The Media

The mass media play an important part in our lives. Newspapers, radio and especially TV
inform us of what is going on in this world and give us wonderful possibilities for education
and entertainment. They also influence the way we see the world and shape our views.

This word combination mass communications is generally used to designate any process by
which a person or a group communicates with the masses.

The mass media includes newspapers, radio, TV, magazines. The newspapers and
magazines are often termed the "print media" while radio and television are called the
"electronic media".
The idea of what is news has changed and developed enormously with the mass readership
of newspapers. To define "news" is a baffling task. An all-inclusive definition is impossible
because news is a relative matter, varying sharply

1) from one paper to another,2) from one time to another,3) from one locality to another.

How the idea of news varies from one paper to another can be made clear by placing the
tabloid (popular paper) against the quality newspaper. In the tabloid there are many
stories that never appear in the quality paper – such as accounts of family squabbles,
gossip about semifamous personalities. Conversely, the conservative daily carries many
stories generally ignored by the tabloid – such as detailed analysis of the stock market, etc.
Despite these insurmountable obstacles to establish an all-inclusive definition, journalists
are in fairly common agreement that the following five qualities characterize news stories:

First, news is any printable story which will interest the readers.

Second, news is always completely true, or it is at least a set of facts that have been
presented by the reporter as true.

Third, news has a quality of recency about it. The old statement "as out of date as
yesterday's newspaper" is still a reliable indication of the emphasis placed on the recency.

Fourth, news has an element of proximity about it.

Fifth, news must have some element of the unusual about it. The unusual aspect brightens
the newspaper page. Its importance is to be seen in the old saw: "If a dog bites a man, it's
not news; but if a man bites a dog, it is news".
In my opinion, today’s younger generation is the best-informed ever because of the media. Of course, not
all papers and programmes are good. But you don’t have to read or watch the bad ones. It’s like an
information supermarket… you go in, look at what’s available and choose what you want.
 News: Gathering and Delivering

Gathering the news

Journalists gather news in a number of different ways. They may get stories from pressure
groups which want to air their views in public. They seek publicity for their opinions and
may hold press conferences or may issue a statement / press release. A person who
especially wishes to attract news attention will try to include a sound bite in what they say.
It is particularly hard for journalists to get material in the silly season.

Journalists also get stories by tapping useful sources and by monitoring international news
agencies like Reuters. The more important a story is, the more column inches it will be
given in the newspaper. Journalists of different political persuasions often put their own
gloss/ spin on a story and some journalists gather stories by muck-raking.

Delivering the news

A rag is an informal word for a newspaper and it suggests that it is not of very high quality.
The gutter press is a disapproving term used about the kind of newspapers and magazines
that are more interested in crime and sex than serious news. A glossy is an expensive
magazine printed on good quality paper.

Journalists produce copy, which has to be ready for a deadline. When everything is ready
the newspaper goes to press. A very important story that comes in after going to press may
find its way into a stop press column. A very new newspaper or story can be said to be hot
off the press.

A story that is only to be found in one newspaper is an exclusive. A scoop is a story

discovered and published by one newspaper before all the others. A major story can be said
to hit the headlines on the day it is published. At that time the story breaks or becomes
public knowledge. If it is an important story it will receive a lot of coverage or space in the
press. A newspaper may be taken to court for libel or defamation of character if it
publishes an untrue story that harms a person's reputation. If you are doing research into a
news event, you may want to get hold of some previous issues of newspapers, or back
copies, and you may wish to make a folder of cuttings from the papers about the event.
 The British Press
The British press consists of several kinds of newspapers and most Britons read them
sun or rain. They are quality newspapers (serious papers or broadsheets) and tabloids (the
gutter press, the popular press or the yellow press).

The quality newspapers are large in size and have detailed articles on both national
and international current affairs. These are the Daily Telegraph, the Times, the Guardian,
the Independent, the Financial Times and the Observer.

The tabloids are smaller in size, have more pictures, shorter articles, often about
private lives of celebrities and any kind of scoop. These are the Daily express, the Daily
Mail, the Daily Star, the Sun, the Today and the Daily Mirror.

In addition to the 12 national daily newspapers there are nine national papers which are
published on Sundays. Most of the "Sundays" contain more reading matter than daily
papers, and several of them also include "colour supplements" — separate colour
magazines which contain photographically illustrated feature articles. Reading a Sunday
paper, like having a big Sunday lunch, is an important tradition in many British households.
Besides, nearly every area in Britain has one or more local newspapers. The British are one
of the biggest newspaper-reading nations in the world.

The British broadcasting

All British broadcasting is based on the tradition that it is a public service accountable to
the people through Parliament. Two public bodies - The British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC) and the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) – provide television and radio
services; they work to broad requirements and objectives placed on them by Parliament.
The Home Secretary regulates broadcasting generally, is answerable to Parliament on broad
policy questions, and may issue directions on a number of technical and other matters.

Television viewing is by far the most popular leisure pastime in Britain. Average
viewing time per person is nearly 24 hours a week. Households with television must buy a
licence each year; they cost £12 for black and white and £ 34 for colour.

Fifteen television programme companies hold contracts to provide television

programmes in the 14 independent television regions.

Four television channels are in operation. Through coordinated planning on its two
services the BBC caters simultaneously for people of different interests. BBC-1 presents
more programmes of general interest, such as light entertainment, sport, current affair,
children's programmes, while BBC-2 places greater emphasis on minority interests,
providing a larger element of documentaries, travel programmes, serious drama, music,
and international films.

BBC radio has four national channels. Radio 1 provides a programme of pop music,
while radio 2 provides light entertainment and music as well as being the principal channel
for the coverage of sport. Radio 3 provides mainly classical music and in the evening also
offers adult education programmes. Radio 4 is the main speech programme, providing the
principal news and information service.

The BBC External Services broadcast by radio to most countries overseas, using
English and many other languages. The language in which the External Services broadcast
and the length of time each is on the air are prescribed by the Government. Radio for
overseas is also produced by the radio services of the Central Office of Information (COI).

Mass Media in Ukraine

Among the invariable prerequisites of a modern democratic community are
freedom of the press, guarantees of undeterred activities of journalists and
publishers and free public access to printed matter, radio and television
programmes. Ukraine's mass media include television, information agencies,
press centres, press services, government departments and agencies for
contacts with the press. There are newspapers and magazines for readers of all
ages, professions and levels of training. There are various periodicals based on
particular interests. For instance, the newspaper Silske Zhyttya (Rural Life) is
addressed mainly to rural residents, The Medical Newspaper – to medical
workers, and a lot of newspapers and magazines are published especially for
teachers of schools, colleges and universities, for businessmen, etc. Today’s
Ukrainian periodicals are independent and the state guarantees their economic
independence. Nowadays Ukraine numbers over 4,000 editions varying in forms
of ownership, genre, type and periodicity.
Over the period of its independence Ukraine has achieved numerous
accomplishments in democratizing mass media by adjusting to the free market
rule, introducing electronic press, and educating critically thoughtful journalists.
The country adopted the constitution and several laws that guarantee freedom
of speech, information, and press, and protection from censorship.

The press is generally known as the "fourth estate". In various periods of

its existence and depending on the political system, the mass media has always
maintained certain relations with those public and political structures which
were actually in control of most spheres in the life of society.

There is a wide network of TV and radio broadcasting in our country.

Television is now increasingly being used to analyze the socio-economic
progress taking place in Ukraine. It focuses more on reports, discussions,
commentaries and dialogues with viewers. They discuss ways of improving the
Ukrainian economy and solving social problems.

Ukrainian journalists use their professional skills and experience to raise

the national media's analytical, informative, aesthetic standard to the
international level. Professional journalists are associated in the National Press
club, a public politically non-affiliated organization.