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Mass Media

  There are different ways of getting information — mass media, books, travelling, visiting museums, meeting people. Which do you prefer?   To live in the modern world is impossible without expanding your knowledge in all spheres. There are several ways of communicating the world to individuals — mass media, books, travelling, museums, meeting eminent people. Of all the existing ways, there are two which are the easiest ones, that is mass media and travelling. One more reason why I prefer them is that they provide the fullest and the most reliable information in the fields you are interested in. (For travelling, see 'Travelling'.)   Mass media play an important role in our life. How and why do they shape public opinion? Mass media play an important role in our life. They are usually defined by encyclopedias as any of the means of communication, such as radio, television, newspapers, magazines, etc. that reach and influence a very large audience, at least as large as the whole population of a nation. The term was coined in 1920s with emerging of nationwide radio networks and of mass-circulation newspapers and magazines. I believe mass media are so influential because they can be used for various purposes: popularisation, for business or social concerns (advertising, marketing, public relations, and political communication), education, entertainment, video and computer games, journalism, public service announcements. Media include radio and television, films, various types of discs or tapes used for music and computer, Internet, publishing on paper (books, magazines, and newspapers). Mass media play a crucial role in forming public opinion. They do it in a number of ways: first, they communicate the world to individuals. Much of the news media is made up of newsgathering by large organizations. Just four main news agencies — AP, UPI, Reuters and Agence France Presse — claim together to provide 90 % of the total news output of the world's press, radio and television. Second, they reproduce modern society's self-image by forcing attention to certain issues. They build up public images of political figures. They are constantly presenting objects suggesting what individuals in the mass should think about, know about, have feelings about. Because some of the media produce material which often is good, impartial, and serious, they have respect and authority. If we look into the reasons why the mass media shape public opinion, we will see, first of all, that in practice the ethics of the press and television provides a vital support for the existing order. Second, many of the mass media in practice cater for the tastes of some social group. Shaping the public opinion inside this group, they create the audience which supports them financially by buying the newspaper or watching the TV channel. But how much do the media influence the modern society? Early critiques suggested that the media destroys the individual's capacity to act autonomously. Later studies, however, suggest a more complex interaction between the media and society. People actively interprete and evaluate the media and the information it provides.

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Mass Media

Mass media are one of the most characteristic features of modern civilization. People are united into one global community with the help of mass media. People can learn about what is happening in the world very fast using mass media. The mass media include newspapers, magazines, radio and television.
The earliest kind of mass media was newspaper. The first newspaper was Roman handwritten newssheet called "Acta Diurna" started in 59 B.C. Magazines appeared in 1700's. They developed from newspapers and booksellers' catalogs. Radio and TV appeared only in this century.
The most exciting and entertaining kind of mass media is television. It brings moving pictures and sounds directly to people's homes. So one can see events in faraway places just sitting in his or her chair.
Radio is widespread for its portability. It means that radios can easily be carried around. People like listening to the radio on the beach or picnic, while driving a car or just walking down the street. The main kind of radio entertainment is music.
Newspapers can present and comment on the news in much detail in comparison to radio and TV newscasts. Newspapers can cover much more events and news.
Magazines do not focus on daily, rapidly changing events. They provide more profound analysis of events of proceeding week. Magazines are designed to be kept for a longer time so they have cover and binding and are printed on better paper.

Newspapers

Newspaper is a publication that presents and comments on the news. Newspapers play an important role in shaping public opinion and informing people of current events.
The first newspapers were probably handwritten newssheets posted in public places. The earliest daily newssheet was "Acta Diurna" ("Daily Events") which started in Rome in 59 B.C. The first printed newspaper was Chinese publication called "Dibao" ("Ti - pao") started in A.D.TOO's. It was printed from carved wooden blocks. The first regularly published newspaper in Europe was "Avisa Relation" or "Zeitung", started in Germany in ] 609.

Newspapers have certain advantages over other mass media — magazines, TV and radio. Newspaper can cover more news and in much detail than TV or radio newscasts can do.
Magazines focus on major national and international events of the preceding week. But newspaper focuses on local news as well and provides information and comments faster than magazine can do.
There are about 1 700 daily and 7 500 weekly newspapers in the US. The circulation of some weeklies is no more than a few hundred of copies per issue and the circulation of some dailies is over a million of copies.
There are daily newspapers and weekly newspapers. Daily newspapers print world, national and local news. Many dailies are morning papers, others are afternoon papers. Sunday issues of the dailies are usually larger than the weekday ones. They may include special sections on such topics as entertainment, finance and travel or Sunday magazine, a guide to TV programmes, colored comics. The major dailies in the US are "Christian Science Monitor", "New York Times", "USA Today", "Wall Street Journal", "Washington Post".
Weekly newspapers serve usually for smaller areas. They are printed in small communities where people know each other and are interested in activities of their friends and neighbors.
Weeklies report of weddings, births, deaths and news of local business and politics. Most weeklies do not print world or national news.

Magazines

Magazine is one of the major mass media. Magazine is a collection of articles and stories. Usually magazines also contain illustrations.
The earliest magazines developed from newspapers and booksellers catalogs. Such catalogs first appeared during the 1600's in France. In the 1700's pamphlets published at regular
intervals appeared in England and America. They were literary publications. One of the first British magazines "The Gentleman's Magazine" was published from 1731 to 1914.
The first American magazine was called the "American Magazine", or "A Monthly View". Magazines provide information on a wide range of topics such as business, culture, hobbies, medicine, religion, science, and sports. Some magazines entertain their readers with fiction, poetry, photography or articles about TV, or movie stars.
Magazines are designed to be kept for a longer time in comparison to newspapers and that is why they are printed on a better paper and have covers. Magayines, unlike newspapers, do not focus on daily, rapidly changing events.
There are specialized magazines intended for special business, industrial and professional groups, and consumer magazines intended for general public. There are several kinds of consumer magazines.
Children's magazines contain stories, jokes, articles on subjects especially interesting for children and instructions for making games or useful items. Hobby magazines are intended for collectors of coins, stamps, and other items; people interested in certain sports or games; photography enthusiasts.
Intellectual magazines provide analysis of current cultural and political events. Many of them publish fiction and poetry as well.
Men's magazines focus on such topics as adventure, entertainment, men's fashion and sports. Women's magazines deal with child-raising, fashion trends, romance. They offer ideas on cooking and home decorating. Many of the monthlies with big circulations are women's magazines.

Tv

Many people have forgotten what the world was like before TV. But today it has become an integral part of our live. No can compare with TV as a means of information, entertainment & education. TV now plays such an important role in so many people's lives that it is essential for us to try to decide whether it is bad or good. On the first place TV is not only a convenient source of entertainment, but also a comparatively cheap one. For a family it is more convenient as well as cheaper to sit comfortably at home than to go out. They don't have to pay for expensive tickets to the cinema. All they have to do is to turn on TV and they can see political news,football matches and films. TV, people often say, informs about current events & the latest developments in science and politics. A lot of good films, music programs have appeared recently on TV. We get to like watching TV so much that it begins to dominate our lives. Some-times, than TV set broke people suddenly found that they had much more time to do things. The most important thing which is really critiquing is poor quality of the programs and its harmful effect on children. For example the film " Natural Born Killers" teaches children to kill and there was one accident in France when a group of teenagers kill their parents. There are many arguments for and against TV.I think we must understand that TV in itself is neither good nor bad. TV is as good or as bad as we make it.

Television

Television, also called TV, is one of our most important means of communication. It brings moving pictures and sounds from around the world into millions of homes. The name "Television" comes from Greek word meaning "far", and a Latin word meaning "to see", so the word "tele vision" means "to see far".
About three-fourths of the 1 500 TV stations in the US are commercial stations. They sell advertising time to pay for their operating costs and to make profit. The rest are public stations, which are nonprofit organizations.
Commercial TV stations broadcast mostly entertainment programs because they must attract larger numbers of viewers in order to sell advertising time at high prices. These programs include light dramas called situation comedies; action-packed dramas about life of detectives, police officers, lawyers and doctors; shows featuring comedians, dancers and singers; movies; quiz shows; soap operas; cartoons.
Commercial TV broadcasts also documentaries and talk shows. Documentary is dramatic, but nonfictional presentation of information. It can be programs about people, animals in faraway places or programs on such issues as alcoholism, drug abuse, racial prejudice. On talk shows a host interviews politicians, TV and movie stars, athletes, authors. There are also sport programs and brief summaries of local, national and international news. Advertising is an important part of commercial TV. Commercials appear between and during most programs. They urge viewers to buy different kinds of products — from dog food to hair spray, and from cars to insurance policies.
Public television focuses mainly on education and culture. There are programs on wide range of subjects — from physics and literature to cooking and yoga. Public TV also broadcasts plays, ballets, symphonies as well as programs about art and history. Public TV attracts less viewer than commercial TV.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16