Vocabulary list
lament - жалоба |
to get along – ладить, жить мирно |
heterogeneous – разнородный, различный |
disperse – рассеиваться |
technical device – техническое устройство, прибор |
circulation —тираж |
relative to – относительно, касательно |
broadcast media – средства вещания |
targeted - целенаправленный |
entertainment – развлекательное мероприятие |
agenda – повестка дня, план действий |
promoting – способствующий |
to be responsible to – ответственный за что-либо |
moreover –более того |
electorate - избиратели |
accountable for – ответственный, подотчетный |
voter – голосующий, избиратель |
capability - способность |
reflect – отражать |
shape - формировать |
prominent - заметный |
motion pictures – кинофильм |
convey – нести, содержать (информацию) |
doggedly – упрямо, упорно |
expose - разоблачать |
resignation – уход в отставку |
paramilitary - военизированный |
seamy – зд. грязный |
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Comprehension
1. Answer the questions:
1. What is the difference between 'communication' and 'mass communication?'
2. What types are the mass media divided into?
3. What are the mass media main functions?
4. What conveys particularly intense political messages?
2. Choose the right variant:
2.1. Communication is
a) speaking on the telephone
b) the transmitting information from one to another object
c) individuals transmit information to large audience
d) a device for transmitting information
2.2. The mass media are commonly divided into ...... types.
a) three b) five c)four d) two
2.3. Which doesn't refer to the print media?
a) books
b) magazines c)newspapers d) posters
2.4. Telephone isn't typically included within the mass media because
a) the quality of the sound is bad
b) radio and television are more interesting for audiences
c) it doesn't transmit information through sounds or sights
d) it is commonly used for more specific communications
2.5. The mass media make money by
a) selling valuable information
b) interpreting the news
c) selling advertising through entertainment
d) reporting the news
2.6. Mass media reflect and shape our political views because
a) they are responsible to public opinion
b) they provide the major channels for two-way flow
c) they report topical news
d) they concentrate on political issues
TEXT 2
The Mass Media
The mass media transmit information to large, heterogeneous, and widely dispersed audiences through print and broadcasts. The main function of the mass media is entertainment, but the media also perform the political functions of reporting news, interpreting news, influencing citizens" opinions, setting the political agenda, and socializing citizens about politics.
The mass media in many countries are privately owned and in business to make money, which they do mainly by selling space or air time to advertisers. Both print and electronic media determine which events are newsworthy, a determination made on the basis of audience appeal. The rise of mass-circulation newspapers in the 1830s produced a politically independent press in the United States and Europe. In their aggressive competition for readers, those newspapers often engaged in sensational reporting, a charge sometimes leveled at today's media.
The broadcast media operate under technical, ownership, and content regulations set by the government, which tend to promote the equal treatment of political contests on radio and television more than in newspapers and news magazines.
The major media maintain staffs of professional journalists in major cities across the world. All professional journalists recognize rules for citing sources that guide their reporting. What actually gets reported in the media depends on the media's gatekeepers, the publishers and editors.
Although more people today get more news from television than newspapers, newspapers usually do a more through job of informing the public about politics. Despite heavy exposure to news in the print and electronic media, the ability of most people to retrain much political information is shockingly low -and less than it was in the mid-1960s. It appears that the problem is not with the media's inability to supply quality news coverage, but the luck of demand for it by the public. The role of the news media may be more important for affecting interactions among attentive policy elites than in influencing public opinion.
The media's elite including reporters from the major television networks tends to be more liberal than the public.
From the standpoint of majoritarian democracy, one of the most important effects of the media is to facilitate communications from the people to the government through the reporting of public opinion polls. The media zealously defend the freedom of the press, even to the point of encouraging disorder through criticism of the government and the granting of extensive publicity to violent protests, terrorist acts, and other threats to order.