The Press in BritainСодержание Unit 1 The Media in Britain The press in Britain…………………………………………………………….2 Radio and television……………………………………………………………7 Government and the media……………………………………………….…14 Privacy and self-regulation of the press………………………………….…18 The newspaper team………………………………………………………....22 TV and school performance………………………………………………...29 Unit 2 The Media in the USA General Information………………………………………………………….33 How Newspapers work……………………………………………………….39 Radio and Television. Cable TV, Satellite TV………………………………46 Internet and Satellite TV change News Media, News Delivery……………..51 The nature of TV in America…………………………………………………56 TV, Internet harm kids………………………………………………………..60 Relationships between US Government and Press is Rocky………………...63 Additional exercises…………………………………………………………….67 Unit 1 The Media in Britain TEXT 1 The Press in Britain Britain's first newspapers appeared over 300 years ago. Now, as then, newspapers receive no government subsidy, unlike in some other European countries today. Advertising has always been a vital source of income. As long ago as 1660, King Charles II advertised in a newspaper for his lost dog. Today, income from advertising is as crucial as income from sales. In 1995, for example, £5,465 million was spent on press advertising, making the press by far the largest advertising medium in Britain. There are approximately 130 daily and Sunday papers, 1,400 weekly papers and over 6,500 periodical publications. On average, two out of three people over the age of 15 read a national morning newspaper. National newspapers have a circulation of about 13 million on weekdays and 17 million on Sundays, but the readership is twice this figure. At first glance, therefore, the British press seems in good health. The national newspapers, both on weekdays and on Sundays, fall into two broad categories: the 'popular' and 'quality' press.
Ownership of the press is in the hands of a few large publishing groups. The most significant of these are News International, owned by the Australian-born press tycoon Rupert Murdoch, and the Mirror Croup. Although the law provides safeguards against undue concentration of control in one company, the acquisitions of News International have caused concern. Its purchase of The Times in 1981 marked the beginning of a shift in that paper from an establishment view, politically slightly right of centre but independent, to a more openly right-wing position, in line with the right-wing flavour of the Conservative governments in the 1980s. It also acquired The Sunday Times, and two popular papers, the Sun, a daily, and the News of the World, a Sunday paper, both of which it successfully turned into the two largest circulation newspapers. Thus News International owns the papers read by over one-third of the newspaper-reading public. Private ownership affects the political viewpoint of most newspapers. Most proprietors, or owners, are more sympathetic to a right of centre political viewpoint. Until the 1990s it could be claimed that 70 per cent of the newspapers sold supported a Conservative viewpoint. Among the popular, only the Daily and Sunday Mirror, and the People, express a left of centre view, while among the qualities The Guardian, and its sister Sunday paper, the Observer, reflect a moderate left-of-centre view. The Independent and The financial Times tend to be left of centre on social issues while right of centre on economic ones, but would prefer to be viewed as non-aligned.
All the popular papers, with the exception of the Sunday Express, are 'tabloid' in format. The tabloids are essentially mass entertainment. They are smaller than the other papers, and are distinguished by large illustrations, bold captions and a sensational prose style. The tabloids' news content is minimal and their emphasis is on gossip, emotion and scandal. By contrast quality newspapers, known as 'broadsheets' on account of their larger, rather cumbersome format, emphasize news coverage, political and economic analysis and social and cultural issues.
Since 1971 over three million readers have been lost, mainly from the populars. A fundamental reason lies with television becoming the main medium for news. Consequently all newspapers now give more attention to sports results, city finance and entertainment, but this has failed to halt the decline in readership. Sunday readers have also declined. Since 1991 there has been a drop of one million in the number of populars sold each Sunday. Sunday quality papers have become tatter as the market competition increased during the 1980s. No Sunday quality paper can afford a circulation of less than about 400,000 without serious difficulty in attracting enough advertising.
Finally, there are over 800 free newspapers, popularly known as 'freebies', almost all of them weekly and financed entirely by advertising. They achieve a weekly circulation of over 40 million. They function as local notice-boards, where local events are advertised, and anyone can advertise in the 'for sale' or 'wanted' columns. The best-selling weeklies are those giving details of the forthcoming week's television and radio programs. Second to them in popularity are women's magazines. During the early 1990s some recently established men's magazines, GQ and Esquire, became popular with circulations of 100,000 to 240,000. The leading opinion journals are The Economist, a slightly right-of-centre political and economic weekly, the New Statesman and Society, a left-of-centre political and social weekly, the Spectator, a right-of-centre political weekly, and Private Eye, a satirical fortnightly with a reputation for attacks on leading personalities, and some libel suits against it in the law courts.
ASSIGNMENTS: I Translate the following phrases from the text:
1) Today, income from advertising is as crucial as income from sales. In 1995, for example, £5,465 million was spent on press advertising, making the press by far the largest advertising medium in Britain
2) Although the law provides safeguards against undue concentration of control in one company, the acquisitions of News International have caused concern.
3) Private ownership affects the political viewpoint of most newspapers. Most proprietors, or owners, are more sympathetic to a right of centre political viewpoint.
4) They are smaller than the other papers, and are distinguished by large illustrations, bold captions and a sensational prose style.
5) By contrast quality newspapers, known as 'broadsheets' on account of their larger, rather cumbersome format, emphasize news coverage, political and economic analysis and social and cultural issues.
II Answer the questions: 1. What are the major sources of income of the British Press? Has advertising always been so important? Find evidence in the text. 2. What is the present state of the British press? 3. Whom does the ownership of the press belong to? In what way do the owners affect the newspapers? 4. What are the two main categories of the British newspapers? What do you know about tabloids? How do they differ from quality papers? 5. What other types of press exist in Britain?
III Translate into English: 1. Реклама - главный источник дохода английских газет. На нее тратится более 5 миллионов фунтов стерлингов ежегодно.
2. Таймз - это широкоформатная газета, которая ежедневно распродается многомиллионным тиражом и придерживается консервативных политических взглядов.
3. Таблоиды отличаются от широкоформатных газет как своим форматом, так и содержанием. Они делают ставку на сенсации и скандальные истории, освещают частную жизнь знаменитостей.
4. Количество читателей широкоформатных газет не уменьшается, несмотря на быстрое развитие других средств массовой информации.
5. Читатели ценят широкоформатные газеты за рациональность, анализ событий и фактов, объективное освещение новостей и правдивость.
6. Лучше всего продаются популярные женские журналы, но недавно появившиеся мужские журналы также приобретают популярность.
7. Более узкая аудитория предпочитают авторитетные журналы обозреватели, например, "Экономист", которые подробно анализируют политические и экономические проблемы.
IV Paraphrase the underlined words by giving equivalents from the text:
1. Despite the popularity of other mass media, the British press is flourishing. 2. Advertising has become an important source of income of newspapers as they ceased to get the government's financial aid. 3. The newspapers can be divided into two major categories: tabloids and broadsheets. 4. Some newspapers do not stick to any concrete political viewpoint and prefer to be regarded as independent. 5. These two newspapers became the two best-selling ones after they were acquired by a press tycoon. 6. These newspapers perform the role of notice-boards where people put their advertisments if they want to sell or buy something. V Look up the following words and word combinations in the dictionary and be ready to provide the context: To receive government subsidy; a circulation; readership; popular and quality press; political viewpoint; mass entertainment; freebies. VI Fill in the gaps with articles if necessary: 1) … national newspapers fall into two broad categories: … popular and … quality press. 2) …national newspapers have … circulation of about 13 million on weekdays. 3) At … first glance, … British press seems in … good health. 4) … ownership of … press is in … hands of … few large publishing groups. 5) All … popular papers, with … exception of … Sunday Express, are … tabloid in … format. 6) During … 1980s virtually every paper was affected by … new printing technology. 7) … tabloids news content is minimal and their emphasis is on … gossip, … emotion and … scandal. 8) … advertising has always been … vital source of … income for newspapers.
|
