Make up 10 questions to the text.

Give Russian equivalents to the following phrases.

channel of communication;

voting decisions;

cultural selection theory;

to become keen;

to be at stake;

titillation;

scandal mongering; 

profound influence;

to zap between TV channels;

to be satiated with fast changing sense impressions;

4. Translate sentences into English, using words and word combinations from the text.

1. Средства массовой информации оказывают глубокое влияние на взгляды и мнения людей.

2. Средства массовой информации – один из наиболее важных источников пропаганды определенных взглядов, идей и суждений.

3. Миллионы ленивых телезрителей сидят в удобных креслах с пультами управления в руках и впитывают предлагаемую им информацию, сами того не замечая.

4. Электронные средства массовой информации являются для большинства людей основным источником развлечения.

5. Жизнь и смерть определенной газеты или телевизионного канала зависит от объема предлагаемой в них рекламы.

The news media are the most important channels for the propagation of culture, ideas, and opinions”. What do think of this statement? Do you agree with it? Why/Why not? (Write about 300-400 words).

III ВАРІАНТ

1. Read and translate the following text:

Production of News

The production of news often goes through several steps: informants and sources, press agents, reporters, news agencies, journalists and editors. Many media are citing other media or opinion leaders so that the complete chain of information flow becomes quite long. Selection and distortion may take place at every link in this chain of information transmission.

The sources of news may be public institutions, politicians, private companies, police, courts, interviewees, etc. These all have an interest in providing information that portray themselves in a positive light and withhold compromising information. There is a trade going on between source and journalist. For example, the media rely heavily on the police for news about crimes and often report positively about the police in exchange for this information. Sources that are unsatisfied with the way they are portrayed in a certain newspaper or TV channel may retaliate by withholding information in the future.

As for the journalists, they may have political opinions that shape their selection and framing of news. They also have ethical principles about fairness and about reporting everything that is relevant, although they may depart from these principles when competition is fierce.

News media depend also very much on their audience for economic reasons. They have to publish whatever makes people buy their newspapers, listen to their radio programs, or tune in to their TV shows and stay tuned through the commercial breaks. This is what newsworthiness really is about: catching the attention of the audience by presenting something spectacular, unusual, emotionally touching, and something that people can identify with. The concept of psychological buttons is really in place here. Topics like danger, food and sex make people pay attention. Keeping informed about dangers in the environment was of vital importance to our ancestors in primeval society, which is the reason why we have a surveillance instinct that make us hunger for news about possible dangers. News about deviance, crime, and disaster are particularly salient. The bad news are not always very relevant. Horrific stories about some bizarre and morbid crime that has happened in a far away place may be more button pushing than reports about well known and trivial dangers like traffic accidents or unhealthy eating habits. The average TV viewer may pay more attention to the story about a bizarre crime although (s)he is extremely unlikely to be affected by a similar crime, at the same time ignoring warnings about the immensely higher risks of traffic accidents or unhealthy life style. Another pervasive psychological factor in the preferences of the audience is personal identification. A story is much more touching if presented in terms of personalities than if presented as abstract principles. A political conflict is perceived as much more interesting if it is framed as a personal battle between politicians than if framed as a clash between ideologies, and a crime story is more touching if vulnerable victims voice their anger and grief.

Make up 10 questions to the text.

Give Russian equivalents to the following phrases.

press agent;

information flow;

to depart from sth;

commercial break;

to tune in to sth;

to be of vital importance;

to have a surveillance instinct;   

bizarre and morbid crime;

pervasive psychological factor;

to shape the selection and framing of news;

4. Translate sentences into English, using words and word combinations from the text.

Источниками информации для программ новостей могут служить общественные организации, частные компании, политические деятели, полиция.

В газетах печатают то, что заставляет людей их покупать.

Создание программы новостей проходит несколько этапов.

У журналистов есть определенные этические принципы о честности и искренности.

Среднестатистический телезритель уделяет больше внимания истории о вопиющем преступлении, чем информации о высоком уровне несчастных случаев.

Mass media have to publish whatever makes people buy their newspapers, listen to their radio programs, or tune in to their TV shows and stay tuned through the commercial breaks”. What do think of this statement? Do you agree with it? Why/Why not? (Write about 300-400 words).

IV ВАРІАНТ

Read and translate the following text.

Broadcasting in Europe

The mass media in Europe are presently going through profound transformation, with their technology, economic basis, political and legal framework, rapidly altering in a brief time-span. There is evidence of discontent on the side of politicians, investors, media professionals and civil society with some features of this ongoing transformation. Television, in particular, is a strong agent of social change, yet broadcasting systems in Europe apparently dissatisfy stakeholders for various, sometimes opposing, reasons.

In Western Europe, for instance, the future of public service broadcasting is questioned on the grounds of its expensiveness, while commercial broadcasting has come under critical scrutiny for its often low-quality programming. Recent political developments in Spain and, particularly, in Italy caused concern about the real extent of autonomy of public service broadcasters.

In most of the post-communist European nations, the reform of the State-owned broadcasting ‘‘mammoths’’ has failed, while low-quality programming-based commercial television has boomed at a fast pace. In the CEE countries, the regulation of both public and private broadcasting is harmed by direct government interference in broadcasting activities, and the politicization of broadcasting regulators. The ‘‘public service’’ nature of public broadcasting is undermined by political bias in program content and other types of indirect influence, such as personnel policy and funding restrictions.

These problems appear to be widespread and raise serious concerns about the ability of the dominant broadcasting media (television) to play any watchdog role effectively. In 2002, EUMAP published reports on Corruption and Anti-corruption Policy, which covered the ten CEE countries. Among the findings of these country reports was that a failure to guarantee media independence, in particular for public broadcasting, is one of the key of corruption. In addition, the reports highlighted a general absence of international standards or regulations that could be used to advocate reforms directed at guaranteeing independent and objective broadcasting media.

Following the findings of these reports, EUMAP has commenced monitoring on a new subject: TV across Europe: regulation, policy and independence. The main objective of this monitoring is to assess the regulations and policies established to secure the independence of TV across Europe, and ensure that it is able to play its role as an essential pillar of functioning democracies.

Television, in particular, is usually regarded as the most widely received and most influential medium and therefore the most important in terms of its impact on political processes. The monitoring will therefore focus mainly on television, as the dominant mass medium, although some aspects of public radio broadcasting will also be included.