Objectives:
• to present and practise useful vocabulary
• to develop students' reading and listening skills
• to practise speaking skills of students
Warm up
How do you understand a motto: "Facts are sacred, comment is
free". Can this motto be used by the papers? Express your opinion.
Introducing the Topic
А)
Keywords:
"quality" newspaper — a newspaper of a high standard local newspaper — a newspaper special to a place or a district "tabloid"
newspaper — a newspaper on smaller
pieces of paper, usually with many pictures and without much serious news.
Listening
Listen to the talk about Britain's main newspapers. Classify them as
"tabloid" or "quality" (broadsheet).
The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Guardian, the Times, the
Financial Times, The Mirror
Reader. In Britain the national newspapers are very important. There are
some very good local newspapers but most people read one of the main national
newspapers.
The most popular newspapers are the "tabloids". They usually
have lots of big pictures and the articles are not very long. Tabloid papers
don't have many serious articles, but have lots of stories about sex, scandals,
famous people and the royal family. They also have big sports sections and a
lot of information about TV programmes. The two best-selling tabloid newspapers
are The Sun and The Mirror. They sell around four or five million copies.
There are four quality papers or "broadsheets". Fewer people
read these. Quality papers have longer, more serious articles and fewer
pictures. The oldest and the most famous quality paper is The Times. The
best-selling broadsheets nowadays, though, are The Telegraph and The Guardian.
Finally, there is The Financial Times, a quality business newspaper that is now
the most important international business newspaper.
Speaking
Speak about the British press.
Newspapers may be daily
morning
evening
weekly
Sunday
serious
popular
central-national regional-provincial.
Newspapers publish political information news
deliver domestic film stars
provide foreigncrime
give sport law-court trials
present stories of women
accounts ofchildren
articles for those who prefer entertainment. Listening
THE BRITISH PRESS
The British people are great readers of newspapers. There are few homes
to which one newspaper is not delivered every morning. Many households have two
or even three newspapers every day. One newspaper may be delivered to the
house, a member of the family may buy one at the station bookstall to read in
the train a he goes to town, and someone else in the family may buy an evening
newspaper later in the day. Daily newspapers are those that are published daily
from Monday to Saturday. There are morning and evening papers.
Newspapers are the oldest of the mass media. They started in the seventeenth
century. The daily press in Britain is divided into two groups: the quality papers
and the popular papers. Quality newspapers are thick and serious and intended
for few well-informed readers. They are well-printed, and speak about politics
and current affairs. The most important quality papers are The Times, Britain's
oldest newspaper, The Guardian, The Independent and The Telegraph.
Popular papers have millions of readers. They address the lower classes,
have fewer pages and shorter articles with big headlines and lots of
illustrations. They speak about sports, fashion, sex and crimes. They are also
called "tabloids" (small size papers). The most important popular
papers are The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror.
Some papers come out on Mondays and are known as Sunday papers.
The most important are The Observer and The Sunday Times. These papers
usually give information about national events and international events. They
have special sections with reviews of books, plays, films, arts events, business
and sports news.
Many weekly, monthly and quarterly magazines are also published in Great
Britain; they cover many different interests, activities and hobbies such as astrology,
finance, computer science, sports and so on.
A) State whether the statements are True (T) or False (F) and give an
explanation.
1. Quality papers are more difficult to read than popular papers.
2. Popular papers are thicker than quality papers.
3. Another name of the quality papers is tabloids.
4. The Observer comes out only once a week,
5. If you want to know the latest news about the theatres, read the
Sunday paper.
6. British magazines cover many different activities. Look:
weekly — once a week monthly — once a month
quarterly — four times a year (or once every three months)_
B) Now make sentences like this.
e.g. John / play / football / Monday, Wednesday and Friday — John plays
football three times a week.
1. The Observer / come / out / Sunday.
2. \bgue / be published / every month.
3. The Sports news / broadcast / 8 a.m., 12 p.m., 7 p.m.
4. Fame / be shown / every day.
5. I / watch TV / from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. every day.
6. My favourite sports magazine / be on sale / March, June, September
and December.
Listening
FLEET STREET
There is nothing else on the earth quite like Fleet Street. It has been
the home of the British press for 300 years. Here are also the headquarters of
many magazines, foreign and provincial press bureaus, international news
agencies, trade papers and the attic offices of freelance journalists.
It was in a Fleet Street tavern that the British press was born. More
than three centuries ago, the great fire (1666) gutted the City of London,
driving writers from their lodging-houses to the taverns of Fleet Street. There
they were strategically located, for their news came from travellers who
arrived there in the coaches and from the skippers of vessels anchored below in
the Thames.
In March 1702, Elizabeth Mallet produced Britain's first daily newspaper,
The Daily Courant. A half century later 17 newspapers were published in the
area.
The newspapermen have turned the Street's numberless pubs into a
many-roomed club, using them for work as much as for pleasure. Perhaps, the
most characteristic club is the Old Bell, built by Sir Christopher Wren. Its
interior has changed little since the day when Cristopher Wren sat in the room
nearby planning The Daily News. It is dusty, brown and rich with the smell of
cheese and beer.
History lies under the steel and brick of modern Fleet Street. John
Milton, a poet of the English Revolution lived there. But nothing is left of
the tavern wall to which a notice was once pinned offering 50 pounds for the
apprehension of a "scurrilous" journalist named Daniel Defoe.
Fleet Street is now the centre of journalists and newspapermen. Offices
of most English daily and evening papers are situated in Fleet Street.
Fleet Street is the centre of Britain's national newspapers. The Daily
Telegraph and the Daily Express have their offices here, and the Times, The
Guardian and many others are nearby.
Publishing houses of many big foreign newspapers are also here. Fleet
Street is busy day and night. It is packed with vans, cars, motorcycles, newsboys
every day between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. when the latest news is ready to go out all
over the world.
A) Answer the questions.
1. What is Fleet Street famous for?
2. The British press was born here, wasn't it?
3. When did it happen?
4. When was the first British newspaper published?
5. What famous English poet lived in Fleet Street?
6. Fleet Street is now the centre of the British fashion, isn't it?
7. Offices of what papers are situated in Fleet Street?
8. Is Fleet Street busy day and night?
9. How long is this street considered to be the home of the British
press?
B) An English journalist is your guest. Ask him questions about the
history of Fleet Street Press Centre.
C) Prove that Fleet Street is dear to the British people as the home of
the British press.
Reading
A) Read the text and fill in the necessary words: technology,
independent, regional, control, national, free, minorities, circulation,
advertising.
PRESS AND BROADCASTING IN GREAT BRITAIN
Great Britain is really a newspaper reading nation. More_(national)
and_(regional) daily papers are sold in Britain than in most other developed
countries. National newspapers have a total_(circulation) of 14.2 million on weekdays
and 16.2 mln on Sundays. There are about 130 daily and Sunday newspapers, over
2,000 weekly newspapers and some 7,000 periodical publications. There are also
more than 750 free distribution newspapers,
mostly weekly and financed by_(advertising), and some 60 newspapers
and magazines produced by members of ethnic_(minorities). The press
is_(free) to comment on matters of public interest, subject to law.
There
is no state_(control) or censorship of the press, which caters for a
variety of political views, interests and levels of education. Newspapers are
almost
always financially_(independent) of any political party. None of the
main
political parties own or publish daily newspapers. There is a Press
Complaints Commission which deals with complaints by members of the public and
provides a more effective press self-regulation and prevention intrusion into
privacy.
All national newspapers use computer_(technology), and its use in the
provincial press is increasing.
The twelve national morning daily papers (5 "qualiyties" and 7
"popu-lars") are available in most parts of Britain.
B) Decide if the following statements about the text are true (T) or
false (F).
1. British people read more newspapers than people in the USA. (T)
2. All newspapers in Britain are sold and bought. (F)
3. Practically each ethnic minority in Britain publish their newspaper.
(T)
4. Newspapers are censored by the state. (F)
5. Practically all the political parties in Great Britain publish their
own newspapers. (F)
6. The Press Complaints Commission is concerned with the prevention of
intrusion into privacy. (7)
7. The use of computer technology is increasing nowadays. (T)
Speaking
Do you have quality, local and tabloid newspapers in your country? Give
some examples for each category
Homework
Prepare information about the latest World News for a newspaper. | 
