Variations in Frequency of Publications and Programs

All types of media – print radio and TV – have different types of publication and programs, and the main division is between dailies, weeklies and monthlies.

Dailies often work on tomorrow’s news today, working on the faster-moving stories right up to the deadline but finishing less time-sensitive features earlier. On a weekly magazine, the features are often “tied down” or “go to bed” two or three weeks before the issue closes, while the news pages may not be “put to bed” until the last minute. Monthly publications often have features written two months before the close – which is often three months before the magazine appears.

Knowing what sort of publication the journalist is working for makes a difference to the way the editor responds to them. If he /she gets a call from someone working on a news story for a daily or a weekly, he /she knows he /she will have almost no chance to get back to them with further comment or information. The editor has to respond fairly fast.

Abridged from “Press Here” by Annie Gurton

Prentice Hall, 1998

№	verbal	translation
1	w- - - - - -
2	f - - - - - - m - - - - -
3	f- - - - - - - -
4	w- - - - - -
5	k - - - - - -
6	g- - -
7	r- - - - - -
8	g- - -
9	t- - -

9 points

Iy Read the text. State its topic, main idea and purpose. Write out the key words to support the main idea. Headlines

Headlines can tell us something what a paper is like. Looking at one of that has been detached from its body copy readers will not find it very difficult to find out which is from a quality newspaper and which was snipped from a tabloid. Those from qualities are likely to be longer and more informative. Those from the tabloids tend to be short and snappy – and full of puns and innuendo (косвенный намек).

They have got something in common, though: sometimes foreign learners of English find them difficult to understand.

There is one variety of headlines which you don’t find in the papers themselves, but on those page-size billboards under a cover of wire netting. You find them in front of news stalls and at newsagents’ doors. There is the “masthead” of the paper and underneath it a skillfully oblique reference to the headline of the day, usually making great play of words such as “drama”, “shock”, “row” and “crisis”.

The typical features of headlines include a number of three-letter words that do not take up much space in banner headlines. Headlines are also full of four-letter words, without sounding vulgar or obscene, and they sport four-word phrases as well. In the first headline, four words try to do the job of fifteen; in the second, nineteen words are condensed into four. In other words, headlines are an attempt of some form of “instant language”.

15 points

Y Choose the best alternative.

1. The introduction of the idea of the freedom of press is associated with …

1. Zenger trial of 1735.

2. the USA Constitution of 1787.

3. the New York Herald foundation in 1835.

2. The origin of the term ‘yellow journalism’ is associated with the name of …

1. Joseph Pulitzer.

2. William Hearst.

3. James Gordon Bennett.

3. The word ‘gazette’ is still used in many languages denoting a newspaper because of …

1. the name of the first newspaper circulated in Italy.

2. the name of the coin for which first newspapers were sold in Italy.

3. the little news sheets of paper issued occasionally in Italy.

4. The first evidence of official means of spreading news dates back from …

1. ancient Greece.

2. ancient China.

3. ancient Rome.

5. The first English language newspaper was issued in 1620 in …

1. England.

2. Holland.

3. Scotland.

6. The first regular newspapers appeared in American colonies in …

1. 1704.

2. 1719.

3. 1690.

7. The most common and important classification of newspapers is into …

1. national and international.

2. serious and broadsheet.

3. broadsheet and tabloid.

8. The greatest difference between serious and popular newspapers is in …

1. the treatment of the topic they cover.

2. the number and quality of ads.

3. the typeface of the articles.

9. The example of the so-called national newspaper in the USA is …

1. the Wall Street Journal.

2. the New York Times.

3. the USA Today

10. Tabloids …

1. are sometimes called ‘heavy’.

2. cater for undemanded readers.

3. give more space to opinions.

11. Two most common newspaper advertisements are …

1. display and classified.

2. display and coupon.

3. classified and business cards ads.

12. Classified ads are …

1. retail advertisings.

2. full-page advertisements.

3. small-print brief announcements.

13. The title of the top editor in a newspaper is …

1. a managing editor.

2. an editor-in-chief.

3. an executive editor.

14. A journalist who write for publication in series which can sometimes be strongly opinionated is called …

1. a correspondent.

2. a reporter.

3. a columnist.

15. The ‘five C’s’ (make the copy clear, correct, concise, comprehensible and consistent) summarize …

1. the copy editor’s job.

2. the contributing editor’s job.

3. the managing editor’s job.

16. A form of journalism when reporters investigate and expose issues of corruption which dates back to the end of the 19^th century is …

1. undercover journalism.

2. investigative reporting.

3. muckracking.

17. A reporter which deeply investigates a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political or business wrongdoings, is …

1. a watchdog journalist.

2. an investigative journalist.

3. an undercover journalist.

17 points

total score – 34/53
number of mistakes	grade
0	10
1 – 3	9
4 – 6	8
7 – 10	7
11 – 14	6
15 – 17	5
18 – 20	4

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