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Mass Media

Mass Media

Pictures
- Which of the following magazines do you prefer? Why? Choose one and describe it in details.

- Compare these types of newspapers. Talk about their similarities and differences.

- Describe the pictures. Which TV programmes can you identify? Which of them do you prefer and why? Which TV channels broadcast those most often?

- Look at these examples of massmedia and divide them into categories and talk about them. Which of them do you prefer?

- Describe the pictures. What role do these media play in your life? Which of them do you have at home?

- Looking at the pictures answer the questions: Which of these magazines and newspapers would you recommend different groups of people to read /i.e. women, students, old people, teenagers, etc./ and why? Would you like to work for some of them? Why? Why not? What are the right qualities of an editor, photographer or other employees in mass media?

- Look at these pictures of TV channels. Which of them do you prefer watching? Why? What do they broadcast?

Discussion
- How do we divide mass media?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of TV, radio, newspapers and magazines?

3. Define the types of newspapers. What kind of newspapers do you prefer reading and why?

- Which Slovak newspapers and magazines are popular?
- What is your favourite magazine / newspaper and why? Do you read it regularly?  What articles do you like reading? What topics are popular with men / women? 
- How can reading magazines, listening to the radio or watching TV enrich a person’s life?
- What magazines for teenagers do we have in Slovakia?
- What is your opinion of programmes on TV?
- What types of programmes do you like and dislike?
- What do you think of advertising on TV? How does advertising between programmes or in the middle of programmes make you feel?
- What are the benefits of TV watching?
- In what ways can TV watching be harmful?
- What criteria do you use in deciding whether or not to watch a TV programme?
- What kinds of TV programmes do you like watching? Give your own examples.
- Watching TV is a waste of time. What´s your opinion?
- Radio or TV presenters are very popular. Do they deserve their popularity?
- What kinds of radio programmes do you prefer?
- What kinds of TV programmes are most popular with young people? Why?
- How much time do you spend watching TV?

20.  Do you prefer commercial or non-commercial radio stations and why?

- How do you feel about cigarette advertising when it is a well/known fact that smoking is harmful to health?
- The media sometimes presents news and information is a biased way to attract readers and viewers. Is it ethical?
- Television influences people´s behaviour. How?  In what way?

24.  According to the survey, TV has destroyed communication among friends and families. Give your opinion.

- Do you use the Internet as a source of information which you can get from other media? Explain your reasons.
 
Role-plays and simulations
- Student: You are a big fan of the Internet. You see only its positive sides. On the other hand, your parents are against it. Change your opinions about this kind of media and its role in your life.

Parent: You can ee more negative sides of the Internet. Tell your son/daughter about its bad influence on people´s lives and relations. /Role-play/

- Recommend your favourite magazine to your friends. Give as many details as possible. /Simulation/

- You work for a local TV company. You were asked to compile a TV programe for a day. Decide on what you would include to attract the TV viewers. /Simulation/

- Your friend has stopped going out and speaking with you because he/she has become addicted to soap operas. Persuade him/her to spend time on more useful activities. /Role-play/

- Make a phone call to your local TV station. Firstly expres show satisfied you have been with the programme so far. Give some suggestions how to improve its programme and explain your reasons carefully. /Role-play/

- Choose two newspapers, one serious and one popular.Compare their content, the objectivity of reporting and circulation /who reads them/. Give a short presentation to your groups. /Simulation/

- Your school has decided to publish a monthly magazine. Discuss with the headmaster what it should be like. Use the following to help you: regular columns, photos, illustrations, number of pages, and quality of paper. Offer to write an article and conduct a survey. /Role-play/

- Student: You can´t imagine your life without a TV set, you watch TV quite often, especially informative TV progammes /nature films, travel documantaries/. Your parents don´t like you sitting in front of TV, in their opinion it´s a waste of time. Persuade them you watch the programmes which broaden your knowledge.

Parent: You think your son/daughter should study, not waste time in front of TV. /Role-play/
 
Masmédiá
- typy masovokomunikačných prostriedkov /ich využitie, výhody, nevýhody/
- tlač /noviny, časopisy, rubriky/ - výber, nákup, čítanie – obľúbené články
- rozhlas a televízia /obľúbené typy programov, sledovanosť/
- vplyv masmédií na život jednotlivca, rodiny a spoločnosti
- internet a jeho vplyv na človeka a spoločnosť
 
A.
THE MEDIA
The Media is a general term describing newspapers, magazines, radio and television.  It is also called the mass media, because it brings information to large numbers of people.
The media’s importance is rather simple – they are our source of information, easily available, complex and cheap.  Through newspapers, radio and television we learn about the world around us, important inventions, new technologies and unique achievements.
The media play an important role in society and some experts say they are too powerful and too influential today. How they present information can decide about people’s lives and the development of our society.

B.

NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES
You  buy  newspapers  and  magazines  from  a newsagent or  news-stand /or, in some countries, from  a  kiosk/. Most newspapers appear daily or weekly /once a week/.  Magazines are usually produced weekly, fortnightly /once a fortnight/ or monthly  /once a month/.  Newspapers contain articles and feature, which is written by the editor and gives the point of view of the newspaper.
In many countries, the press is independent, and newspapers may be right-wing or left-wing.  In some  countries, the press is controlled by the state and may be censored.

Typical contents of a newspaper:
news  - home  news, foreign/international  news,  business/financial news, sports news,
regular features  - weather  forecast,TV & radio  programmes, horoscope,  cartoon, letters, reviews,  obituaries, advertisements, crossword,

NATIONAL AND LOCAL NEWSPAPERS
In Britain there are 11 national daily newspapers and most people read one of them every day. There are different kinds of newspapers:

1. One is large size and has many detailed articles about national and international events. These are called the serious papers, the quality papers or broadsheets.  They normally concentrate on giving factual reports on home and foreign news, they are serious in tone. They usually have editorials, which comment on important issues and also reflect the political views of the editor. They also contain financial and sports news, features /aticles/, obituaries /biographies of famous people who have just died/, listings of TV and radio programmes, theatre and cinema shows, comic strips, advertisements, the weather forecast, crosswords.  These "broadsheets" are large, have few photographs.
There  are  four  "quality dailies", The Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times and  The  Daily  Telegraph  which  contain  a  great variety of national and international  news, reports of parliamentary debates, reviews  of the arts, features  about fashion and sport and business news.  They present different political views and orientations but they are not organs of polical parties. The Times is the oldest and the most famous of them all. It is not a government newspaper as many foreigners believe. The Times is an independent paper which brings long, serious editorials presenting independent views on politics. The Daily Telegraph is a right/wing paper, read mostly by those people whose political opinions are conservative. The Guardian is in general a paper of the left. It is socialist in its orientation.  The Financial Times publishes business news, stock exchange news, and also famous art reviews and is printed on pink paper.

2.  The  other  kind,  called  the  tabloids  / or popular  newspapers/ are smaller in size, have more pictures, often  in  colour, and  shorter  articles, often  about  less  important events or about  the private lives of well-known  people or human-interesr stories. These newspapers generally concertrate on crimes, scandals, injustices and gossips about famous people. They feature ‘page-three girls‘. They are normally written in sensational style, with large headlines, and emotive, bombastic language. These newspapers also rely on so-called paparazzi pictures. /The Sun, The News of the World, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Star/
There are papers with a very high circulation such as the Daily Mirror and the Sun which belongs to "popular newspapers". They hardly publish any  serious material.  The  articles  mostly  deal  with  sex scandals  and money,  then  there are  advertisements,  competitions  about  pop  stars  and  some  home news. The "popular papers" frequently use pictures, strip-cartoons and humorous drawings reacting to some political events. There is no  censorship of press in Great  Britain but the editors  of  newspapers  are  responsible  for  what  they  publish.
3. Many people also read local newspapers. These are usually either dailies delivered in the evening or weeklies.  Whether daily or weekly local newspapers, they cover local news as well as some national and international stories. They give  information  about films,  concerts and  other things that are  happening  in the  local  neighbourhood,  including e.g. information about local  people who have been married or died recently. They publish advertisements for local bisunesses and real estate agencies.

4. Sunday newspapers are larger, often having 2-3 sections.  There is also often a magazine, called "Colour supplement". All Sunday newspapers are national.
serious - the Observer, the Sunday Times
tabloid - the Sunday Mirror, the News of the World
The British Sunday newspapers have enormous circulation. Many of them are connected with the dailies but they are not run by the same editor and editorial staff. The Observer and The Sunday Times are the most famous of all Sunday papers. They contain more pages than daily papers and usually publish articles concerned with comment and general information rather than news. The "quality papers" devote much attention to the publishing of literary and art reviews. Several Sunday papres publish a magazine supplement in  colour.

5. Magazines - There are many specialist weekly and monthly magazines for  women and teenage girls, for people interested in various kinds  of sports  and hobbies,  such as  yachting, tennis,  modelrailways, gardening, cars, an ideal home, garden news, good food, mother and baby, DIY, cinema.

Fanzines are cheap magazines produced by fans of a singer, group or sports club. Magazines such as Time, The Economist, The Scientist and National Geographis have a more intellectual content and include currect affairs articles, analyses, reports and reviews. Women’s and men’s magazines /Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Arena/ have a more chatty style and contain articles on fashion, make-up, food and fitness, cars, music, sports and an agony column, which includes replies to readers‘ letters on personal problems.  Teen mags have information and advice about clothes, school, friends and enetrtainment and stories about boys and sex. Special-interest magazines can be found on about any subject, including photography, fishing, electronics, computing and are aimed especially at enthusiasts of the activity. Magazines are now increasingly available on the Internet and are called ‘inzines‘ /Wired, Toxic/.

Useful vocabulary
column, table of contents, headline, sub-heading, article, supplement, news, editorial, essay, review, letters to the editor,  sports page, sports new, front page news, scoop /senzácia/, canard /kačica/, isme /vydanie/, opinion editorial, advertisement, reader, journalist, freelance journalist, editor, editor-in-chief, art director, reporter, correspondent, reviewer,  information source, proof, print, print run/circulation /náklad/, distributon, layout

C.

RADIO, TELEVISION AND VIDEO
People who do not like reading newspapers or think it’s too expensive to buy a newspaper every day and then throw it away, listen to the radio to be informed. The news is read by a presenter and there is also a lot of good music. There is usually a variety of of radio programmes to choose from – news programmes and weather forecasts, chat shows, educational programmes, quiz show, morning show, phone-in programmes. Another possibility how to be informed is per TV.
In  Britain  radio  and  television  is  provided  by  the stateowned  BBC /British  Broadcasting Corporation/, which  has a  high international reputation  for impartiality /nestrannosť/ and objectivity. Besides BBC there are also other radio and TV broadcasting authorities. Unlike the press, which is free in Britain, radio and TV broadcasting have always been subject to some state control.

The BBC has five radio programmes and two television channels.  Its radio and   television broadcasts include news, sport, educational, cultural and entertainment programmes.  The  BBC`s five programmes  for  radio  broadcasting  have their  specializations : Radio 1 continuously presents pop and rock music, Radio 2  is for light  entertainment /popular music and arts programmes/, Radio 3  is intended  for  minority interests  and music,  Radio 4  includes the main  news broadcasts  and different  regional programmes, Radio 5 is for sport, education and children`s programmes.  There are also many local BBC radio stations covering the whole country and the famous world-wide BBC radio service.
In Slovakia we have 2 channels, but there is also some private TV broadcasting. Besides, a lot of people can watch foreign broadcasting by means of satellite aerials /antennas/.

There  is  a  wide  choice  of  programmes  /films, long serials,  soap  operas,  news,  weather  forecast,  sports  programmes,  live  broadcast  of  sports  game  or another  event,  music programmes,  games, talk-shows,  quiz shows, variety shows,  special programmes for  children, language  courses and other educational programmes, pannel discussions, and  of course,  a lot  of  commercials  [advertisements], breaking news, panel, soap opera, serial, full-length feature film, early morning show, late night show, children’s good night show, cartoon, fairy tale,  /.

As for TV programmes the BBC has two TV channels /BBC 1 and BBC 2/, and two television channels are put out by independent commercial companies. The Independent  Commercial Authority was established in 1954 to provide facilities /možnosti/ for commercial television companies. The commercial TV companies are financed by advertising. The Independent Television /ITV/ has Channel 3, and Channel 4 has its own company. The British are thus able to receive four TV channels.  The four  channels together  provide a  wide choice  of programmes from  serious ones produced  by  the  two  BBC  channels  up  to  more  popular,  including  quiz-shows, "soap operas", and long-running sagas produced  by commercial TVs to satisfy viewers with different tastes and  preferences.  There are about a dozen regional TV companies with broadcast in their region. They produce some programmes of local interest. In Wales there are also Welsh-language programmes transmitted for those who want them. Commercial satellite and cable TV was begun in 1989  - 1990 by two companies which joined together and formed British Sky Broadcasting. BBC TV Europe broadcasts some of its own programmes by satellite and BBC TV International  sells and distributes its World Service TV news in English and some other languages.

•  What is your opinion of programmes on TV? What types of programmes do you like and dislike? – In general, I think that the programmes on TV are /wortwhile/informative/uplifting /povznášajúci/. I feel that /many/some/few/ programmes are too /violent/rude/shallow/. My favourite programmes are /nature films/travel documentaries/sporting events/…because…,  I rarely watch /quiz shows/ cartoons/ soap operas/ …because…

•  What do you think about TV news and analyses? Is the reporting objective or is it at times sensational? – I believe that some news reporting is /truthful/objective/reliable/…, I think the reporting can be /sensational/besed /předpojatý/ selective/…, for example….,  I find some political commentaries and analyses /thought-provoking/insightful /pronikavý/ interesting/…,  For me analyses of current events are /dull/ hard to understand/ a waste of time/…

•  What do you think of adveritising on TV? How does advertising between programmes or in the middle of programmes make you feel? – I feel that the content of ads is /useful/silly/exaggerated/… The number of ads is /too great/acceptable……, I don’t mind advertising between programmes because……, Advertising  in the middle of a programme can give one a break to……, I get /annoyed/frustrated/upset/… when a gripping movie is suddenly interrupted by advertising.

•  How much time do you spend watching TV? Could you be happy without having a TV at home? – On the average, I watch TV for….hour/s/ a day. During weekends or holidays, I watch it about….hour/s/ a day. I think I could live without TV because…. . Instead of watching TV, I would……, I can’t imagine life without a TV set. I would especially miss….. 

Useful vocabulary

broadcasting, transmission, commercial advertising, prime time, news headlines, live broadcast,  TV rating, TV viewer, radio listener, TV screen, transmitter /vysielač/, radio presenter, TV presenter, chat show presenter, cable TV, TV channels, tune in a station, remote control, announcer, studion, news room, private broadcasting, private TV, make an announcement, dubbed film, subtitles, jungle, news flash, report, aerial, satellite dish, stand-up comedy, slapstick, soap opera, documentary, situation comedy, breakfast TV, chat show news, true stories, weather forecast, fairy-tale, competition, political discussion, quiz, serial, detective story, music programme, talk show, cartoon, children programme, thriller, comedy, drama, historical film, sports news, animal wildlife


D.

Television is nowadays probably the most important and influential of all mass media.  People, especially young children and youngsters watch TV too much.  Some doctors warn of a mential illness, when people become so dependent on their TV that they are desperate without it.  Good or bad, TV programmes in any country can ruin home life.  TV can replace hobbies, games and conversation.  Instead  of  talking  you  watch  a  talk-show, instead of  playing games  you watch "Quiz"  shows when people  answer  questions for prices and money. A more dangerous aspect of TV is that young criminals are getting some of their ideas from watching crime films.  Many people think there is too much violence on television and there is too much violence in our society.  There are too many war films on television,  there is too much crime and there are too many murders.  There was violence in the old cowboy films of course, but in the old cowboy films there was no confusion between good and bad. The hero was very, very good and the villain was very, very bad. Now there is confusion.  The hero is often criminal. I think the effect on children is very bad. There is more violent crime every year, especially in our big cities and I think there is a connection. I think that young criminals are more violent because they see so much violence on television. On the other hand side, TV is an irreplaceable source of information. It depends only on the viewer whether he can choose the right programmes or just switch the TV set off.

E.

The latest technological contributions to media development is the Internet and e-mail which tend to replace classical media – newspapers, television and radio and moreover other means of communication such as telephones, telegraphs. All of the main newspapers and magazines now have websites, as do TV and radio stations. These ‘new media; are starting to get similar numbers of readers as the old media, forcing publishers and broadcasters to think seriously about how to make money and reach audiences in the digital world.

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