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Lesson plans and teaching materials for the Trinity College London GESE and ISE exams

The Media Vocabulary

The media; the way in which we receive news and information be it published, broadcast or
via the internet

Types of and people in the media

The press; refers to print media (newspapers, magazines etc) and the journalists who
work for them

Tabloid newspaper; a small sized newspaper that reports sensational news with
provocative headlines and not usually considered serious or reliable

Broadsheet newspaper; a large sized newspaper and usually considered to be serious

and reliable

Tabloid press; refers to reporting that is sensationalist and relies on lots of photos

Journalist; a person who writes for a newspaper, magazine or news websites. They
also prepare news to be broadcast

Newscaster; a person who reads the news that is broadcast

Types of reporting
Circular reporting/false confirmation; where a piece of reporting appears to come from
various sources but in actual fact only comes from one. It is one source of fake news

Echo chamber; similar to conformation bias and is where a person only gets information that
reflects what they already believe

Confirmation bias; looking for or interpreting information that is consistent with our existing
beliefs. Also, where on social media our news feed gives us information that confirms what we
believe instead of a balanced approach

Propaganda; information that may be half true, untrue or rumour that is broadcast or
published to influence or manipulate public opinion

Current affairs; events that are happening in the news around the world at this particular
point in time

Censorship; the suppression of words, images or ideas that may be considered dangerous or
offensive.

Bias; a prejudice for or against a person, opinion or idea

Information overload; where a person is exposed to too much information which makes it
difficult to make a decision

Trustworthy; when something can be relied on because it is honest and fair

To be held accountable; to blame someone or consider someone responsible for something

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 EFLMaterials.com
Lesson plans and teaching materials for the Trinity College London GESE and ISE exams

Phrases related to the media

Freedom of the press; the right of the press to publish news and opinion without sanction
restraint or censorship

Hot off the press this morning is the news that president has resigned

I find I’m spending more and more time surfing the web

John recorded a video of a dog singing and it’s gone viral

You really need to read various sources of information to get both sides of the coin

We would never have known about this scandal if it hadn’t been for the whistle-blower

In this age of the internet and new forms of reporting the news you have to wonder what the
future of the mainstream media is

He can do no wrong in the eyes of the press, he’s a real media darling

It was all wrong she was declared guilty by the press long before her case went to court, it was
totally unfair trial by media

As soon as it was posted on the internet the news spread like wildfire. Within a few hours
everyone knew about it

I love reading the local rag, the news is so mundane it’s funny

Scare mongering by the gutter press has been blamed, and rightly so, for the rise in social
problems

One of the best pieces of advice I have ever been given was don’t believe everything you
read, especially in this day and age where anything can be published on the internet without
having been checked for validity

His style of journalism is so ambiguous you have to read between the lines to understand his
message

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