and Radio” and look for the answers to the following questions:
| a | Who controls broadcasting in the United Kingdom? |
| b | How many radio stations are there in Great Britain? |
| c | What TV channels are controlled by the BBC? |
| d | What is the IBA responsible for? |
| e | What is Breakfast TV? |
| f | What is Open University (“university of the air”)? |
TV and Radio
Watching television is one of the great British pastimes! Broadcasting in the United Kingdom is controlled by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA). The BBC receives its income from the government, but the private companies controlled by the IBA earn money from advertising.
National radio is controlled by the BBC, and listeners can choose between four stations. Radio 1 is a pop-music station with news and magazine-style programmes. Radio 2 plays light music and reports on sport. Radio 3 plays classical music whilst Radio 4 has news programmes, drama and general interest programmes. There are many local stations, some private and some run by the BBC. Their programmes consist mainly of music and local news.
The BBC has two TV channels. BBC 2 has more serious programmes and news features. The IBA is responsible for looking after the regional independent TV companies who broadcast their own programmes and those they have bought from other regions. There is a break for advertisements about every 15-20 minutes. The most recent independent channel is called Channel 4 and it has more specialized programmes than the main channels. All these channels are basically national, with just a few regional programmes, for example extra news programmes.
Breakfast TV (magazine programmes on BBC and ITV, giving news and interviews from approximately 6 a. m. to 8.30 a. m.) is very popular.
In general, people think the programmes offered on British television are of a very high standard. Some people, however, are becoming worried about the amount of violence on TV, and the effect this may have on young people. TV and radio are also two of the main teaching channels used by the Open University. This 'university of the air' allows many thousands of students to study at home for degrees they never would have obtained in the main educational system. They also have to do without sleep as most of their programmes are broadcast early in the morning or late at night!
New technology has made it possible for viewers to receive many more programmes into their homes through satellite TV. The 1990s saw many changes in British TV and radio.