The Media

"The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make guilty the innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses"

Malcom X

The media

VOCABULARY 

1 Complete the gaps in the statements with the words. 

bias, deadline, privacy, record, scoop, sources, speculation

A good news journalist… 

1. Never misses a _____ . 
2. Respects the _____ of public figures. 
3. Deals in facts rather than _____. 
4. Will do almost anything for a _____ or to break a story. 
5. Always identifies their _____ . 
6. Allows people to speak off the _____ to protect themselves. 
7. Reports honestly, objectively and without _____ . 

2 Match the meanings with the expressions.

a sound bite, broadsheets,chequebook journalism, circulation figures, libel laws, media covergade, rating war, libel laws, media coverage, ratings war, spin, the tabloids, viewing figures


1. The number of newspapers sold. 
2. The number of people who watch a broadcast. 
3. Popularity battles with rival channels / networks / programmes.
4. Official rules governing what you may say about people in print.
5. Present a positive view of something to influence people. 
6. Paying people for information. 
7. Amount of time / space given to a subject. 
8. Very short part of speech or statement. 
9. The ‘popular press’. 
10. Quality newspapers / the ‘quality press’. 

3 What are the following people’s roles in the media? Think about your answers and discuss reasons. Which job would you most like to do? 

a) Editor 
b) Anchor 
c) Publisher 
d) Producer
e) Reporter 
f) Correspondent 
g) Paparazzo 
h) Columnist 

4 Replace the words in bold with the correct form of prepositional verbs. 

1. Anyone who doubts the power of the social web only needs to observe the activity on Twitter. 
2. How are you progressing at work? 
3. A free microblogging service that started a few years ago, Twitter resembles an onscreen bulletin. 
4. An opportunity has arisen for a Twitter correspondent at Sky News board. 
5. I am resisting an urge to investigate Twitter in case it is as addictive as Facebook. 
6. If Twitter ever suffers a catastrophic failure it cannot recover from, you will still be protected from any data loss. 
7. We inspected the new office to see if the building was suitable. 
8. I’ve seen a really interesting anecdote on Twitter. I found it by chance. 

How do you feel about the use of social media for news gathering? Do you think they will replace the mainstream media in the future? Think about the following prompts to discuss them during the tutorial. 

1. ‘In journalism there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right.’ Ellen Goodman, American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. 
2. ‘Newspapers will soon be a thing of the past.’ 
3. ‘Today a country belongs to the person who controls communications.’ Umberto Eco. 
4. ‘People in the public eye should not expect to have private lives.’ come across come up get on get over look at look into look like look around

Answers

Exercise 1.
1.deadline; 2. privacy; 3.speculation; 4.scoop; 5.sources; 6.record; 7.bias
Exercise 2.
1.circulation figures; 2.viewing figures; 3.rating wars; 4.Libel wars; 5.spin; 6.chequebook journalism; 7.media coverage; 8.a sound bite; 9.tabloids; 10. broadsheets
Exercise 4.
1.Look at; 2.Getting on; 3.Looks like; 4.Come up; 5.Look into; 6.Get over; 7.Looked around; 8.Came across