TOPICAL VOCABULARY 'The Media'

I. The mass media is a collective name for newspapers and magazines, radio, television and the Internet. Newspapers and magazines are the oldest of the mass media. These are various kinds of editions:

- daily   - weekly   - monthly   - local   - national

- morning   - evening   - serious (quality)   - popular (broadsheet, tabloid)

II. In an issue of a paper or a magazine one can find various information presented in:

- articles   - leading articles/editorials   - features   - reports   - comments   - reviews

- photographs   - cartoons   - strip cartoons   - crosswords and puzzles   - (classified) advertisements   - obituaries

III. Usually papers are divided into sections. With the help of this division we can easier find the information we need. Another helpful device for finding information is headlines. Some of the popular sections are:

- politics economics   - business and finance   - science and technology   - patterns   - culture   - home news   - cooking   - foreign (international) news   - current affairs   - reviews

- programmes   - sports news   - readers' letters   - entertainment   - fashion and dress   - children's pages   - recipes (for) gardening   - weather forecasts   - radio and TV programmes

Newspapers and magazines are published in a great number of copies.
A good edition is:
    - accurate
    - impartial
    - comprehensive
A good edition:
    - should help us to keep an eye on the news
    - should give a wide coverage of current events
    - should be current
    - should be informative
    - should provide information on various subjects
    - should cater for all opinions/satisfy any taste
    - should inform, instruct and entertain the reader

IV. People who make newspapers are:
    - freelance (journalists)
    - editors
    - correspondents
    - reporters
    - critics
    - photographers

V. Newspapers readers:
    - buy them from newsagent's, newspaper stands and street-sellers
    - subscribe to their favourite editions
    - go to public libraries and read them
VI. Probably the most popular of the mass media nowadays is television.
Modern television:
    - broadcasts its programmes all over the country
    - has various channels to satisfy any taste
    - shows programmes live and in recording
    - allows us to watch cable and satellite television with a wider choice of programmes, the news and films in foreign languages
    - keeps us informed about the recent events at home and abroad
    - educates and entertains us
VII. People tend to spend more and more time in front of the box glued to the screen watching their favourite programmes or just switching over from channel to channel (surfing the channels) leisurely with the help of remote control. The choice of programmes modern television provides is really wide:
    - the news (e. g. the nine o'clock news)
    - the regional news
    - music request programmes
    - feature films
    - cartoons
    - talk (chat) shows
    - documentary films
    - educational programmes
    - soap operas, serials
    - sitcom - a television or radio series about a particular group of characters who deal with situations in a humorous way
    - interviews
    - quizzes (games)
    - reality TV - television programmes that do not use professional actors but show real events and situations involving ordinary people
    - commercial - an advertisement on television or radio: a TV commercial / a shampoo/dog /food commercial
VIII.     - TV viewers see on the screen the familiar faces of:
    - TV journalists
    - commentators
    - newscasters
    - show hosts and hostesses
    - quizmasters - the person who asks players or teams questions in a QUIZ
    - newsreaders
    - weather forecasters - someone whose job is to study the weather and say what it will be like in the future
    - art critics
IX. Recently the public has grown quite concerned about:
    - people's addiction to television
    - too much influence of TV on young viewers
    - too much violence and crime on TV
    - too passive a role of TV viewers in getting information
    - too many commercials

Answer the questions, using the Topical Vocabulary.
A. 1. Where do you usually get your newspapers? 2. Do you subscribe to any papers? 3. What periodicals are they? 4. What in your opinion are the functions of a newspaper? 5. Why do you read newspapers? 6. Which of them are you specially interested in? 7. In what order do you read various sections of a newspaper? 8. What are the characteristics of a headline? 9. Why do some articles begin on the front page and continue on the next? 10. Do you like doing crossword puzzles? Why? 11. What are the characteristics of a good advertisement? What types of advertisements commonly appear in newspapers? Should advertisements be included in magazines? 12. Why do people write letters to the editor?

B. 1. Why do people say that radio and television belong to mass media? 2. What is the name of the Russian broadcasting corporation? What about the British one? 3. How many TV channels are there in Russia? 4. On what channels do you usually watch TV programmes? 5. Which of the programmes do you think are programmes of general interest and which of them cater for minority interests? 6. What is a typical Saturday evening (Sunday morning) TV programme like? 7. What programme on TV would you try not to miss? Why? 8. What programme would you never watch? Why? 9. What are the main advantages of having television? 10. Are there any disadvantages? Can you name some? 11. Why do some families have two or more TV-sets in the house? 12. Can you give examples of good (bad) commercials? What makes them good or bad?