The Pros and Cons of the Internet

The Internet is without doubt one of the most important inventions in history. It was started in 1968 by the US government, but at first it was used mainly by scientists. Since 1990, when the World Wide Web was created, it has changed the world and its uses are growing every day.

The main use of the Internet is to find information – for your schoolwork or job, or just to find out more about your hobbies, sports or current events.

All of the latest information is available to you, in your home, at any hour of the day and night. It’s much faster and easier to surf the net in search of information from all over the world than to travel to libraries in dozens of countries.

You can also use the Internet to read newspapers and magazines, play games, plan your holiday or buy from your favourite shop.

E-mail makes it possible to send electronic messages anywhere in the world in seconds, and you can use the Internet to ‘chat’ with people and make new friends.

However, the real world of the Internet may not be as perfect as it seems.

With so much information available, finding what you want can take you hours. Multimedia web pages with photographs, music and video are attractive, but they make downloading slow and boring. Besides, there is too much advertising instead of real information.

As for the Internet friendships, sitting at home in front of a computer making ‘chat friends’ is not the same as actually meeting people.

And what do you think?

My Favourite TV Programme

The most popular entertainment in our home life is television. We have a choice between five channels: First Channel, Russia and 3 commercial channels. There is also a cable TV station in our town. Television plays an important role in our life. It informs people about current events both national and international, the latest achievements in science and culture, and offers some programs, which are both interesting and stimulating. Every day we can see different tips of programs on TV. News is broadcast at regular intervals. They also present operas, ballets, music concerts and various shows. Broadcast for schools are produced on five days of the week, during school hours. In the late afternoon and early evening TV channels showed special programs for children. In the evenings and at weekends there are broadcasts of sports events. A large time of TV evening’s time is occupied by films and serials, but as for me I like quizzes. A quizzes–program is a question and an answer competition which offers money and other prizes and to the winners. Such programs as “Wonders field”, "What, Where, When”, “A Hundred to One” are my favorite ones, because they are both informative and interesting. But best of all I like the programs of “Travellers' club”, because it gives me a chance to travel of other the world without leaving home. Far away countries and their customs and traditional are come into my living room.

Mass media in Belarus

A variety of print media and electronic media of different forms of ownership is operating in Belarus. Foreign media are widely represented in the national media space, too.

Print mass media in Belarus

As of 1 January 2013, 692 newspapers and 739 magazines were published in Belarus. More than two thirds of them are private.

Printed press is available mainly in the Belarusian and Russian languages, though there are some newspapers in English, Polish, Ukrainian and German.

The most influential newspapers include Belarus Segodnya and the Respublika. Local editions of major Russian newspapers Komsomolskaya Pravda and Argumenty i Fakty are very popular in Belarus, too.

All in all, more than 4,000 print media outlets are distributed throughout the country, including those from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, the USA, the UK, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia.

News Agencies of Belarus

Nine national news agencies, including seven private ones, operate in Belarus.

The BelTA News Agency is the country’s biggest news agency, having the correspondent network in all the regions of the country.

Besides the local news agencies, Russia’s ITAR-TASS and Prime-TASS news agencies have their offices in Minsk. The correspondents of the leading world agencies Reuters and Associated Press also work in Minsk.

E-media in Belarus

As of 1 January 2013, there were 166 radio broadcast stations and 89 television broadcast stations in Belarus.

23 radio stations and 57 TV broadcast stations are private.

The majority of public radio stations are run by the local authorities.

There are 30 FM radio stations in Belarus, including Radius FM, Radio Unistar (Belarusian-German media project), Europe plus and others.

The target audience of the Belarus radio station are foreigners interested in local events. The radio station airs programs not only in Belarusian and Russian, but also in English, German, Polish, French, Spanish and Chinese. 

There are 5 national TV broadcasters in Belarus: Belarus 1 TV Channel, Belarus 2 TV Channel, ONT TV Channel, CTV and international satellite channel Belarus TV.

The broadcasting of International satellite channel Belarus-TV was launched in 2005. The programs of the channel are transmitted via Express-AM22  and Galaxy 19 satellites.

Today the broadcasting covers more than 60 countries. The channel is available to viewers from Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and North America. The programs are aired 24/7 in Russian and Belarusian languages. The channel also provides online broadcasting on the Internet.

Over 100 international channels, including Euronews, BBC, Eurosport are broadcast via cable TV.

Today Belarus is switching from an analog to a digital broadcast television. The process is due to finish by 2015.

Digital TV is available to 94%of the country’s population.

The Role of TV in Our Life

TV is one of the best inventions the man has ever made. We are beginning to forget what the world was without TV. Thanks to TV we get a great amount of information. It gives wonderful possibilities for education. It enriches our intellect. We also become better informed by watching documentaries, science programmes, discussions and by learning the most important issues of the day.

TV gives an opportunity to see the best actors, sport matches, to meet famous people. TV brings the world to our room. We see people in our country and in other lands and learn about their customs, occupations, traditions, problems. We become cultured people by learning more of the arts. Television helps us relax after a hard day’s work, so we can then cope better with the next day’s work. Besides, there is a considerable amount of TV programmes: news, different talk-shows, TV games, concerts and variety shows, sport programmes, feature films, serials and so on. They are of great entertainment value and provide useful topics for conversation. A lot of these programmes are very popular. For example, news deals with political and social problems of modern society. Its aim is to give the analysis of the problems and show different view points. They are concerned with the country’s national events and the most topical political problems of the day. Thus, we can say that TV attracts millions of people to the screen.

But tastes differ. Some people are against TV. They say that TV does a lot of harm. It occupies a lot of free time. People used to have hobbies, to meet with friends, to go to the cinema or theatre, to read books, to listen to music. Nowadays many people sit watching TV hour by hour. They don’t read books, they don’t do sports, and they begin to forget the art of conversation. Watching TV for a long time may lead to poor health and ruin eye-sight. But nobody makes you watch TV for hours. You can simply switch off your TV-set. Finally we can say that TV is still a great force in the world today.

Press is the Mirror of Current Events

Every day millions of newspapers and magazines are published all over the world. Now it’s difficult to say how many different newspapers and magazines are issued every day. The list of their titles may seem endless. There are different national and local papers, dailies and weeklies, some that are issued three times a week and even monthlies. They satisfy different interests and tastes.

People subscribe to various papers and magazines, but they have one common aim. People want to know what is going on in the world, in the country, city, town or village, what people are anxious about. That’s why newspapers and magazines inform the readers of the current events and home and international affairs. They inform the readers of all important developments, give full attention to the most important national and international affairs, carry commentaries on the most interesting events. There are also articles on sports, art, music, new books. There are interviews with well-known people. Everything printed corresponds to people’s interests.

 As our press is democratic, following the principle of freedom of speech, it makes readers acquainted with different opinions on various problems.

As for me, I subscribe to (read, buy) “…”

It’s a weekly (daily, monthly) newspaper (magazine). / It is issued … times a week.

In “…” you can find all the necessary information on …

The paper has a supplement which contains information about…

This newspaper has a circulation of… copies.

Personally, I find it useful and interesting. And if you are interested in ..., I advise you to subscribe to (read, buy) “…”.

Exercises

1. Answer the questions:

1. What kinds of papers are issued in the world?
2. Why do people subscribe to different newspapers and magazines? Why do people read them?
3. Do newspapers and magazines give us a lot? Prove your point of view.
4. Do you read newspapers (magazines) regularly? Do you buy or subscribe to them?
5. What periodicals do you read (subscribe to)?
6. Do you find this paper (magazine) really useful?

2. Speak about the newspaper or magazine you read.

The Role of Mass Media

Mass media play an important role in modern society. We live in the era of information which is necessary for our life, work and entertainment. Mass media give us all kinds of information. The most important media are newspapers, radio and television and the Internet. 

All the mass media have their advantages. On the one hand, they supply us with political and other important information, entertain and give food for thought. On the other hand, they have some disadvantages. You can read a newspaper wherever you want, but you need a radio set if you want to listen to it. You can watch TV if you have electricity. You need both telephone and electricity to use the Internet. But the worst thing about mass media is advertising. It is useful, of course, to get information about new goods and services, but nobody likes when their favourite films are interrupted. One more disadvantage is that information is not always reliable, especially on the Internet.

Nowadays it is difficult to find a house without a TV set, a radio, magazines or newspapers. Of course, TV is the most popular. There are many programmes that keep people informed of current events in politics, sports, economics and so on. Besides, you can watch a lot of entertaining programmes. They let people relax, make them forget about their problems. No doubt, different people watch different programmes. Some enjoy detective movies, others are fond of horror films. Some people are interested in music concerts.

On the whole, it is hard to imagine modern society without mass media.

1. Translate into English:

Современное общество, развлечение, с одной стороны, с другой стороны, читать газету, слушать радио, смотреть телевизор, товары и услуги, любимый фильм, достоверная информация, текущие события, развлекательные программы,  расслабиться, заставить забыть о  своих проблемах, без сомнения, детективы, фильмы ужасов, в целом.

2. Make up sentences. Mind word order.

1.      Is, information, entertainment, for, life, necessary, our, work, and.

2.      Mass, and, have, media, advantages, all, their, disadvantages.

3.      Don’t, when, people, their, films, favourite, like, interrupts, advertising.

4.      On the Internet, not, is, always, reliable, information.

5.      Many, there, different, are, on TV, programmes.

6.      Programmes, people, forget, problems, entertaining, let, their, about.

3. Complete the sentences:

1.      The most important mass media are...

2.      Mass media supply people with...

3.      To use the Internet you need...

4.      From advertising people can get ...

5.      The most popular mass medium nowadays is...

6.      Many TV programmes keep people informed of...

4. Answer the questions:

1. What is the role of mass media in the modern society?

2. What kinds of media do you know?

3. Do the media have advantages and disadvantages? What are they?

4. Is TV the most popular medium nowadays? Why do you think so?

5. What programmes are you fond of?

6. Can you imagine our life without mass media? Give your reasons.

British Newspapers

In Britain newspapers differ greatly from each other in the type of news they report and the way they report it.

            On the one hand, there are “quality” newspapers: The Times, The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph. These papers report major national and international new stories, with the world of politics and business and with the arts and sport.

            On the other hand, there are “populars” or “tabloids”, so called because of their small size. Popular papers (The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, The Daily Mirror, The Sun, The Daily Star) pay much attention to sensational news, extraordinary events, catastrophes, accidents, private lives of royalty and nobility, of people of art, of music and movie stars.

            Popular papers use many photographs and cartoons. It is often said that the popular press aims to entertain its readers rather than inform them. The tabloid press is far more popular than the quality press. The average circulation for The Daily Mirror is almost 3.200.000 while for The Times it is 450.000. The most popular quality paper is The Daily Telegraph with a circulation of around 1.100.000 per day, compared with The Sun’s circulation of over 4.170.000. It is estimated that two out of every three adults regularly read a national daily newspaper.

            In addition to 12 national daily newspapers there are 9 national papers which are published on Sundays. Most of the Sunday papers contain more reading material than the daily papers, and several of them include colour supplements – separate colour magazines which have special supplements with articles on music, TV, sports and a lot of advertisements of consumer goods. Reading a Sunday paper, like having a big Sunday lunch, is an important tradition in many British families.

            Nearly every area in Britain has one or more local newspapers – in England alone there are around 850 which are published once or twice a week. Local papers report local news and advertise local business and events.

            Newspapers in Britain are privately owned and the editors of the papers are usually allowed considerable freedom of expression. The offices of most papers are situated in Fleet Street in the City of London, which is the centre of British journalism. British papers are bought and read not only in the United Kingdom but also in many other countries.

Exercises

1. Look through the text and say what kinds of papers are issued in Great Britain.  

2. Fill in the gaps:

1. British newspapers are very much different from each other in the way they … news.
2. There are …, which pay attention to sensational news and extraordinary events.
3. The popular press aims to … its readers.
4. There are 9 national papers, which are published on …
5. Reading a Sunday newspaper is an important … in many British families.
6. Local newspapers are published … or … a week.
7. The centre of British journalism is …

3. Find the words and expressions that mean:

1. A newspaper which is published every day - …
2. A serious newspaper - …
3. A newspaper which usually entertains its readers - …
4. A special colour magazine which is published on Sundays - …
5. A newspaper which reports local news - …

3.    Answer the questions:

1. How do British newspapers differ from each other?

2. What newspapers present important political news?

3. What news do “populars” pay attention to?

4. Is the “quality” press more popular than the “tabloid” press?

5. Which newspapers include colour supplements?

6. What information do local newspapers publish?

7. Are British newspapers privately owned?

8. Where are the offices of most papers situated?