3.

NEWSPAPERS

“The future is electronic. It's radio, television and the

internet; it's not really newspapers anymore.”
Will McDonough
(Sports journalist for The Boston Globe)

At the end of this unit, you will have to present a piece of

news and discuss about it in groups of 4 in front of your
classmates

1. WRITING HEADLINES
1.1 Discuss the following questions:

 Do you read newspapers? Which ones? Why?

 What’s the biggest news story in the world at the moment?
 Why are headlines important?
 Do you read newspapers in other languages (e.g. English)?

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1.2 Understanding headlines in a foreign language can be difficult because of the specific
language they use. Match the headlines (1-8) to their everyday English equivalents (a-h).

a. The government is going to close 3,500 post offices. 8

b. The US government is not keen on a new environmental policy. 4
c. A family dog has been brutally killed. 6
d. An investigation into Princess Diana’s death shows the British royal family were not
involved. 1
e. Labour’s Party Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer do not agree on
government policies. 2
f. A popular comedian, who pretends to be a rapper, is in trouble with the Independent
Television Commission for using offensive words on TV. 7
g. The singer Madonna has flown to Africa to adopt a child. 3
h. A mother refuses to forgive the people who killed her daughter. 5
1.3 Look at the headlines above again and answer the following questions.
1. Which of the following kinds of words are omitted from the headlines?
articles, auxiliary verbs, main verbs, nouns, pronouns.

2. Which of the following verb forms are used?

to + infinitive(future (is going to)), present simple(events very recently in the past,
action alive), past simple, past participle(has been butchered (passive, past simple))

3. Which of the following are used?

abbreviations, commas, full stops, exclamation marks

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1.4 Look at the following sentences which have been turned into headlines. Make a list of
what changes have been made to turn them into headlines.

Articles, relative clauses and one auxiliary and one main verb has been omitted; present perfect
to present simple.

Main and auxiliar verbs, and preposition haven been omitted; Addition of colon.

Active to passive; the agent and the verb of it, the noun (bank) and article have been omitted; to
+ infinitive to past participle.

1.5 In pairs, look at the following sentences and turn them into headlines.
1. A very rare breed of bird has returned to the United Kingdom after more than 400 years.
Rare bird returns to UK after 400 years
2. A drunk driver caused an accident on route 95, which resulted in two people being killed.
Drunk driver kills 2 (on )

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 3. The Australian Prime Minister is going to open a new hospital in Melbourne. 7
Australian PM to open hospital in Melbourne

1.6 Newspapers use several language devices in order to create eye-catching headlines.
Complete the following table using more examples from the headlines in Exercise 1.2.
Some headlines may go in more than one column.

LANGUAGE DEVICE EXAMPLE MORE EXAMPLES (1.2)

Play on words: words with US cool on climate change (cool = Comedian rapped over slang
more than one meaning not warm; to be cool on = to not be word by TV watchdog.
keen on)
Cultural references Love’s Labour’s Lost (the name of Chose that girl! Madge jets to
a play by Shakespeare) Africa to adopt a girl.
Alliteration: the use of the Paris probe proves palace innocent Love’s Labour’s Lost.
same sound(s), especially
consonants, at the beginning
of several words
Emphatic language: words Weeping mum damns teenage killer Family’s pet dog butchered.
which have a stronger effect thug Government to axe 3,500 post
office.

1.7 Explain which language devices (play on words, cultural references, alliteration or
emphatic language) have been used in the following headlines. Submit your answers to
Activities > Language devices headlines.

1- Play on words: double meaning of "Titanic" (the name of the famous ship, because
they're talking about a ship in the headline, but also "titanic" as in "big", because it
was a "big disaster"). You could also include here a culture reference to "Titanic".
2- Cultural reference: "to be or not to be" is a famous sentence that appears in
Shakespeare's Hamlet.
3- Alliteration (double alliteration, in fact): "Gorgeous George" (the first 'G' of
'gorgeous' is not part of the alliteration because the sound is different), and
"Clooney conquers Cannes":
4- Emphatic language: the use of the word "carnage" is really emotive and loaded, as it
implies the violent killing of many people, like in a war (matança, carnisseria).
5- Emphatic language: the word "axe" is also very powerful, because it means here that
the reality show stopped to be broadcast abruptly.

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 2. ANALYSING NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

2.1 What is the difference between a tabloid and a broadsheet? Name at least three
English-language tabloids and broadsheets. You can look it up on the Internet if you need
it.

Tabloids: the Sun, the Star, the Daily

Mirror, the Daily Mail, the Daily
Express,
New York Post, Boston Herald
Broadsheets: The Times, the Guardian,
the Independent, the Daily Telegraph,
the
Observer, the New York Times, the
Washington Post, the Wall Street
Journal
Note: the words ‘tabloid’ and
‘broadsheet’ originally referred to the
size of the
newspaper: tabloids were smaller, and
broadsheets larger. Now, however, the
word is often used to denote the
‘quality’ of the news, especially in the
British

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press: tabloids are more interested in
gossip, sport and ‘celebrity news’,
whereas
broadsheets give more analysis and
coverage to international and national
news.
However, some well-known
broadsheets, such as The Times and
the Guardian, are
now the same size as tabloids.
Tabloid: Gossiping, yellow press, sensationalist, colorful, a little
Broadsheet: Formal news, serious, objective, typical newspaper, big ones

2.2 The tabloid press sometimes uses words that are not common in everyday English.
This is known as tabloidese. Match each of the underlined tabloidese words in the sentences
(1-5) to their meanings (a-e).

1. C 2. E 3. A 4. B 5. D
2.3 Discuss the following questions:

 How objective are newspapers in your country? What political slant do they have?
 What do you know about the political slant of newspaper in English-speaking
countries?
 Do you think that objectivity in the press can be reached?
Slant=bias (postura, inclinació d’un diari, ideologia)
2.4 Read the following two headlines from the British national press. In pairs, decide
which of the following adjectives best describe the slant that each of the articles will have.
1. emotive(criminalise), conservative = reactionary, neutral

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2. liberal

2.5 Choice of vocabulary can affect the slant of a newspaper article. Look at the following
vocabulary items from the two articles. In pairs, decide which words are more emotive
and which are more neutral. You can use the internet to look up the meaning of the words
that you don’t know.

Emotive: muggers, low-level disorder, law-abiding, fed up with, terrorise, discrimination, crime
epidemic, outside, intimidated, yobs.
Neutral: ban, teenagers, shoplifting, weapon.

2.6 Read the two articles below and match the headlines in 2.4 to the articles.
RECLAIM OUR STREET: hoodies and baddies

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Under that hoodie is a child like yours

2.7 Decide if the following statements are True or False according to the articles.
1. All teenagers wear hoodies. F
2. Prince William has definitely got a hoodie. F
3. The Prime Minister thinks that banning hoodies is a good idea. T
4. In some areas of the country more than 50% of robberies are committed by people
wearing hoodies and baseball caps. T
5. According to the writer of the second article, most people let gangs of kids do as they
want. F
6. Both articles see a connection between young people feeling alienated from society and
the wearing of hoods. F
2.8 Cohesion techniques are very important when writing any type of text, including
newspaper articles. The use of pronouns is one of the most employed techniques to avoid
repetition and to ensure that the text flows naturally. Underline the pronouns in the
following extract from the second article. Then say what or who they refer to.

They record crimes as they are happening but do nothing to

prevent them happening. In such an environment there is a
feeling that the streets and town centres do not properly
belong to us, and the hoodie has become a symbol for
those we fear have taken control.

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Example: They record crimes: ‘they’ refers to CCTV cameras
They are happeining: “they” refers to crimes
To prevent them happening: “them” refers to crimes
Do not belong to us: “us” refers to the citizens, law-abiding citizens
Has become a symbol for those we fear have taken control: “those” refers to the teenagers who
where hoodies “we” refers to people that fear has taken control of their lives
2.9 Look at the underlined words in the extracts below and then answer the following
questions. Submit your answers to Activities > Exercise 2.9.

 The Bluewater ban will be met by cries of discrimination … (Text A lines 18-19)
 … Britain’s retail crime epidemic, which is said to cost the industry £2 billion a
year. (Text A lines 33-35)

1. What type of structure is used? Why do you think it is employed?

Passive voice, in the first one is future simple and the seconde one is present simple. I
think it is used to give more importance to the object or person that receives the action.
2. Do you think that this type of structure is common in headlines?
I think that the second one it is used in headlines, to give importance to the object that
receives the action.
3. Have a look at the following headlines and underline the passive verb:
Woman jailed for killing man by pushing him under Manchester tram
Nissan is expected to announce new model next week
Russian scrutinized for ties to Trump investigated in Monaco
4. Transform this sentence into a headline using the passive voice:

They have accused Prince Charles of conflict of interest.

Prince Charles accused of conflict of interest

3. PLANNING AND WRITING A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

3.1 Imagine you want to write a newspaper article. Look at the seven steps for writing an
article below and put them into a logical order.
7 Check your article for mistakes
3 Plan (organize and paragraph your ideas)
1 Brainstorm the topic (write down ideas connected to the article)
2 Research the story
4 Write the introduction
6 Conclude
5 Write the main body of the article

3.2 Read the following ideas that a journalist brainstormed for an article. Then write a
one-line summary (general idea) of what you think the newspaper article will be about.

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The article is about a robbery of a safe in a kindergarten, where the nursery
was target.
The article is about a safe begin stolen in a private kindergarden
3.3 Look at the headline and photo from the article.
Do they give you any extra information about the
story?

Who? A gang

3.4 Read the main body of the article that has been written based on the notes in Exercise
3.2. Is the summary you wrote in that exercise correct?

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3.5 In pairs, look at the following possible introductions to the article. Choose the best one
and discuss what is wrong with the others. Think of whether WH- questions are answered
(who, where, when, what, why, how).

The best introduction is the third one because it contains more detailed information. The other
ones are less detailed and had information without value.
3.6 Now look at the following possible conclusions to the article. Choose the best one and
discuss what is wrong with the others.
The best conclusion is the second one because is objective and uses quotation.

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3.7 It’s your turn! Look at the following notes written by a journalist about the theft of a
prize show cat. In pairs, write a short article (100 words approx.) for a newspaper.
Remember to include a catchy headline. Use the techniques described in this unit to help
you, and don’t forget to be consistent with your style! Submit it in Activities > Newspaper
article.

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4. PRESENTING AND DEBATING ON A NEWS STORY

Go to the Virtual Campus > Unit 3 > Presentation and debate > Instructions and rubric
and have a look at the guidelines about the task, as well as how you will be assessed. 10'

4.1 In groups of four, choose a news story or a news that is relevant nowadays belonging to
any field (politics, economy, health, sports, etc.). It should be interesting and, if possible,
also controversial (so that it generates debate). Here are some websites to help you find a
piece of news that meets these requirements.
www.newsy.com
www.guardian.co.uk
https://www.nytimes.com
https://www.huffingtonpost.com
4.2 Look up at least three sources to understand completely the news story you are dealing
with. These sources can include written articles or videos reporting the piece of news. Do
the following activities and submit them to the Virtual Campus > Activities > Preparing
the piece news to present:

 Take notes of the main ideas from the sources while you are reading/watching
them. Remember that they have to answer the wh- questions: what, why, who,
where, when and how (take into account the exercises we did for the 3 rd block
‘planning and writing a newspaper article’). You can use bullet points or more
developed sentences.

 Write down any specific words, expressions, acronyms, initializations and/or

technical terms related to the main topic that may need an explanation, and make
sure to provide it when presenting the news.

 Write a summary incorporating information from the various sources. Bear in mind
that you will have to present the news story in 3-4 minutes (approx. 45 seconds - 1
minute per person), so you will need to prepare a summary which you can cover in
that time (about a word document page). It’s important that you use your own words
to you show that you understand perfectly what you are saying.

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  Make a list of potentially difficult words to pronounce (and study them well
before the presentation!!). Tools like WordReference or Google Translator are
helpful as they can reproduce the words out loud. A good news presenter cannot
make pronunciation mistakes (or any other type of language mistakes as a matter of
fact)!

4.3 With your group, decide which is the exact topic or question that you would like to
discuss in the form of debate. For instance, imagine that you have presented a news story
about a man who was catfished and lost all his savings. Then, a possible topic/question for
discussion would be ‘is Internet a safe place for relationships?’ You will have to say the
topic/question of discussion before starting the debate.
Is it worth ruining a work of art for a protest?
4.4 You are going to watch a video about useful tips and techniques for being a successful
speaker in a debate. Write down the first seven tips that are provided and a brief
explanation on what they consist of.
1- Prepare confident, coherent, clear arguments. Three arguments and three
counterarguments.
2- Stay on topic elaborate arguments
3- Speak slowly, clear and charismatic
4- Be confident about your topic people will believe you if you look confident and you know
what you are talking about
5-Body language indicates confident, eye contact, smiling, relax posture
6-Consider your audience facials
7-Listen and take notes rebuttals, major arguments,
4.5 Following the ideas from the video, think of three arguments and/or points that you
would like to discuss with the members of your group related to it. Don’t worry if you
can’t think now of three arguments. Think at least of two so that you can perform the
mock debate today.
1- Our lives are more important that art, and we give more importance to art.
2- Oil paint is toxic
4.6 Similarly, think of three counterarguments (or, at least, one or two) so that, if you are
faced with them, you know how to respond properly.
1- Works of art are history of our live
2- This is not a protest is vandalism
4.4 Go to the following online activity and classify the expressions into ‘giving opinion’,
‘agreeing’, ‘partially agreeing’ and ‘disagreeing’.
Giving opinion: I’m really against it. Basically: I think… Personally I think.. I’m in favour
of…

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Agreeing: That make sense. I see what you mean. I suppose so. I do think…Good point.
Exactly.
Partially agreeing: I see your point, but… I agree to a certain extend, but… Fair enough, but…
Disagreeing: Actually, I disagree. I’m still not convinced. I totally disagree. I’m not so sure.

4.5 Complete the table below with the function that the expressions on the right perform.
These phrases will be useful for you to carry a debate about the piece of news you will
present.
Providing examples | Emphasizing | Responding to a question | Requesting more
information | Rephrasing | Requesting clarification
| Checking comprehension | Introducing a question/topic for discussion

FUNCTION EXPRESSIONS
Introducing a question/topic I’d like to discuss/comment on…
for discussion I’ve got a question about…
I was wondering what you think about…
Do you believe/think that…
Responding to a question Well, I think/believe that…
In my opinion/from my point of view (or viewpoint)
It’s not an easy question, but (I’ll do my best to answer)
Requesting clarification What did you mean when you said that…
Could you give me an example?
Sorry, I didn’t follow what you said. Could you repeat it, please?
Requesting more information Could you tell us a bit more about…?
Checking comprehension So you’re saying that…
If I understood correctly, you mean that…
Providing examples Let me give you an example…
For example/for instance…
An example of this is…
Rephrasing What I mean is that…
That is…
Emphasizing It’s important to bear in mind/to take into account that…
It seems clear that…
It should be highlighted that…

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4.6 Using the phrases above, role play a debate for 5 minutes with the members of your
group about the news story that you picked. One of you should take the role of moderator
to help lead and organize the discussion, and all the members should expose the arguments
they have prepared previously, and, in turn, try to refute the others’ arguments.
Remember to state the question/topic of discussion at the beginning. Don’t worry if at this
stage the debate is not too rich and ripe, because it will be helpful to break the ice and to
practice for the assessed task. Record the debate and upload it in the Virtual Campus >
Activities > News story debate. Remember to write down the names and surnames of the
members in the box (only one person from the group needs to upload it).

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