4. Government and the media

Writing in 1741, the philosopher David Hume praised press freedom in Britain with the words: “Nothing is more apt to surprise a foreigner, than the extreme liberty which we enjoy in this country, of communicating whatever we please to the public, and of openly censuring every measure entered into by the king or his ministers”. Is such a boast still justified? The relationship between government and media is bound to be uneasy one in any democracy. Governments are concerned with maintaining their own authority. The media must watch the exercise of that authority, and criticize when they feel it is wrongly used. For over 50 years the government has had an arrangement for the protection of national security in the media. Its Defense, Press and Broadcasting Committee has agreed that in some circumstances the publication of certain information might endanger national security.

During the 1980s the government frequently tried to prevent discussion of sensitive issues. In 1989 the new Official Secrets Act greatly strengthened the government’s ability to prevent disclosure of sensitive information.

Lecture 10 Topic: the media: press, radio and television

List of questions:

1. Press

2. Radio

3. Television

4. Government and the media

Literature:

1.Нестеров Н.М. Страноведение: Великобритания. Ростов на Дону, «Феникс», 2006.

2. Михайлов Н.Н. Лингвострановедение Англии. М., «Академия», 2003.

3. Артемова А.Ф. Великобритания. Книга для чтения по страноведению. М, «АСТ: Восток-Запад», 2006.

45. M. Pugh A History of Britain. Oxford, 2001.

6. M. Vaughan-Rees In Britain. Lnd., 1999.

PUBLIC HOLYDAYS AND CELIBRATIONS

There are only six public holidays a year in Great Britain, which are days on which people need not go in to work. They are: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Spring Bank Holiday and Late summer Bank Holiday. In Scotland, the New Year’s Day is also a public holiday. Most of these holidays are of religious origin, though it would be right to say that for the greater part of population they have long lost their religious significance and are simply days on which people relax, eat, drink and make merry. All the public holidays, except Christmas Day and Boxing Day observed on December 25^th and 26^th respectively, are moveable that is they do not fall on the same day each year. Good Day and Easter Monday depend on Easter Sunday, which falls on the first Sunday after a full moon on or after March 21^st. The Spring Bank Holiday falls on the last Monday of May in September, depending on which of the Mondays is near to June 1^st and September 1^st respectively.

Besides public holidays, there are other festivals, anniversaries and simply days, for example Pancake Day and Bonfire Night, on which certain traditions are observed, but unless they fall on a Sunday, they are ordinary working days.

NEW YEAR IN ENGLAND

In England the New Year is not as widely or as enthusiastically observed as Christmas. Some people ignored it completely and go to bed at the same time as usual on New Year’s Eve. Many others, however, do celebrate it in one way or another, the type of celebration varying very much according to local custom, family tradition and personal taste.

The most common type of celebration is a New Year party, either a family party or one arranged by a group of young people. This usually begins at about eight o’clock and goes on until the early hours of the morning. There is a lot of drinking, mainly beer, wine, gin and whisky; sometimes the hosts make a big bowl of punch which consists of wine, spirits, fruit juice and water in varying proportions. There is usually a buffet supper of cold meat, pies, sandwiches, savouries, cakes and biscuits. At midnight the wireless or TV set is turned on, so that everyone can hear the chimes of Big Ben, and on the hour a toast is drunk to the New Year. Then the party goes on.

Another popular way of celebrating the New Year is to go to a New Year’s dance. Most hotels and dance halls hold a special dance on New Year’s Eve. The hall is decorated, there are several different bands and the atmosphere is very gay.

The most famous celebration is in London round the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus where crowds gather and sing and welcome the New Year. In Trafalgar Square there is also a big crowd and someone usually falls into the fountain.

Those who have no desire or no opportunity to celebrate the New Year themselves can sit and watch other people celebrating on television. It is an indication of the relative unimportance of the New Year in England that the television producers seem unable to find any traditional English festivities for their programmers and usually show Scottish ones.

January 1^st, New Year’s Day, is not a public holiday, unfortunately for those who like to celebrate most of the night. Some people send New Year cards and give presents but this is not a widespread custom. This is a traditional time for making “New Year resolutions”, for example, to give up smoking, or to get up earlier. However, these are generally more talked about than put into practice.

Also on New Year’s Day the “New Year Honours List” is published in the newspaper; i.e. a list of those who are to be given honours of various types – knighthoods, etc.

HOGMANAY CELEBRATIONS

Hogmanay is a Scottish name for New Year’s Eve, and is time for merrymaking, the giving of presents and observance of the old custom of First-Footing. One of the most interesting of Scottish Hogmanay celebrations is the Flambeaux Procession at Comrie, Perthshire. Such processions can be traced back to the time of the ancient Druids. There is procession of townsfolk in fancy dress carrying large torches. They are led by pipers. When the procession has completed its tour, the flambeaux (torches) are thrown into a pile, and everyone dances around the blaze until the torches have burned out.

FIRST-FOOTING

In parts of Northern England and in Scotland the old custom of First-Footing is still observed. Tradition says that the first person to enter the house on New Year’s Day should be a dark-haired man; otherwise ill-luck will follow. It is also advisable that the person should bring with him a gift – a piece of coal, a fish, a bottle of whisky or a piece of bread is traditional gifts. Curiously enough, in a few other parts of the country, the First-Footer is required to be a fair-haired man! In the past, young men of the right colouring and with an eye to business would offer their service as First-Footer to households in the district – for a small fee.

THE NIGHT 0F HOGMANAY

Nowhere else in Britain is the arrival of the New Year celebrated so wholeheartedly as in Scotland?

Throughout Scotland, the preparations for greeting the New Year start with a minor “spring cleaning”. Brass and silver must be glittering and fresh linen must be put on the beds. No routine work may be left unfinished; stockings must be darned, tears mended, cocks wound up, musical instruments tuned, and pictures hung straight. In addition, all outstanding bills are paid, overdue letters written and borrowed books returned. At least that is idea!

Most important of all, there must be plenty of good things to eat. Innumerable homes “reek of a celestial grocery” – plum puddings and currant buns, spices and cordials, apples and lemons, tangerines and toffee. In mansion and farmhouse, in suburb villa and city tenement, the table is spread with festive fare. Essential to Hogmanay are “cakes and kebbuck” (oatcakes and cheese), shortbread and either black bun or currant loaf. These are flanked with bottles of wine and “mountain dew” that is a poetic name for whisky.

In the cities and burghs, the New Year receives a communal welcome, the traditional gathering-place being Mercat Cross, the hub and symbol of the old burgh life. In Edinburgh, however, the crowd has slid a few yards down the hill from the Mercat Cross to the Tron Kirk – being lured thither, no doubt, by the four-faced clock in the tower. As the night advances, Princes Street becomes as thronged as it normally is at noon, and there is growing excitement in the air. Towards midnight, all steps turn to the Tron Kirk, where a lively, swaying crowd awaits “the Chapplin o’ the Twal” (the striking of 12 o’clock). As the hands of the clock in the tower approach the hour, a hush falls on the waiting throng, the atmosphere grows tense, and then suddenly there comes a roar from a myriad throats. The bells peal forth, the sirens scream – the New Year is born!

Many families prefer to bring in the New Year at home, with music or dancing, cards or talk. As the evening advances, the fire is piled high – for the brighter the fire, the better the luck. The members of the household seat themselves round the hearth, and when the hands of the clock approach the hour, the head rises, goes to the main door, opens it wide, and holds it thus until the last stroke of midnight has died away. Then he shuts it quietly and returns to the family circle. He has let the Old Year out and the New Year in. Now greetings and small gifts are exchanged, glasses are filled – and already the First-Footers are at the door.

The First-Footer, on crossing the threshold, greets the family with “A Happy New Year!” , and pours out a glass from the flask he carries. This must be drunk to the dregs by the head of the house, who in turn, pours out a glass for each of his visitors. The glass handed to the First-Footer himself must also be drunk to the dregs. A popular toast is: “Your good health!”

The First-Footer must take something to eat as well as to drink, and after an exchange of greetings they go off again on their rounds.

TAR-BARREL BURNING

The custom of men welcoming in the new Year by carrying pans of blazing tar on their heads is still kept up at Allendale, Northumberland, on New Year’s Eve. Each of the “carriers”, in fancy costume, balances on his head the end of a barrel (or “kit”) filled with inflammable material. The procession is timed to reach the unlit bonfire shortly before midnight, then each man in turn tosses his flaming “headgear” on to the bonfire, setting it ablaze. On the stroke of twelve, all join hands and dance around the fire, singing “Auld Lang Syne.”