Read the following and answer the questions.

The British Press

I. Justify or correct the statements:

1) British people watch a lot of TV and video films so they are not interested in reading newspapers.

2) All British newspapers, national and regional, are published in the morning every day of the week.

3) Some Sunday papers are sisters of ‘dailies’.

4) The Sunday papers have a bigger circulation and are thicker than the national dailies.

 

II. Prove that newspaper reading is an essential part of British life.

III. Explain the following notions:

a household institution a daily a Sunday newspaper morning ‘paper round’ newsagent’s circulation readership

‘the forth estate’ ‘human interest’ stories newsworthy situation PCC a Code of Practice stance political outlook

IV. Which of the following characteristics would you refer to a quality and which to a tabloid paper?

1. Large format newspapers.
2. Newspapers which contain bold headlines and large photographs.
3. The page size is small.
4. The newspaper is generally aimed at the educated class.
5. The writing style is informal.
6. News is reported in a formal style and there are few photographs.
7. The items reported are generally of serious nature and cover issues of national and global interest.
8. Sentences are short and dramatic vocabulary is used to grab the readers’ attention, especially in headlines.
9. They are the Times. The Independent, The Guardian.
10. They often contain horoscopes, stories about celebrities and problem pages.
11. They include The Sun, The Mirror, The News of the World.

 

Fill in the table:

Characteristics	Broadsheets	Tabloids
1) Titles
2) Circulation
3) Size
4) Readership
5) Number and size of pictures
6) Headlines size
7) Language style
8) Covered topics
9) Treatment of topics

 

V. Consider the list of the characteristics of British newspapers:

1. Format divided between quality broadsheets and popular tabloids
2. Variety of types of papers: national, regional, ethnic, local free (‘freebie’) papers.
3. Separate Sunday papers
4. Dependent on advertising revenue
5. Ownership in the hands of large publishing groups
6. Do not belong to political parties

Now check this list against what you consider are the essential characteristics of your own country’s press. List the differences.

VI. Use the following expressions, placing them in the order you like, to describe the political outlooks of the British papers:

To have different political views To be an organ of a political party To be in favour of sb’s policy To put selling copies ahead of political integrity To be free from interference from the government The fourth estate

To ensure freedom A fairly predictable political outlook A position on the right/left spectrum To be heavily over-represented To hold right/left wing views The political coverage of a paper

VI. Pick out from the section of the article on page 35 words and expressions used to describe the ‘shallowness’ of the British press. Extend the lists:

Shallow, low, …………………………………………………………………………………….

To attract more readers at all costs, ………………………………………………………………

VII. Correct or justify the following statements:

1. The shallowness of the British press is mainly the result of the public’s ‘right to know’.

2. Broadsheets in Britain look no less popular than in any other European country.

3. The right to privacy in no way contradicts the principle of the freedom of speech.

4. The Press Complaints Commission (PPC) is made up of people of the press.

5. Most people in the UK read newspapers to get serious news.

 

VIII. The Media & private life of people

Read the following and answer the questions.

 

· How free are the media? It varies from country to country. In some cases (e.g. Sweden and America) there are very few limits on what journalists can report. Other governments are slightly less liberal. In Britain, for example, there is an ‘Official Secrets Act”. This means that it’s against the law to report certain sensitive information about defence or intelligence matters. And then there is a third group of countries which control their media very strictly. In cases like this, journalists who break the law are frequently sent to prison or sometimes even killed.

· Which group do you refer this country to? How is the press controlled in this country? What is your attitude to such-like situation?

· The public’s right to know is one of the central principles of a democratic society. “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance”, asserted James Madison, the fourth president of America and an early proponent of press freedom. And people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives” Lack of freedom is a serious journalistic issue, but it’s not the only one in the censorship debate. On the other side of the coin, some people believe journalists have too much freedom. The argument here is that newspapers often invade people’s private lives and print sensational stories which are untrue.

· Should this be allowed to happen? · How do reporters justify their intrusions into people’s private lives, particularly when they cover tragic or shocking stories? Are their reasons valid? Why or why not? · In what way would you react on the fact of the intrusion into your private life? · Is their a balance between the public’s right to know and the individual’s right to privacy? · If so, how do you think this should be achieved? By legislation or by voluntary code as at present?