Give Russian equivalents to the following phrases

 

the advent of mass media;

breakthrough for sth;

to act as a substitute for sth;

socially beneficial instrument;

to be of great concern;

the sole purpose of the media;

body image;

to beam from the TV;

to make teens vulnerable;

drastic measures;

 

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

 

1. Средства массовой информации, в частности телевидение, могут оказывать вредное влияние на телезрителей.

2. Большинство молодых людей умело скрывают свою болезнь, что может привести к их смерти.

3. За последние несколько лет средства массовой информации стали основным ежедневным источником информации и развлечений.

4. Средства массовой информации выполняют в человеческой жизни ряд чрезвычайно важных функций.

5. Как показали исследования, насилие и жестокость, активно пропагандируемые средствами массовой информации, могут негативно повлиять на поведение детей. 

 

Although the sole purpose of the media is enjoyment for society, the public should be aware that it could sometimes cause negative effects on its viewers”. What do think of this statement? Do you agree with it? Why/Why not? (write about 300-400 words).

 

 

II ВАРІАНТ

Read and translate the following text.

Mass Media

The mass media have an important role in modern democratic society as the main channel of communication. The population relies on the news media as the main source of information and the basis on which they form their opinions and voting decisions. According to cultural selection theory, any selection of messages in the mass media will thus have a profound effect on the entire society. Competition has become increasingly keen in the area of the mass media as they keep fighting for the attention of the readers, listeners, and TV-viewers. The life and death of each newspaper and TV station is at stake here when the income from advertising and sponsoring is proportional to the number of readers or viewers.

The printed media have problems competing with the electronic media as sources of news. In order to survive, they are increasingly turning to other strategies such as entertainment, titillation, scandal mongering, and spreading fear, and spending fewer resources on serious researching of news. This is not only about the survival of the fittest of the news media; it is also about cultural selection and political selection.

The electronic media are first and foremost pacifying. It is a relaxation machine, and the viewer wants to be entertained. The faces on the screen are not chosen for their opinions but for their entertainment value. TV stations do not compete on ideologies but on sense impressions. An extreme example is music videos, satiated with fast changing sense impressions in sound as well as in pictures. Media scientists have often discussed how much influence the media have on people's opinions. People tend to selectively read what they already agree with and to rationalize their preformed opinions in the face of contrary arguments.

The news media are the most important channels for the propagation of culture, ideas, and opinions. Most opinion formation takes place when people sit and watch news and debates on television. Analyzing the cultural selection in the electronic information society, we find that an important part of the selection lies in the choice between TV channels. Millions of lazy viewers sit in their comfortable arm-chairs with remote controls in their hands zapping between action films, revivalist preachers, and commercials for a new fragrance, hardly realizing that by choosing which cultural and political influences they expose themselves to, they also chose the cultural and political evolution of their country. It is very important to analyze which selection criteria are in effect here.

Experimental evidence seems to indicate that the mass media have little power to change people's opinions on issues for which they already have formed a strong opinion, but they have a profound influence when it comes to setting the agenda and priming people on new issues. The way an issue is framed determines how it is discussed, which causes a social problem is blamed on, and which of the possible remedies are entered into the discussion.

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.