III. Ответьте на вопросы к тексту:

1. How do newspapers obtain news?

2. What do beat reporters do?

3. What are general assignment reporters for?

4. Do you have a special assignment?

5. Are you a staff correspondent or a contributor?

6. What are the three major wire services today?

7. How are the major news services organized?

8. What do many people criticize the major wire services for?

9. What is the job of the "Mob Squad"?

Text 9.

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

as far as ... is concerned - что касается

content - содержание

mainly - главным образом

immediate forerunners -непосредственные предшественники

largely - в основном

low standard - низкий уровень

combined with - вместе с

leisure - отдых, досуг

to carry - (газет.) печатать

outspoken - откровенный

to complement - дополнять

indigenous - местная

output - выпуск

execution - казнь

to deal with - касаться

to flog - пороть

to drag • тащить

gallows - виселица

dull - неинтересный, тупой

bias - предвзятый

exception - исключение

the only – единственный

II. Прочитайте и переведите текст:

The Appearance of the Sunday Papers in England

The papers that existed in England in the 17th and the 18th centuries were not read mainly by the people. In 1781 we find Sunday papers being born. As far as circulation and content were concerned, together with the street literature, they were immediate forerunners of the popular daily Press. By 1810 there were 18 of them. After a cut in the stamp-tax*, three of them achieved mass circulation. By the 1840s there appeared a "mass" public in England. About 3/4 of the population could read. The daily Press was largely a middle-class creation. The low standard of living and long working hours, combined with severe government repression, prevented the growth of a popular daily Press. But there were the Sunday papers, read on the only day of leisure. The circulation of these Sunday papers was much higher. They carried mainly crime (usually violent), sex (not as outspoken as today), sport and politics.

The Sunday papers were complemented by an indigenous literature of street-ballads. Street-ballads were very popular. London had several ballad presses and their output was quite big. In 1849, for instance, 5 million copies of two executions ballads were sold. Ballads dealt with fires, shipwrecks, wars, Royalty and executions (held publicly until 1868). They had large colored placards to illustrate the horrors told in the ballads. In 1860 some of the illustrations included: the flogging of nuns in Minsk, blood pouring down their shoulders (anything against Emperor of Russia sold well in the streets); a young girl who murdered her mistress in Bristol being dragged to the gallows; Calcroft, the hangman, himself hanged because he "starved his mother".

Thus, it is wrong to say that there were no popular papers in England until the 20th century, that they published dull articles on politics for the respectable classes. The opinion that before the appearance of the Daily Mail all newspapers were serious and unbiased is absolutely wrong. Some researchers say that the Sunday Press was the only exception. The appearance of the Daily Mail led to a dichotomy, a division into two Presses, the serious and the popular. They became so contradictory that many people said they belonged to different worlds.

Henry Mayer.

Пояснения к тексту:

stamp-tax - введенный в 1765 году налог на всю печатную продукцию в Англии.