"MASS MEDIA" (32)
In Great Britain there is no official control over the newspapers. The government does not exercise any official control over the newspaper industry and most of the English newspapers are very proud of their peculiarities, their individual styles. And although every newspaper has a definite profile, they can be classified into two main groups: quality and popular newspapers. Quality newspapers are serious, national newspapers. They are "Financial Times", "The Times", "The Daily Telegraph". "The Daily Telegraph" contains reports on national and international news, gives a full covering of sports and other topics. "Financial Times" is read mainly by professionals and business people as it contains a comprehensive coverage of industry, commerce and public affairs. "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" gives a wide coverage of news events and reports on social life, the arts, education, etc. Popular newspapers are smaller in size and contain many photographs. Unlike quality newspapers popular newspapers are not so serious and their stories tend to be sensational. Popular newspapers are: "The Daily Express," "The Daily Mirror," "The Sun." "The Sun" has the largest circulation among daily newspapers.
Everywhere, everyday exciting things are happening. Each day is filled with news. How are people kept informed?
The press, radio and television keep people informed on all topical issues of the day. The press has great political influence. You can get a lot of useful information from newspaper reports. If you are a regular reader of the press you will be well informed about all matters. Newspapers publish articles on home and foreign affairs. Reports by political observers and commentators help us to get useful information on international and domestic issues. Most newspapers come out daily. The reader's questions, opinions and suggestions, which they send in letters to the editor, help to improve the newspaper and make it more interesting.
The British are great newspaper readers. Newspapers are often thought of as either "qualities" or "populars". The "qualities" give serious accounts of the news and reports on business matters, industry and culture. They are usually large-sized.
The "quality" papers, like The Times, The Guardian and others, are directed at readers who want full information on a wide range of public matters. "Popular" newspapers appeal to people wanting news of a more entertaining character. They are usually with lots of illustrations. Some populars, like The Sun, are note for their sensational stories and photographs. Some newspapers come out only on Sundays:
"Qualities": The Sunday Telegraph, The Sunday Times
"Populars": Sunday Express, Sunday Mirror
Many newspapers are printed in color, as the part of Sunday or Saturday paper. They provide reading material about clothes, cooking, diet, the house and home.
There is a wide variety of magazines in Britain. Their titles show that cater for tastes and interests: British Chess Magazine, Homes and Gardens, Country Life, Do-it-yourself.
Press is often called a mirror of current events. The informationwe get from newspapers and magazins helps us to know the life at homeand in other countries.
The newspapers' aim is to inform the readers as fully as possible ofthe events taking place in Russia an abroad. They try to cover domesticand foreign policy and the public opinion on all topical issues.
2. My family is sunscribed for ... . I think ... is most interesting, I preferit because ... . It's a daily (weekly, monthly) newspaper (magazine).
3. If you are a regular reader of the press, you can got a lot ofinformation.
The British press consists of several kinds of newspapers.
The national papers are the ones sold all over the country, with a large circulation, giving general news.
There are two main types of national papers - the "popular" papers and the "quality" papers. The popular papers are smaller in size (they are tabloid size), with lots of pictures, big headlines and short articles. They are easy to read and often contain little truthful information. They give much space to opinions. They usually have "human interest" stories - stories about ordinary people and events. Examples of this type of newspapers are "The Daily Mail". "The Sun", etc.
"Quality" papers appeal to the more serious reader, who wants to read about politics and foreign affairs. These papers such as "The Daily Telegraph", "The Guardian" are bigger in size (they are called "broad-sheets"), with longer articles and a wider coverage of events. They have different pages for home news, foreign affairs, features articles, fashion, business, sport and so on.
People in Britain buy more papers on Sunday than on weekdays. The Sunday papers have a higher circulation than the dailies. As with the dailies, there are both popular and quality Sunday newspapers. The quality ones have different sections and a colour magazine (usually full of advertisements).
Television is the most popular leisure pastime in Russia. Several television channels are in operation: "Ostankino". "Russian Channel", "Independent TV Channel - NTV". Besides them there are local TV channels and local commercial TV channels in big cities and republics of Russia.
TV services provide programmes of general interest such as light entertainment, sport, current affairs, serious drama, music. There are programmes on arts, children's and family programmes, interview with outstanding personalities, news reports covering international, national and local events.
Much attention is paid to foreign films, American in particular, foreign TV programmes and soap operas.
Television in Britain.
Television is one of the most popular mass media in Britain. About 96 per cent of population have television in their homes. It is estimated that about 10 per cent of household have two or more sets. Average viewing time per person is over 17 hours a week.
Four television channels are in operation: BBC-1. BBC-2. ITV. Channel-4.
The BBC has been providing regular television broadcasts since 1936. BBC television productions come from main studios at the Television Centre in west London and other studios in various parts of London.
The first regular independent television broadcast began in London in 1955. Independent television programmes are produced at 18 studio centres throughout the country.
Many people have forgotten what the world was like before TV. But today it has become an integral part of our lives. No medium can compare with TV as a means of information, entertainment & education. TV now plays such an important role in so many people's lives that it is essential for us to try to decide whether it is bad or good.
First of all, TV is not only a convenient source of entertainment, but also a comparatively cheap one. For a family of 4, for example, it is more convenient as well as cheaper to sit comfortably at home than to go out. They don't have to pay for expensive tickets. All they have to do is to turn on TV and they can see films, political discussions and the latest exciting football matches. Some people say that this is fist where the danger lies. The TV viewers need do nothing: they make no choices, they're completely passive & don't even use their legs.
TV, people often say, informs about current events and the latest developments in science and politics. A lot of good films, music programs have appeared recently on TV. Yet here again there is a danger. We get to like watching TV so much that it begins to dominate our lives. A friend of mine told me that when his TV set broke he & his family suddenly found that they had much more time to do things.
The most important thing which is really criticizing is poor quality of the programs and its harmful effect on children. For example the film "Natural Born Killers" teaches children to kill and there was one accident in France when a group of teenagers kill their parents.
There are many arguments for and against TV. I think we must understand that TV in itself is neither good nor bad. TV is as good or as bad as we make it.
We don`t imagine our lives without Internet. We can find all necessary information there. We use popular services and sources every day. One of the most popular sources is social nets. A social network is a very useful invention of the 21st century. Nowadays millions of people use social networks. It is an Internet site that gives us a chance to support various contacts, keep friendly relationships with classmates, acquaintances. More functional social nets allow watching photos and video films, to listen to music and so on. There is a possibility to enter different interesting groups. There exist social nets connecting people according to a general interest, for example, computer games players are combined into a social net.
People got used to surfing on the Internet because it is quick and very easy to discover any wish. You don`t need to think of suggestions and ideas. At least what you need is to be able to type correctly. I think social networks help disabled and lonely people very much. They can create an account and start communicating with other identical partners. Most of social networks are used by people to meet friends with similar interests and hobbies. Very often close - minded persons find each other on the Internet. Although people live far away from one another any network can unite them. However why are social networks so widespread and widely used? As we live in an era where technology is at its peak and is in constant development, things like reading books on the internet, shopping online and communication with contacts around the globe, which were impossible a hundred years ago, are now part of everyday life. The most vital part of today's world is speed – the speed of acquiring information.
The appeal of social networks lies firstly in their accessibility – the registration on most of the popular social networks is free of charge. Accessibility and ease of use is what makes sites such as Facebook and MySpace appealing. Secondly social networks create the possibility to connect with friends, acquaintances or even strangers across the world, which is vital in the modern world. While during the pre-internet era communication required countless amounts of time, energy and money then today it is only a click away. In addition social networks allow people to monitor the social developments of their 'friend list'. Finally, in addition to fulfilling the task of a social network, sites such as Facebook, provide entertainment for their users. Take for instance the Facebook applications, which feature all kinds of quizzes and games for the users. And so numbers of users of Facebook are millions.
Writing and receiving correspondence with the help of post is a long process. It takes time and money. More over a letter can be lost. But e-mail can`t be lost and doesn`t take much time. A social network is a very useful invention of the 21st century. Thanks to modern technologies people can not only write different kinds of letters to their partners all over the world, but talk and see them by means of a web camera. But on the other hand, social networks are a great trouble. They made people forget traditional heart-to-heart talk. Sometimes you can`t see the eyes of your partners and feel their emotions. Besides, social networks are full of aggressive, cruel, violent and dangerous videos for children.
Many uncertain persons try to raise their self-confidence using social networks. It can be said that on the internet, namely on social networking sites you can never be certain of who is "listening". I believe networks can be used by adult people and children at the age of fourteen and up. As for me, I use social networks with great pleasure as they give me a helping hand with my self-education and communication.
Today soap operas are very popular, and many people find them enjoyable and realistic, but some people don't think so. Let's discuss this problem.
To begin with I would like to say that there are a lot of different opinions about soap operas. On the one hand, soap operas can help us to spend out time rather nice, because they are very interesting and true-to-life. Another good thing is that people can find a very close situations to their life in soap operas. There can be a situation, which was in the life of the watcher, so you can see different ways of its outcoming, what can be very useful. Moreover, soap operas wake feelings of people, they can make people sympathies and empathize heroes, they can make people more human.
On the other hand, there are some disadvantages of soap operas. For example soap operas can be unrealistic and they can be just a useless thing. Another one problem is a dependence on a soap opera. People just can't wait for the next series. Moreover, soap operas need a lot of free time, which people can spend for more useful things.
In conclusion I would like to say I don't think that soap operas are bad for people or that they do not need them at all. If the person wants to see it and he finds it enjoyable and realistic- it is his opinion and his choice.
I think it is impossible to imagine our life without radio and TV. Radioand TV are widely used in today's world. It is the quickest means ofspreading news and information. Radio plays an important role inreflecting the life of society and building opinions. It performs theservice of information well enough but on TV everything is much more real.Radio and TV keep us informed about current events, extend the education,provide the cultural recreation, allow us to follow the latest developmentsin science and politics and offer an endless number of programmers whichare both instructive and entertaining. So they give us a lot of usefulinformation and are exciting.
When I come home from school I turn on the radio, leave it on and goabout my household duties. So I am actually doing two things at one and thesame time. The best radio station for me is Europa Plus and Radio Maximum.I watch TV at the evening when all the lessons I have done. I prefer to seenews programs such as: "Vesty" and " The Time". Sometimes we can watchrather interesting films at TV. There are different kinds of films, forinstance: a nature film, a war film, a crime film, a travelogue, anadventure film, a musical film and comic film. As for me I prefer to seecomic and crime films.
My favorite channel is the "6th channel". There are many interestingprograms for me like "The world of computers", "Farcop", "News" "Show-Business" and others. I like this program because there are not so manyadvertisement. Also every weekend there are three films which are popularall over the world. So the "6th Channel" program is my favorite one becauseit satisfy my different interests in the best way. As for me my favoriteradio station is "Europa plus". It broadcasts many programs , for instance:"Press-Digest", "Prezent", "Garage", "News" and others. Also there are alot of programs where everyone can win something. It satisfies myinterests in the best way. Sometimes when I came home from school I turn onthe radio and leave it on and go about my household duties. So the bestradio for me is "Europa Plus" and I like to listen to it.
That's why I think that we can't live without TV and radio nowadays.
Of all the discoveries ever made by man, radio, or wireless, is one ofthe most wonderfull. By means of wireless, you can speak to a man on theother side of the world. Seated confortably in your own home, you canhear music or talking, broadcast thousand of miles away from you - talkson national and international affairs, on science, history and othereducational subjects.
I listen to the wireless almost every evening, mine radio set is splendid. It has medium, long andshort wave-lenghts and it is quite simple to manipulate. All I have to dois to tune into the station I need.
I use my set a good deal for improving my English.
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Newspapers and magazines play a very important part in our life. Practically there is no family that does not read them. We can learn many things from newspapers. Perhaps that is why many years ago an American humorous writer said: "All I know is what I see in the papers"; and another American author more than half a century ago wrote that "the careful reader of a few good newspapers can learn more in a year than most scientists do in their great libraries".
We can agree or disagree with these statements (better to disagree, because scientific books and magazines have more information than newspapers), but we'll have to say that newspapers help us in many ways. There are a lot of different kinds of newspapers in our country. One can buy them practically everywhere. It is impossible to read all the newspapers and magazines. Everyone has favourite ones.
My favourite newspaper is "Komsomolskaya Pravda". We can read almost about everything in this newspaper. There are articles dealing with home and abroad news, sport events, life of favourite actors and singers and even the weather. We can find many interesting things there. We can read some useful pieces of advice, some stories about our life, and so on. There are puzzles, songs and even anecdotes there. "Komsomolskaya Pravda" is one of the most interesting newspapers, to my mind.
Newspaper is a publication that presents and comments on the news. Newspapers play an important role in shaping public opinion and informing people of current events.The first newspapers were probably handwritten news-sheets posted in public places. The earliest daily newssheet was "Acta Diurna" ("Daily Events") which started in Rome in 59 B.C. The first printed newspaper was Chinese publication called "Dibao" (pronounced "Ti -pao") started in A.D. 700's. It was printed from carved wooden blocks. The first regularly published newspaper in Europe was "Avisa Relation" or "Zeitung", started in Germany in 1609.Newspapers have certain advantages over other mass media — magazines, TV and radio. Newspaper can cover more news and in much detail than TV or radio newscast can do. Magazines focus on major national and international events of the preceding week. But newspaper focuses on local news as well and provides information and comments faster than magazine can do.There are about 1700 daily and 7500 weekly newspapers in the US. The circulation of some weeklies is no more than a few hundred of copies per issue and the circulation of some dailies is over a million of copies.There are daily newspapers and weekly newspapers. Daily newspapers print world, national and local news. Many dailies are morning papers, others are afternoon papers. Sunday issues of the dailies are usually larger than the weekday ones. They may include special sections on such topics as entertainment, finance and travel or Sunday magazine, a guide to TV programmes, colored comics. The major dailies in the US are "Christian Science Monitor", "New York Times", "USA Today", "Wall Street Journal", "Washington Post".Weekly newspapers serve usually for smaller areas. They are printed in small communities where people know each other and are interested in activities of their friends and neighbours. Weeklies report of weddings, births, deaths and news of local business and politics. Most weeklies do not print world or national news.
The most popular entertainment in our home life is television. We have a choice between five channels: First Channel, Russia and 3 commercial channels. There is also a cable TV station in our town. Television plays an important role in our life. It informs people about current events both national and international, the latest achievements in science and culture, and offers some programs, which are both interesting and stimulating. Every day we can see different tips of programs on TV. News is broadcast at regular intervals. They also present operas, ballets, music concerts and various shows. Broadcast for schools are produced on five days of the week, during school hours. In the late afternoon and early evening TV channels showed special programs for children. In the evenings and at weekends there are broadcasts of sports events. A large time of TV evening's time is occupied by films and serials, but as for me I like quizzes. A quizzes–program is a question and an answer competition which offers money and other prizes and to the winners. Such programs as "Wonders field", "What, Where, When", "A Hundred to One" are my favorite ones, because they are both informative and interesting. But best of all I like the programs of "Travellers' club", because it gives me a chance to travel of other the world with out living home. Far away countries and their customs and traditional are come into my living room.
Moscow News" is a national weekly newspaper. The first issue of it came out in October 5, 1930.
Its circulation is about 50,000 copies. The newspaper is printed both in Russian and in English. It informs the readers of the life in our country, the most important events in foreign states.
On the first page you will find the major home news and some items of foreign news. The second and the third pages are taken by home affairs. On the fourth and the fifth pages there are reports from various countries on world news. On the last pages you will find the articles which are sometimes called features. The term "features" covers a wide range of subjects: review of books, criticisms on theatre, on music, art. films, television, articles on science, travel, sport events, etc. The newspaper is also full of advertisements.
