III. Ответьте на вопросы к тексту:

1. When did the first Sunday papers appear in England?

2. Were they serious or popular?

3. What helped the Sunday papers achieve mass circulation?

4. How did the "mass" public appear and when?

5. What prevented the growth of the popular daily press?

6. What information could the readers find in the first Sunday papers?

7. What did the street-ballads deal with?

8. The Daily Mail was the first popular daily newspaper, wasn't it?

Text 10.

I. Прежде чем прочитать текст, выучите следующие слова и выражения:

to experience - пережить, испытать

latter decades - последние десятилетия

to introduce - вводить

to emphasize - акцентировать внимание на чем-то

accurate - точный

to cover - освещать

coverage - освещение

concise - сжатый

regrettable consequence - печальное следствие

approach - подход

faking - фальсификация

dishonesty - обман, нечестность

to wage a war - вести войну

to feature - изображать

character - герой, тип, образ

to hire - нанимать

to challenge - бросать вызов

to cause – вызвать

cause – причина

hatred – ненависть

to hate – ненавидеть

to scare away – отпугнуть

assassin – убийца

substantial- значительный

improvement - улучшение

II. Прочитайте и переведите текст:

Yellow Journalism

American newspapers experienced something like a second revolution in the latter decades of the 19th century. Many innovations were introduced and these innovations made the mass circulation of newspapers possible. A new journalism appeared. It emphasized accurate, thorough news coverage and clear, concise writing.

One regrettable consequence of this new approach was the yellow journalism that evolved in the 1890s. Yellow journalism is a term used to describe extreme sensationalism. It included faking and dishonesty in reporting as well as overemphasis on crime, sex and emotionalism. The practice was the result of a circulation war waged by William Randolph Hearst and his NEW YORK JOURNAL against Joseph Pulitzer and his NEW YORK WORLD. This war spread to some other newspapers in New York and to some other cities in the country. In 1900 when yellow journalism reached its zenith about a third of the nation's 21 metropolitan papers were distinctly yellow.

The term itself comes from a comic strip which featured a character called the Yellow Kid. Hearst hired away the cartoonist who drew the strip for Pulitzer's paper. Pulitzer found another cartoonist to draw a similar strip. Some of the other newspapers dubbed these two newspapers "yellow journals" and their content "yellow journalism".

The Hearst-Pulitzer struggle began in the 1890s when Hearst bought the NEW YORK JOURNAL and challenged Pulitzer for supremacy in the field.

Hearst was the son of a rich miner who was elected to Congress and his financial resources were almost unlimited. He employed some of the most talented reporters of the time. Pulitzer resisted all this; and as the two battled for circulation their papers became increasingly sensational.

Yellow Journalism reached its extremes during the Spanish - American war and it is often said that it helped to cause it by arousing sympathies and hatred through irresponsible reporting. Whatever the causes,* the war was ideal for coverage by American newspapers. The JOURNAL reached a circulation of 1,500,000 and the WORLD a little less. But the circulation did not bring prosperity because of the high costs and the fact that sensationalism scared some advertisers away.

Then President McKinley was shot and the assassin said he had been influenced by something he read in Hearst's paper. The public had had enough. Sensationalism is cyclical and the audience demanded something better. Both Hearst and Pulitzer toned down their newspapers and made substantial improvements in them in the early 20th century.

Б.С. Hynds.

Пояснения к тексту:

* whatever the causes - каковы бы не были причины

Ш. Ответьте на вопросы к тексту:

1. What happened to American newspapers in the latter decades of the 19th century?

2. What is the most regrettable consequence of the new approach?

3. What does the term "yellow journalism" include?

4. When did yellow journalism reach its zenith?

5. What was "Yellow Kid"?

6. Who were the two famous publishers who waged the circulation war?

7. Was yellow journalism a lasting phenomenon?

8. What do you think of yellow journalism?

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