EXTENSION UNIT 67
1. MASS MEDIA
Newspapers, radio, television, internet, advertising, music, posters, books,
magazines, the theatre and cinema are all communicating methods for reaching people
with information. That is the meaning of ‘media’: it is the Latin plural of medium,
meaning ‘the means by which something is communicated’. By adding ‘mass’ it gives
the notion of large quantity, in this case, people (regardless of age, social status or race).
The chief forms of mass communication, as the expression is normally used
nowadays, are radio, television broadcasting and the press (newspapers and magazines).
Mass media has two main functions:
- entertainment
- source of information (keep people informed)
However, there are hidden aspects of mass media (influencing the audience,
serving the economic system, offering partial view of reality omitting criticism…).
Ä The Press
Newspapers, magazines and books have been called the “slow media”. Their mass
influence is delayed by the time required to read and react to the reported details of an
event.
Since its introduction in England by William Caxton in 1475, the printing press
has enjoyed a lot of improvements. In the decade of the 1920’s, the rise of the radio
brought about a fierce competition. Nonetheless, despite possible damage coming from
radio, TV or the internet, newspapers have proved to be still attractive to consumers.
Moreover, the fact that you can select the information you want and you can read it
whenever and wherever you want is a huge advantage that ‘slow media’ has.
2. THE JOURNALISTIC STYLE
Depending on the type of article and the type of newspaper, the style will change
considerably. Let us take, though, two examples of pieces of information that are found
in a newspaper to analyse them in general terms.
• The news story
News is the basic material for the media, and the news story the basic form of
writing; it demands simple, straightforward prose, complete understanding of the subject,
conciseness and precision in the use of language. There are thousands of events that take
place daily, but only a few of them deserve to be given the treatment of ‘news item’.
Those news items must conform to some of these criteria:
- Impact (events affecting people’s lives will have more impact)
- Prominence (celebrities always make news)
- Proximity (home stories are more interesting than foreign affairs)
- Conflict (arguments and fights make news)
- The unusual (strange arguments draw our attention)
There is a traditional formula to summarise what every news story should convey.
It should answer 5 Ws and 1 H: What, When, Where, Who, Why and How. The reader
will demand information for those questions, and the journalist must include all of them
if possible.
.The structure of the article
The goal of any proper structure is to convey information quickly, and to allow
the reader to move through the story easily. Some of the ways to attain this are the
following:
.Headlines and leads§: they are the key for the reader to keep on reading
the article. They must be catching and strikingly enough.
.The body (of the article): it is developed in a chronological order,
presenting the relevant facts at the beginning and the less important/relevant at the
end. Besides, one thing a good journalist must never do is mention something in
the lead and forget to explain it in the body. Thus, everything that is in the lead
must be in the body.
. The story of the event must also be presented in a chronological order, so
as not to confuse the reader.
. Journalists must also avoid first person pronouns, that is, he must never
assume anything, just report what has happened.
. News stories must also be accompanied by the voices of the protagonists
through quotations (words quoted literally) whenever possible. Nothing must be
made up or taken out of context. Quotations must be relevant to the story; if it
does not add anything new, it should not be included.
Þ Conclusion: an article should always have a coherent and correct ending
(this is not applicable to the breaking news because they are bound to continue the
§
Headline: first part of the article, written in a telegraphic way, avoiding articles, prepositions and even verbs.
Lead: the first sentence/paragraph in the piece of news, in which the essence of the event is summarised.
following day). It should not be a mere repetition of the body but the consequence
of it.
So, a news story should be CLEAR (all people from different social classes must
understand it), CONCISE (say as much as possible with the smallest number of words),
CORRECT (no inventive is allowed) and COHERENT (well structured).
• The feature article
They are the special reports of something concerning society which do not reach
the quality of ‘news’. They go beyond the facts by trying to discover the interesting sides
of an event which the basic news values not to cover.
Among its characteristics we should mention that it is written in a more relaxed
style, there is a greater amount of details (descriptions, actions, people, places…) There
tend to be more quotes and even more dialogues, where dialectal features are allowed.
It has the same parts as the news story but they are treated somehow differently:
.The lead: it may be longer than in the news story, and it must also catch
the reader’s attention from the very beginning and keep it until the end.
.The body: it expands the items introduced in the lead and answers every
question arouse there.
.The ending: it makes a conclusive point about the story. Here a personal
point of view is allowed.
3. THE PRESS IN BRITAIN
The newspaper industry has a major influence on public opinion and is a strong
force in political life.
In order to safeguard the freedom and reputation of the press and to keep up the
high standard of journalism, the Press Complaints Commission was formed in 1991. Free
speech is guaranteed, provided journalists say nothing calumnious or obscene;
newspapers have much more freedom now than they had in the early 1960s.
However, the freedom of the press is also limited by the Official Secrets Act
(1989), an Act of Parliament that forbids newspapers to publish information which the
government considers could be harmful to the safety of the state.
There are more than 80 local and regional newspapers everyday. They fall into 2
categories, differentiated in size and the treatment of the topics they cover:
- Broadsheet (or quality) newspapers: so called because the pages are very big
(format 39x60 cm).
- Tabloid (or popular) newspapers: the page size is more magazine sized (format
30x37 cm).
None of the big national papers belongs to a political party. However, each paper
knows what kind of reader it appeals to and thus a fairly political outlook can be predicted.
Different categories of news can be found: foreign, home, human interest stories,
financial news, editorials, opinion and comment, sport, entertainment, letters from the
public, horoscope, job advertisements, weather reports and forecasts, gossip, radio and
TV programmes, obituaries, parliamentary reports, a crossword…; and even more on
Sundays, when papers have more pages and they normally include colour supplements, a
colour magazine, leaflets or comics depending on the newspaper.
3.1. Quality Newspapers or Broadsheet
They devote more space to politics and national and international news reported
in a serious tone, which does not mean that they ignore any other aspect of public life.
Their headlines are generally reasonable and not much space is devoted to pictures.
The most important ones are:
> The Daily Telegraph (1855) is the most widely read national quality newspaper,
with circulation well above one million copies. Despite its theoretical independence, it is
very close to the Conservative Party, though sometimes criticises its policies. It appeals
to middle classes. The Sunday Telegraph is well known for its detailed news and sports
reports.
> The Times (1785) is the oldest and most famous newspaper for the quality of its
news and how they are given. It has always been considered the paper of powerful people.
Though politically independent, its readers support the Conservative Party. It also has a
literary supplement –The Times Literary Supplement, and an educational supplement –
The Times Higher Educational Supplement. The Sunday Times is Britain’s best-selling
Sunday newspaper.
> The Guardian (1821) started as a provincial paper (The Manchester Guardian)
until it acquired national standing and changed its name in 1959. It leans towards the
Labour Party. Apart from its vigorous politics, it enjoys an unrivalled literary prestige.
> The Independent (1986) in barely two years its circulation reached those of The
Guardian and The Times. Its success is characterised by the quality and neutrality of its
content, appealing to many young and adult professionals of all political tendencies. Its
Sunday publication is The Independent on Sunday.
> The Financial Times is Britain’s most important financial newspaper, consisting
of news about companies, stocks and shares. It is then read by business people and printed
in pink.
> The Sunday Observer (1791) is a highly regarded newspaper. Only on Sunday.
> The Scotsman (1817) is the leading newspaper in Scotland.
> The European (1990) contains news about the whole European Union.
3.2. Popular Papers or Tabloids
Tabloids dominate the market; they sell to a much wider readership and report
news in less depth (less print –large headlines, simple style– and more pictures). They
concentrate on people’s interest stories which often mean sex and scandal of famous
people. Stories are exaggerated and they rely on sensationalism to attract readers. The
common word to refer to them is yellow journalism.
Without any doubt, the most important one going by the sales is The Sun (4 million
copies a day). Its Sunday edition, The News of the World (1843), is the best selling
newspaper in Britain. It deals with news on sports, crime and famous people (film, TV
actors or members of the royal family).
Other examples of tabloids are: The Daily Mirror, which was the world’s first
daily newspaper with pictures (The Sunday Mirror), The Daily Mail, The Daily Express
(The Sunday Express), The Daily Star, Today, The Daily Sport (Sunday Sport), or Sunday
People, which is only edited on Sundays.
3.3. Local and Provincial Press
In addition to national newspapers, there are also 1500 local or regional papers.
They contain news of local events and sport, carry advertisements for local businesses,
and give details of items for sale. Some are paid for by the ads they contain and are
delivered free to houses. The Evening Standard (1827) from London has the largest
circulation (453000 c/d), often outselling The Guardian. It has both local and national
issues. Once a month it has a colour supplement (The Evening Standard Magazine).
Other examples are: The News (Portsmouth), The Herald (Glasgow), Yorkshire
Evening Post (Leeds), Bristol Evening Post (Bristol), Nottingham Evening Post
(Nottingham), Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield), The Journal (Newcastle),
Evening Argus (Brighton), Express & Star (Wolverhampton), Norfolk Now (Norfolk),
The Daily Echo (Southampton)…
3.4. Magazines
There are nearly 7000 weekly and monthly periodicals* published in the UK
(weekly or monthly), and they cover any possible interest. Good English is found here.
The country’s best selling magazine is Radio Times, which lists all TV and radio
programmes as well as other articles. The New Statesman is Britain’s oldest and best-
known magazine. It has won its reputation for being independent and criticising the
government. The Private Eye is a satirical magazine which makes fun of all parties and
politicians and of the mainstream press.
Others are: The Economist, The Spectator, The Literary Supplement, Majesty,
Punch, She, Elle, Marie Claire, The Sporting Life, The Tatler, Woman, The New Scientist,
Woman’s Own, Rolling Stone, New Musical, Hello, Time Out, Heat…
Electronic magazines are: The Friday Thing (www.thefridaything.co.uk),
Popbitch (www.popbitch.com) or Need To Know (www.ntk.net).
4. THE PRESS IN THE USA
Although there are two American news services operating worldwide –the
Associated Press and the United Press International– the tremendous size of the nation,
the variety of time zones and the general preoccupation with mainly local issues make it
difficult for national daily newspapers to exist. An attempt has been made to introduce
the USA Today on a nationwide basis. The considerable amount of space devoted to
national affairs in proportion to the international news is also typical.
The right of the press became part of the American Law in the 1st Amendment
(the Constitution prohibits the Congress from making any law that interferes with the
freedom of the press).
Almost every major city of the US has its own newspaper, and there are even
papers in languages other than English for people from various ethnic backgrounds.
Some well-known quality national papers are:
> The New York Times (1851) is the most influential daily newspaper and its
prestige has led to its nationwide distribution; its price, however, limits its buy to
professional people. Its success is due to the maintenance of tradition of telling the news
with completeness and integrity. It has supported Democrats (not always), as well as
individual freedom against power abuse. It can be bought worldwide.
*
Periodicals: publications issued at regular intervals, usually monthly or weekly.
> The Washington Post (1877): it has won recognition as one of the most
influential of the liberal-intellectual newspapers in the country. It was the first to
investigate the full Watergate Story, and for that it won the Pulitzer Prize (1973).
> The USA Today (1979) is read nowadays more than any other. It is also
published around the world by satellite.
> Wall Street Journal (1889) is the leading financial newspaper. It emphasises
business and economic news, but also covers articles about politics and general news.
Others: Kansas City Star, Las Vegas Sun, Boston Globe, St. Louis Post, San
Francisco Chronicle, Denver Post, The Oregonian, Los Angeles Times, International
Herald Tribune, New Jersey Online, Detroit News, Cincinnati Post, Seattle Times,
Chicago Tribune, …
4.1. Tabloids
The division into quality and popular newspapers is not so big in the US (most of
the important newspapers are regular size). The style of tabloids has experienced considerable
changes, and they devote more space to serious news, though usually written in a popular,
informal style. The New York Daily News (1919) enjoys the country’s largest daily
circulation in this field. Serious tabloids also include The Chicago Sun-Times or The
National Enquirer.
4.2. Magazines
As British’s, they are of a wide range of interests. Examples are: TV Guide,
Reader’s Digest, National Geographic, The New Yorker…; Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Sports
Illustrated, Glamour…; The New Republic, Newsweek, Time…; Business Week, Fortune,
Forbes…; The New York Review of Books…; Sight and Sound, Neon…
