Mastering English for Journalism: ESP Textbook for Journalists

И. И. Чиронова, Е. В. Кузьмина
АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК
ДЛЯ ЖУРНАЛИСТОВ
MASTERING ENGLISH
FOR JOURNALISM
УЧЕБНИК
ДЛЯ АКАДЕМИЧЕСКОГО БАКАЛАВРИАТА
Допущено Учебно-методическим отделом высшего
образования в качестве учебника для студентов высших
учебных заведений, обучающихся по гуманитарным
направлениям и специальностям
Êíèãà äîñòóïíà â ýëåêòðîííîé áèáëèîòå÷íîé ñèñòåìå
biblio-online.ru
Москва  Юрайт  2016
УДК 811.111
ББК 81.2Англ-923
Ч65
Авторы:
Чиронова Ирина Игоревна — профессор, кандидат филологических наук, профессор кафедры английского языка для гуманитарных
дисциплин Национального исследовательского университета «Высшая
школа экономики»;
Кузьмина Евгения Владимировна — кандидат педагогических
наук, доцент кафедры английского языка для гуманитарных дисциплин
Национального исследовательского университета «Высшая школа экономики».
Рецензенты:
Давыдов С. Г. — кандидат философских наук, доцент, заместитель
декана факультета медиакоммуникаций Национального исследовательского университета «Высшая школа экономики»;
Языкова Н. В. — доктор педагогических наук, профессор, заведующая кафедрой теории и методики обучения иностранным языкам Института иностранных языков Московского городского педагогического
университета.
Ч65
Чиронова, И. И.
Английский язык для журналистов. Mastering English for Journalism : учебник для академического бакалавриата / И. И. Чиронова, Е.
В. Кузьмина. — М. : Издательство Юрайт, 2016. — 471 с. — Серия :
Бакалавр. Академический курс.
ISBN 978-5-9916-3530-1
Цель учебника – сформировать у будущих журналистов способности профессионального общения на английском языке. Тематика
уроков отражает наиболее важные сферы деятельности и интересов
современных журналистов: «Подготовка профессиональных журналистов», «СМИ в современном мире», «Новости», «Интервью», «Газеты
и журналы», «Телевидение и радио», «Телеграф и электронные источники новостей», «Свобода печати» и др. Книга содержит также тексты
для дополнительного чтения и словарь профессиональных терминов.
Материал рассчитан на студентов со средним (Intermediate) уровнем владения английским языком (что соответствует уровню B1 по Общеевропейской шкале определения уровня владения языком), которые
уже имеют основные навыки грамматического оформления английской
речи и готовы к усвоению нового тематического вокабуляра. Учебник
готовит студентов к переходу на уровень Upper-Intermediate (B2).
Соответствует Федеральному государственному образовательному
стандарту высшего образования четвертого поколения.
Для студентов бакалавриата, обущающихся по направлению подготовки «Журналист».
УДК 811.111
ББК 81.2Англ-923
ISBN 978-5-9916-3530-1
© Чиронова И. И., Кузьмина Е. В., 2014
© ООО «Издательство Юрайт», 2016
Contents
(Содержание)
Предисловие .......................................................................... 5
Unit 1.
TRAINING FOR JOURNALISM ................................. 9
Unit 2.
THE MEDIA MAN – A JACK OF ALL TRADES? ........ 29
Unit 3.
THE MEDIA IN THE MODERN WORLD .................. 51
Unit 4.
NEWS .................................................................... 71
Unit 5.
AUDIENCES ........................................................... 91
Unit 6.
INTERVIEWS ....................................................... 109
Unit 7.
DIARY NEWS EVENTS: PRESS CONFERENCES,
MEETINGS, SPEECHES ........................................ 127
Unit 8.
MEDIA WRITING
AND JOURNALISTIC GENRES ............................. 148
Unit 9.
NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES ......................... 164
Unit 10.
TELEVISION AND RADIO .................................... 189
Unit 11.
WIRE AND ELECTRONIC SOURCES
OF NEWS ............................................................. 208
Unit 12.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS ................................... 229
GRAMMAR FOCUS................................................................ 247
Tenses in the Active Voice .................................. 247
The Construction “to be going to” ........................ 248
Some Other Ways to Express the Future ............. 249
The Passive Voice ................................................ 249
The Passive Voice with Modal Verbs.....................249
Reported Speech and the Sequence of
Tenses. General Rules ................................ 250
Participles as Attributes ...................................... 250
The Gerund ......................................................... 251
3
The Infinitive: The Complex Subject ................... 252
The Scale of Certainty / Uncertainty. Modal
Verbs ......................................................... 252
The Conditional Mood. The Subjunctive Mood.... 253
“Noun + Noun” Structures ................................. 254
The Comparison of Adjectives ............................. 254
Pronouns both / either / neither ......................... 256
Pronouns all / any / none ................................... 257
The Structure of Sentences with both and all.......258
SUPPLEMENT....................................................................... 259
Home-Reading .................................................... 259
Part one........................................................... 259
D. Steel. Message from Nam. Part I ........... 259
D. Steel. Message from Nam. Part II .......... 272
F. Forsyth. The Odessa File. Part I ............. 288
F. Forsyth. The Odessa File. Part II ............ 304
A. Hailey. “A Press Conference at an Auto
Company” (from “Wheels”) .................. 322
A. Hailey. “In Camera Meeting”
(from “Hotel”) ....................................... 342
Part Two.......................................................... 354
J. Grisham. The Pelican Brief. Part I .......... 354
J. Grisham. The Pelican Brief. Part II ......... 371
J. Grisham. The Pelican Brief. Part III ........ 389
J. Grisham. The Pelican Brief. Part IV ........ 402
A. Hailey. Emergency Landing Reporting
(from “The Evening News”) .................. 414
Vocabulary .......................................................... 424
List of Abbreviations Used in the Vocabulary ...... 468
Answers to the Crossword ................................... 470
References............................................................................ 471
Предисловие
Данный учебник разработан в соответствии с Федеральным
госу­дарст­вен­ным образовательным стандартом высшего профессионального образования, утвержденного Министерством
образования Российской Федерации, и предназначен для студентов бакалавриата, обучающихся по специальности 031300.62
«Журналистика».
Материал учебника рассчитан на студентов со средним
(Intermediate) уровнем владения английским языком (что соответствует уровню B1 по Общеевропейской шкале определения
уровня владения языком), которые уже имеют основные навыки
грамматического оформления английской речи и готовы к усвоению нового тематического вокабуляра. Учебник готовит студентов к переходу на уровень Upper-Intermediate (B2).
Цель учебника – сформировать у будущих журналистов способности профессионального общения на английском языке,
что соответствует аспекту изучения английского языка ESP
(English for Specific Purposes – Английский для специальных
целей). В учебнике реализуется когнитивно-коммуникативный
подход к обучению иностранному языку, который предполагает
учет как коммуникативных потребностей будущих специалистов, так и сознательное усвоение студентами языковых, лингвострановедческих и социокультурных знаний, а также осознанное формирование академических навыков и умений.
Тематика учебника отражает наиболее важные сферы деятельности и интересов современных журналистов: «Подготовка
профессиональных журналистов», «СМИ в современном мире»,
«Новости», «Интервью», «Газеты и журналы», «Телевидение
и радио», «Телеграф и электронные источники новостей»,
«Свобода печати» и др.
Такой подход позволяет изучить большой массив лексики
и терминологии, актуальной для современного специалиста
в области СМИ. Языковой материал представлен в коммуникативной форме, уделяется внимание развитию компетенций чтения, говорения, аудирования и письма.
5
Отличительными особенностями данного учебника являются:
–– жанровое разнообразие текстового материала: использование текстов различных стилей и регистров речи;
–– разработанные на основе реальных профессиональных
ситуаций ролевые игры и коммуникативно-направленные письменные задания;
–– специально отобранные и обработанные проблемные ситуации;
–– задания для работы в режиме онлайн (аудирование высказываний носителей языка и анализ опубликованных материалов);
–– блок аутентичных художественных текстов с заданиями и лингвострановедческими комментариями для аспекта
«Домашнее чтение».
Учебник состоит из 12 разделов, Приложения и Вокабуляра.
Все уроки (Units) открываются заданиями и упражнениями,
вводящими ряд основных терминов, языковых единиц активного вокабуляра (Lead-In). Центральную часть занимают задания по чтению (Reading I и Reading II), целью которых является развитие навыков различных типов чтения, например, чтение с извлечением необходимой информации, чтение с полным
пониманием содержания, умение выделять главную и второстепенную информацию и др.
В каждый урок включены упражнения на тренировку
и закрепление активной лексики и задания, направленные на
развитие навыков устно-речевой профессиональной коммуникации. Это и проблемные вопросы, требующие активизации
и глубокого анализа всего материала урока (Brainstorming),
и задания, направленные на тренировку какого-либо отдельного умения, например, написание резюме, интервью, проведение собрания и т.п. (Activity, Developing Professional Skills),
и ролевые игры (Role Plays).
Все уроки имеют грамматические разделы, каждый из которых посвящен одной теме и состоит из грамматического комментария и упражнений на закрепление пройденного материала.
Учебник также развивает умение самостоятельно оценивать
достигнутые результаты. Каждый урок завершается разделом
Mark Your Progress, выполненным в форме Can Do Statements,
где студенты должны самостоятельно зафиксировать прогресс,
достигнутый ими в изучении языка после усвоения материала
урока.
6
В конце каждого раздела помещена активная лексика (Essen­
tial Vocabulary), изучавшаяся в данном уроке.
Приложение содержит материалы по домашнему чтению
(сокращенные отрывки из произведений современной англоязычной прозы и задания к ним), которые могут использоваться как на аудиторных занятиях, так и в ходе самостоятельной работы.
В вокабуляре содержатся наиболее важные общенаучные
и специальные термины, устойчивые выражения и сокращения, встречающиеся в учебнике, приводится их толкование.
Некоторые лексические единицы снабжены пояснениями лингвострановедческого и научного характера, синонимами и антонимами.
В конце учебника приводятся также: список сокращений,
ответы на кроссворд (из урока 11) и список использованной
литературы.
UNIT 1
TRAINING
FOR JOURNALISM
Grammar:
Present and Past Tense Forms (Active)
Vocabulary:Synonyms and near synonyms; words with
suffixes -er/-or vs -ee
Lead-In
Exercise 1. Make sure you know the difference between the
words in the following pairs and groups. Which
of them are synonyms? Which are near synonyms?
Why?
to teach – to learn – to study; training – teaching – education;
professional – vocational
Exercise 2. Answer the questions.
1. What do you think makes a good journalist? Give your reasons.
2. What ways of entry into the profession do you know?
3. What influenced your choice of the way of entering journalism?
4. In your opinion, are different qualities and different voca­
tio­nal training schemes necessary for a career in newspaper,
magazine, radio and TV journalism?
5. What subjects do you think are obligatory for a journalist?
Why?
9
Exercise 3. Consult the Vocabulary (p. 424) and mind the
peculiarities of the usage of the verbs given below.
Make up your own 5–7 sentences with the words
to compose a short text. Start with the sentence
given below.
•
•
•
•
•
apply (for, to)
enter
enrol (on / in)
finish
graduate (from)
My friend finished school last year…
.........................................................
Exercise 4. Check that you pronounce and stress these words
correctly.
science, bachelor, PhD, graduate, knowledge, applicant, curri­
culum, curricula, requirement, launch, major, initially, foreign, language, though / although, qualification, sufficient, guarantee, persuade, teach / taught, society, social, mutual, vocational, inadequate, equivalent, exceptional, via, secure, authority, compulsory,
obligatory, optional, desirable
Exercise 5.
a) Using the table and the Vocabulary get acquainted with the
main stages of secondary and higher education in the UK
and the US and the terms to describe them.
UK
Аge
US
Primary School
5/6–11
Elementary School
Secondary School
GCSE
Sixth-Form College
A-Levels
University /
Polytechnic
undergraduate
student
about
3 years
Bachelor’s Degree (BA, BSc)
graduate student
12–16/17
High School
SAT, High School Diploma
17/18
about
4 years
College /
University
18/19–21
Bachelor’s Degree (BA, BS)
(The table is terminated on p. 11)
10
Termination of the table
UK
Аge
Post-Graduate Course /
School
post-graduate student
thesis
Post-Graduate Diploma
Master’s Degree (MA, MSc)
US
Graduate/Grad Course /
School
graduate/grad student
thesis
21/
22–23/…
Post-Graduate Diploma
Master’s Degree (MA, MS)
Doctorate Degree Study
thesis
Doctorate Degree Study
dissertation
Doctor’s Degree (PhD)
Doctor’s Degree (PhD)
high school- / college- / grad course- / ... / graduate
b) Complete the sentences with the given terms and abbreviations.
MA, high school, polytechnic, undergraduate, GCSE, bachelor’s
degree, year, graduate school, A-Level, doctorate degree, MS
1. At 16 all students in the UK take …… examinations.
2. At 18 some students take …… examinations. It is neces­sary
to pass them in order to go to a university or …… .
3. Once you are enrolled in the College, you become a first-……
student.
4. An …… (especially in British English) is a student who is doing
a university course for a first degree, usually a …… .
5. A …… (in American English) is a college or university where
one can study for a master’s or …… , having already obtained
a bachelor’s degree.
6. In the UK and the US higher degrees include an …… for arts
subjects and an MSc …… (in American English) for science or
social science, and a PhD.
7. In Britain a “graduate” is a person who has taken a first degree.
In American English it may either correspond to a British
“post-graduate”, as, for example, in “a graduate stu­dent”, or
it may denote a person who has received a dip­lo­ma from any
educational institution, as in “a/an …… graduate”.
11
Exercise 6. There has always been an argument in the profession: “Are journalists born or made?”
a) Look through the following passage and express your own
opinion. Make use of the following expressions:
I (don’t) think, …
I’m (not) sure, …
I believe, …
As for me, …
On the one hand, there is a prevalent belief that you’ve either got
the nose for news or, sadly, you haven’t. You may have great ideas
about the nature of reporting, you may know all about ideology and
the history of the press in the eighteenth-century Russia or England.
But if you cannot bash out a quick story on a local murder, you are
useless. As Sir David English, former editor of the Daily Mail, said:
“Journalism is a skill that can only be acquired on the job and at
the end of the day it depends on whether someone has a burning
individual talent.” On the other hand, there is the belief that journalism is a profession with its own ethical and work-related standards which can be both taught and assessed. Thus, certain educational qualifications are laid down for entrants while the development of training courses becomes an essential part of the formation
of the journalist’s professional identity.
(After The Newspapers Handbook by R. Keeble)
b) Can you give Russian equivalents to the expressions in bold
type?
A curious mind and a broad liberal arts education are
by far the best qualifications for a career in journalism.
Bill Kovach, Chairman of the Committee
of Concerned Journalists
Reading 1
Vocabulary Input
Exercise 1. Mind the difference in pronunciation and usage
of the oppositions given below.
trainer – trainee, employer – employee, interviewer – interviewee
1. The trainee journalist explained to his fitness trainer why he
was absent from the previous class.
12
2. It was difficult for the trade union to settle the dispute
between the company’s employers and employees.
3. The interviewee got nervous when the interviewer switched
on the dictaphone.
Exercise 2. Define the meaning of the verbs to emerge and
to launch.
1. No new ideas emerged during the meeting.
2. He launched a fierce attack on his political opponents.
3. The next election campaign will be launched in three years.
Exercise 3. Translate the sentences paying attention to the difference in meaning of the words skill and ability.
1. His extraordinary abilities helped him to skip two classes
of the elementary school.
2. The applicant wasn’t able to demonstrate even basic computer
skills.
3. Reading and writing are two different skills.
4. He was a man of great musical ability.
5. I did the work to the best of my ability.
Exercise 4. Match the following words with their definitions:
1. applicant
a. smth that is needed, demanded or asked for
2. curriculum
b. someone, who has formally asked, usually in writing,
for a job, study course, etc.
3. requirement
c. a disadvantage of a situation, product, etc.
4. merit
d. the subjects that are taught by an educational establishment, or the things that are studied in a particular subject
5. drawback
e. a good quality that makes smth deserve praise or
admi­ration
Reading Assignment
Read the text and be ready to discuss it.
ON OR OFF THE JOB? PROS AND CONS
• What is the best way for a career in journalism? A pre-entry
training at a college, university or training agency or “on-the-job”,
that is, direct entry onto a newspaper, magazine, radio or television
station?
13
• Both routes have their merits and drawbacks. Opinions within
the industry vary as to what is the best method: some employers
prefer direct-entry candidates who can then be trained in the house
style; others consider that a pre-entry qualification in an educational
establishment is desirable. Often a media organization will consider
applicants from both types of entry dependent on their requirements
at any given time.
Are there any traditions of training in journalism in the United
Kingdom and the United States?
The British have always believed that the best way to learn about
journalism is “on-the-job”. That was the dominant view in the industry at the beginning of the twentieth century. It remains largely
the same at the start of the twenty-first. But there have been slight
changes.
After World War II the Royal Commission on the Press drew
attention to the need for better trained journalists. However, it
was not until the mid-1960s that any major programme of journalism training was launched in the UK1. Initially, they were usually
titled Mass Communications and the media were considered largely
within their sociological or broader theoretical contexts. But over
recent decades the focus has shifted, largely in response to student
demands, to the development of practical skills.
In 1970, the first university journalism course was launched at
University College, Cardiff. It was modelled on a programme at
Columbia University, New York.
Since the 1970s postgraduate courses began to emerge, spanning
a wide range of diplomas and MAs: newspaper, periodical, broadcast, electronic publishing, European and international.
Media education has become so popular, that in the late 1980s
it was included into the UK National Curriculum in primary and
secondary schools. There are even A-Level examinations in Media
Studies, Film Studies and Communication Studies.
Though the trend over recent decades has been towards the
formation of an increasingly graduate profession (more and more
employees have degrees), academic qualifications in themselves have
never been sufficient to guarantee a chance to become a trainee journalist. In addition to showing academic abilities, a successful applicant must be able to demonstrate a special commitment to working
1
A diploma course had run at King’s College London between 1922 and 1939
but this was not restarted after the war.
14
in the field. Many school pupils go to newspapers on work attachments, others manage to persuade editors to let them observe the
newspaper operations during their holidays. Some students help
with hospital radios; others send in articles to their local newspapers. All this counts well for any applicant whether to a newspaper
or college.
In the US, in contrast, specialised newsmen are preferable. The
first complete school of journalism was founded in 1908 at the
University of Missouri, although some form of journalism had been
taught in the United States before.
Since then there has been a continuous expansion of Journalism
Departments in Universities and State Colleges both for undergradu­
ate and graduate study.
But even in the US society there is no mutual understanding
of what training for journalism should be. The course in journalism
originally launched at the University of Missouri was a strictly vocational one. It would teach prospective journalists how to write news
stories, how to sub-edit, how to take pictures and to do all the other
things that they would be called upon to do in the actual practice
of the profession. More recently, however, a strong feeling has been
developed in many American universities and in the American Press
that this is inadequate.
And now there is still a good deal of argument as to how far specific vocational courses for journalists fit into the proper curriculum
of a university and whether, in any event, they fulfil their function.
• Is it difficult to enter university media courses in the UK?
Nowadays the basic entry requirement is a minimum of five GCSE
passes, one of which must be English language (grades A–C) or
equivalents. Some other examinations have been approved by the
NCTJ as being educationally equivalent and in exceptional cases
(when the editor has their eye on an individual) the qualifications
are waived. For those who seek to enter via a college course, the
requirements are two A-levels and two GSCEs including English at
either level.
• Is training free of charge?
Training is not free. To cover the tuition fees and possibly living
expenses, you may win sponsorship from a local paper or you may be
able to secure a grant from your local authority. The grants are discretionary, dependent on the authority’s willingness to support you.
(After The Newspapers Handbook by R. Keeble)
15
Notes to the Text
the Royal Commission on the Press – Королевская комиссия
по делам печати.
grades A–C: grade – оценка в Великобритании и США. «А»,
«В», «С» – соответственно «пятёрка», «четвёрка», «тройка».
NCTJ = the National Council for the Training of Journalists –
Национальный совет по подготовке журналистов.
Comprehension Check
Are the following statements true or false?
1. The only way for a career in journalism is “on-the-job” training.
2. The training of journalists in Britain is a relatively new phenomenon in comparison with that in the United States.
3. The first British university journalism course emerged
in Wales.
4. In the UK postgraduate journalism courses emerged in the
1960s.
5. Every school-leaver may be enrolled in a university course for
journalism in the UK.
6. Sometimes qualifications for entry into journalism may be
waived.
7. Traditions of training for journalism in the UK and the US
are alike.
8. Journalism is becoming a more and more graduate profession.
9. Scepticism about the value of theoretical studies for journalists remains widespread both in the UK and the US.
10. Nowadays theoretical media courses are incorporating practical vocational elements in the USA.
Vocabulary Practice
Exercise 1. Give English equivalents to the following words and
expressions:
умение, навык; иметь виды на…; взаимопонимание; убедить
кого-л. сделать что-л.; знания; привлечь внимание к чему-л.;
способности; требования для поступления; качество; стажёр;
достоинство, заслуга; профсоюз; одобрять; цель, задача; обдумывать, рассматривать; аспирантура; за последние десятилетия; включать; преподавать; недостаток; охватывать большое
разнообразие чего-л.
16
Exercise 2. Explain the difference in meaning and usage of the
following words:
graduate – undergraduate – postgraduate; applicant – entrant;
obligatory – desirable; knowledge – ability – skill
Exercise 3. In each horizontal group in column A find an odd
word, that is the word that doesn’t belong in the
group. Then match the groups of three terms from
column A with their definitions in column B.
1. college, training agency, university, house style
a. t hings that count for entry into
profession or for qualification
2. programme, course, curriculum,
education
b. a type of university or college
course
3. k nowledge, courses, abilities,
skills
c. a
n educational establishment
4. grade, graduate, undergraduate,
post-graduate
d. a scheme of studies
Exercise 4. Scan the text and tasks to it paying attention to the
usage of prepositions. Fill in the blanks in the following sentences where necessary:
1. There were three applicants …… the post.
2. What subjects are you taught …… the University?
3. What are you going to do after you graduate …… the Uni­ver­
sity.
4. What are the minimum entrance requirements …… departments …… journalism in Russia?
5. He decided to apply …… University College, Cardiff.
6. As far as I know, a new vocational course …… journalism will
be launched …… our University next year.
7. Many specialists …… mass media didn’t enter …… the profession …… college courses, but through direct entry …… the job
training.
8. All applicants …… admission …… mass communication courses
are to register in room 3.
9. Do you know that new qualification requirements …… entry
…… journalism have been established?
10. What do you think a successful career …….. journalism depends …… ?
17
Do you know that…
Benjamin Harris (1673–1716) was an English bookseller and writer,
and the first journalist in the British-American colonies.
He published pamphlets in London, especially ones attacking Roman
Catholics. In 1686, to escape fines and further imprisonment, he fled
to Boston, where he established the first North American newspaper
Public Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestic in 1690.
Grammar Practice
 Present and Past Tense forms 
(See Grammar Focus p. 247)
Exercise 1. Open the brackets.
1. He (graduate) from the University in 2003. Then he (become)
a newspaper reporter. Now he (work) for Channel One Russia.
2. When you (leave) school? – In 1995. And I (not, be) in my
home town since then.
3. I (write) the report for 2 hours already.
4. …… you (choose) the department to study at?
5. …… you (know) John Smith? – Yes, I (know) him since he
(enter) our department in 1999.
6. She (translate) the article by 5 p.m. yesterday, but she (not,
send) it to the editor yet.
7. When I came into the newsroom, the editor (read) some
papers.
8. Stop making such a noise! We (get) ready for the exam at the
moment.
9. After the interviewee (answer) all the questions, the journalist took a picture of him.
10. You (speak) French very well. How long you (learn) it?
Exercise 2. Translate from Russian into English.
1. Он получил степень бакалавра гуманитарных наук три
года назад. Потом он был стажером в издательстве.
Сейчас он работает в Би-Би-Си.
2. После того, как я прочитал эту статью, я позвонил ее
автору.
3. Когда вы окончили университет?
4. Как долго ты изучаешь журналистику?
18
5. Мы изучили вступительные требования, прежде чем
подали заявления в этот университет.
6. Ты очень хорошо говоришь по-английски. Кто учил тебя
языку?
7. Я не встречал его с тех пор, как мы окончили школу.
8. Вчера с 10 до 11 утра он интервьюировал нового работ­
ника.
9. Я считаю, что журналистика стала популярной за послед­
ние десятилетия.
10. Наш преподаватель работает над новым учебным планом.
Notes
on Language
and Culture
Fleet Street is the area in London where most
of the important newspaper offices used to be.
Although most newspaper offices have now left Fleet
Street, the name is still used to describe the newspaper industry or the influence of British newspaper
writing:
E.g.: Fleet Street can make or break a politician.
Madison Avenue is a street in New York City famous as the centre
of the advertising industry in the US. “Madison Avenue” can be used
to mean “advertising”.
Reading 2
Vocabulary Input
Check that you pronounce and stress these words correctly.
sociology, sociological, social, psychology , ethics, scheme, quantitative
Reading Assignment
Study the information about the course and be ready to discuss it.
THE CITY JOURNALISM AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
BA COURSE
The Department of Journalism at City University has been running courses since 1976. The first group of 13 graduates left in 1977
with a Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism.
19
Since then, nearly 3,500 students have graduated from the
Department, forming a network of City alumni in all corners of the
media, both in the UK and overseas.
The Department is in the heart of London within easy reach
of most of the country’s national newspapers, magazines, broadcasters, new media organizations, theatres, film production companies, and publishers.
The City Journalism and Social Science BA course offers a broad
curriculum providing the unique opportunity to study journalism
along with a social science.
The course leads to BAs in Journalism and Economics, Journalism
with Economics, Journalism and Sociology, Journalism with
Sociology, Journalism and Psychology, Journalism with Psychology.
The simple difference between Journalism and … and Journalism
with … is that students taking Journalism and … do more social science and less journalism than students taking Journalism with … .
The course is full-time and works on a credit system. All students
do courses to the value of 120 credits a year.
– Year One / Part 1 – All students take the following journalism
courses (45 credits total):
–– Introduction to Journalism – 1 (15 credits)
–– History of Journalism (15 credits)
–– European Studies (5 credits)
–– Quantitative Methods for Journalists (10 credits)
–– A foreign language (normally French, German or Spanish)
(15 credits)
Introductory social science courses to the value of 60 credits chosen from the following:
–– Introduction to Economics (30 credits)
–– Introduction to Sociology (30 credits)
–– Cognitive Approaches to Mind and behaviour (15 credits)
–– History and Theory of Psychology (15 credits)
–– Biological Approaches to Mind and Behaviour (15 credits)
–– Lifespan Psychology (15 credits).
– Year Two / Part 2 –
Students taking social science to joint degree level (Journalism
and …) take:
• The following journalism courses (60 credits total):
–– Introduction to Journalism – 2 (30 credits)
–– Production – 2 (30 credits)
• Courses in their chosen social science to the value of 60 credits.
20
Students taking social science to minor degree level (Journalism
with …) take:
• The following journalism courses (60 credits total):
–– Introduction to Journalism – 2 (30 credits)
–– Production – 2 (30 credits)
• Two of the following courses to the value of 30 credits:
–– Structure of Government ( 15 credits)
–– Shorthand (15 credits)
–– A foreign language (15 credits)
• A course or courses in their chosen social science to the value
of 30 credits.
– Year Three (Optional) –
Spent at journalism school abroad and / or on working attachments in industry.
– Final Year / Part 3 –
Students taking social science to joint degree level (Journalism
and …) take either of the following combinations of journalism
courses (60 credits total):
–– Advanced Practical Journalism – Print (30 credits), Print
Project (15 credits), Media Law and Ethics (15 credits)
–– Advanced Practical Journalism – Broadcast (30 credits),
Radio Project (15 credits) or Television Project (15 cre­dits),
Media Law and Ethics (15 credits).
• Courses in their chosen social science to the value of 60 cre­
dits.
Students taking social science to minor degree level (Journalism
with …) take either of the following combinations of journalism
courses (60 credits total):
–– Advanced Practical Journalism – Print (30 credits), Print
Project (15 credits), Media Law and Ethics (15 credits)
–– Advanced Practical Journalism – Broadcast (30 credits),
Radio Project (15 credits) or Television Project (15 cre­dits),
Media Law and Ethics (15 credits).
• Two of the following courses to the value of 30 credits:
–– Specialist Journalism (15 credits)
–– International News (15 credits)
–– A foreign language (15 credits)
• A course or courses in their chosen social science to the value
of 30 credits.
(From http://www.city.ac.uk/arts-social-sciences/journalism)
21
Notes to the Text
credit – условный балл, начисляемый за прослушивание
какого-л. курса 2. За каждым учебным курсом закрепляется
определённое количество «кредитных» (зачётных) часов (credit
hours). Это могут быть аудиторные часы, лабораторные часы,
определённое число учебных недель в семестре или триместре
и т.п. Для получения, например, степени бакалавра по одному
учебному курсу может требоваться одно количество семестровых часов, по другому – другое. По окончании учебного блока
выставляется зачёт. Такая система называется credit system.
Follow-Up Activity
Compare the course presented in Text 2 with the one you are
taking. Discuss the merits and drawbacks of both of them. Use
the following words and expressions:
first- / second- /…-year student, full-time, part-time, correspondence course, in the first / second year, to take a course, credit, compulsory / obligatory, optional, to take an exam, to pass an exam,
abroad, on working attachment
Speaking
~ Exchanging Information ~
Role Play
One of you is a graduate student of City University, London. The
other is a Russian student of a journalist department or faculty.
Your assignment is to interview your counterpart from a foreign country.
Before you start, study the advertisement on p. 25.
Use the Essential Vocabulary of the Unit and the following
words and expressions:
take preparatory courses, correspondence courses, final examinations, apply for, entrance examinations, enrolment, first-year
(second-year) students, scheme of studies, curriculum (curricula),
compulsory / optional subjects, term, lecturer, dean, assistant dean,
2
22
Другие значения слова “credit” см. в Словаре (Vocabulary).
dean’s office, hostel (dormitory), campus, specialise in, graduate
from, research work, scientific supervisor
Listening
Follow the link below to listen to people talking about MA
Journalism programme at Edinburgh Napier University.
http://edinburghnapierjournalism.com/journalism-podcasts/
In the 1st video Courtnay McLeod explains what makes this journalism course different from all the rest and outlines what she is
looking for when people apply to join the course.
In the 2nd video MA Journalism student Emma Cameron explains
what life is like studying at Edinburgh Napier and talks about the
skills she has developed to become a fully converged journalist.
In the podcast three MA Journalism students discuss their studies so far.
Listen to the videos and podcasts, make notes and be ready
to give a talk about MA Journalism programme at Edinburgh
Napier University.
It is interesting to know…
Some bits of advice
You can begin to develop your skill in the “craft” of journalism by
working on a college newspaper or radio station; a television station
that features a college report; or working as a college correspondent
for a local, regional or national news organization. As for experience
while still in school and immediately after graduation, think about
immersing yourself in a local experience. Working in a community
in which you must look the people in the eye about whom you report
before and AFTER you have reported on them can provide very important lessons.
Bill Kovach, Chairman of the Committee
of Concerned Journalists
23
An abstract from “The Fleet Street Forum FAQ3”
Is a media studies degree worth having?
Views of Fleeters tend to be surprisingly uniform on this matter.
Media degrees have such a bad reputation that when it comes to jobseeking, they are a positive disadvantage. If you have a media stu­dies
degree it is better to keep quiet about it – fake your CV to pretend that
you were in prison or something that won’t harm your employability
so much.
That is a joke. But it is true that media studies is a degree like any
other and doesn’t give you a fast track to employment. It is also true that
many editors value what they see as strong subjects with good content.
The technical bits of journalism can always be quickly picked up by anyone willing to learn.
Brainstorming
Analysing Training Schemes
1) Revise what you have learned about vocational training
for journalism in the UK from the texts and the advertisement on p. 25. Make up a list of the main peculiarities of training for journalism in the UK. Sum up what you
have learned and deliver your summary in class.
2) Dwell on the following questions:
–– What are the main differences between the schemes
of training for journalists in Russia and the UK?
–– What elements of the British schemes can be adopted
in Russia and why?
3) Summarise what you have learned about training for journalism in the USA. Find additional information about the
departments of journalism at the University of Missouri
or Columbia University, USA (or any other university).
Prepare a report and deliver it in class.
Writing
Study the advertisement given below.
Prepare an advertisement of your university / college / course
for print media.
3
24
FAQ = frequently asked questions
CITY UNIVERSITY, LONDON
Department of Journalism
Defining My Future
“City University certainly
shook me into shape
when I was there three
years ago. There are so­me
fiercesome characters
teaching the course, so
don’t believe that they are
out of touch with reality. I
did the Periodical Course
and had all my academic
prose writing kicked out
of me by a certain David
Roper. Cruel but fair.
Once you’ve survived City,
the real world of journalism is a doddle.”
Alex
“I enjoy access to
so many dif ferent schools, programmes of study,
scholars, commu­
nity activities, poli­
ticians, and jour­
nalists. This extends
my learning outside
the classroom.”
Alice
“City’s is pretty highly
rated. At least, that’s
my 2nd-hand conclusion from t he halfdozen or so graduates
I have worked with. I
think the selection process is incredibly tough,
so that weeds out wannabes from willbes. The
course also appears to
give a good grounding
in basics rather than
wander into the la-la
land of academia.”
David
POSTGRADUATE
DIPLOMAS
M.A. PROGRAMS
B.A. DEGREES
in
in
in
- Newspaper Journalism
- International
- Magazine Journalism
Jour­nalism
- T V Current Affairs Jour­ - E
lectronic Pub­
na­lism
lishing
- Broadcast Journalism
-P
ublishing Stu­
dies
- J ournalism and
a So­cial Science
- J ournalism and Con­
temporary History
The Department is in the heart of London within easy reach of most
of the country’s national newspapers, magazines, broadcasting, new
media and publishing organisations.
The employment rate of our graduates is very good. Please see the
Alumni section on our site for further details.
25
Department of Journalism, City University, Northampton Square,
London, EC1V OHB, Telephone: + 44 (0)20 7040 8221; E-mail:
journalism@city.ac.uk; WWW: www.city.ac.uk/journalism
It’s funny…
Drawbacks of the profession?
Three men: an editor, a photographer, and a journalist are covering
a political convention in Miami. They decide to walk up and down the
beach during their lunch hour. Halfway up the beach, they stumbled
upon a lamp. As they rub the lamp a genie appears and says “Normally
I would grant you three wishes, but since there are three of you, I will
grant you each one wish.”
The photographer went first. “I would like to spend the rest of my life
living in a huge house in St. Thomas with no money worries.” The genie
granted him his wish and sent him on off to St. Thomas.
The journalist went next. “I would like to spend the rest of my life living on a huge yacht cruising the Mediterranean with no money worries.”
The genie granted him his wish and sent him off to the Mediterranean.
Last, but not least, it was the editor’s turn. “And what would your
wish be?” asked the genie.
“I want them both back after lunch” replied the editor, “the deadline
for tomorrow’s newspaper is in about ten hours.”
Mark Your Progress
Tick the things you can do in English:
 From written sources I can elicit information relevant for my
further professional training.
 I can discuss advantages and disadvantages of different ways
of entry into Journalism with English-speaking partners.
 I can speak and write about my studies.
 I can listen for information on education and training.
 I can prepare an advertisement of my university / college /
course for print media.
26
Essential Vocabulary: Unit 1
* journalism (n)
* journalist (n)
– to make a good journalist
journalistic (adj)
* education (n)
* academic (adj)
– academic studies
– academic background
* training (n)
– training scheme
– on-the-job training
* professional (adj)
* vocational (adj)
– a strictly vocational
course
* teaching (n)
* study (v)
* learn (v)
* teach (taught; taught)
(v)
* apply (for; to; at) (v)
– apply for a job / a post
– apply in person
– apply by letter
– apply to the authorities
– apply at the address
* applicant (n)
– applicant for a job
– to consider applicants
* enter (v)
– the way of entering
journalism
* entry (n)
– direct entry onto
a newspaper
– a way of entry into the
profession
* entrant (n)
* enrol (BrE: on / in) (v)
– to be enrolled in the
course
* establishment (n)
– to found / set up an
establishment
* house style
– to be trained in house
style
* tuition (n)
* fee (n)
– to cover tuition fees
* free of charge
* consider (v)
– to consider entrance
requirements
– to consider going
abroad
* course (n)
– a course in journalism
– to take a course
– to run a course
year (n)
– in the first / second /
… year
– a first / … -year student
full-time

correspon-  college /
dence
 student
part-time

* subject (n)
* obligatory (adj)
compulsory (adj)
optional (adj)
* desirable (adj)
* preferable (adj)
sufficient (adj)
* requirement (n)
– the basic entry requirement
* demand (n)
– in response to demand
– demand for specialists
– demand for goods
– make demands on
* curriculum (pl -a) (n)
– to fit into curriculum
* programme / program
(n)
credit (n)
– credit system
* knowledge (n)
* skill (n)
* ability (n)
– to the best of one’s ability
* have the nose for the
news
* qualification (n)
– qualifications for entry
* commitment (n)
– to demonstrate a special commitment
to smth
* waive (v)
– to waive qualifications
* emerge (v)
– a university course
emerged…
* launch (v)
– to launch a course
– to launch election campaign
* merit (n)
* drawback (n)
* on work attachment
– to go to a magazine on
work attachment
BrE
AmE
* secondary
high
school
* GCSE
* SAT
* SixthForm
College
* A-­Levels
* undergraduate
* post-­
graduate
graduate/
grad
student / course
* thesis
(pl -es)
* thesis
*d
issertation
* graduate
– a university /
high
school
graduate
27
* Bachelor’s Degree
* Bachelor of Arts
(BA)
* Bachelor of Science
(BSc / BS)
* Master’s Degree
* Master of Arts (MA)
* Master of Science
(MSc / MS)
* Doctor’s Degree
* Doctor of Philosophy
(PhD)
* Doctor of Medicine
(MD)
* pass (n)
– a minimum of 5 GCSE
passes
* pass (v)
– to pass an exam
* take an exam
* take a degree
* take pictures
* finish (v)
* graduate (from) (v)
* career (in) (n)
– to make a career
employment (n)
* employer (n)
* employee (n)
* trainer (n)
* trainee (n)
* interviewer (n)
* interviewee (n)
* newsman (n)
hostel / dormitory (n)
alumnus / (pl -i) (n)
UNIT 2
THE MEDIA MAN –
A JACK OF ALL TRADES?
Grammar:
Participle I and Participle II
Vocabulary:Media professions; synonyms for the word say;
semantic diversity of the words host, address,
plot, award
Lead-In
Exercise 1. Try to explain the difference between the notions
journalist and media man.
What specialisations of media men and journalists in particular do you know?
Exercise 2. The following terms denoting specialisation
of media men have well-known roots, some of them
are international. Guess what they mean. Say what
you know about the responsibilities and duties
of the specialists.
editor, news editor, foreign editor, editor-in-chief, sub-editor,
picture editor, printer, typesetter, circulation manager, designer,
graphic designer, announcer, floor manager, sound operator, director, producer, production manager, transmission controller, lighting
director, vision mixer, publisher, broadcaster, presenter
29
Exercise 3. Verify the difference between the following pairs
of terms. Use the Vocabulary.
makeup editor – make-up man; cameraman – camera operator
Exercise 4. Complete the passage with the terms from the
box. If a term is unknown to you, look it up in the
Vocabulary.
cub reporter, anchor person, roving correspondent, foreign
correspondent, general assignment reporter, agony aunt /
uncle
If you are a beginner in journalism, or a(n) ……, you should
have drive, an inquiring mind, initiative and excellent writing skills.
As a rule, your job will be that of a(n) ……, who works in the area
of general news, in contrast to one who works in a speciality, such as
education, science, etc. One may also become a(n) ……, that is the
reporter whose assignments are to gather news in different distant
places and who has to travel.
Some young people are attracted by the work of a(n) ……,
because it’s interesting for them to work abroad.
The ambition of some young people is to become a(n) ……, who
is in charge of television news broadcast and usually is admired by
many TV viewers.
If you work for a tabloid or a colour magazine you may be offered
the job of a(n) …… (or ……) who answers the readers’ letters about
their personal problems and gives advice.
Exercise 5. Consult the Vocabulary. Mind the difference
in meaning of the following words:
staff worker / staffer; stringer; freelance journalist (freelancer)
Exercise 6.
Look through the given list of qualities and skills.
Write out the qualities and skills which are necessary
for a good journalist (omitting qualities which are
inadmissible for the profession). Arrange the written out qualities and skills in order of their importance as you see it. Discuss your decision with your
group-mates.
open-mindedness, curiosity, encyclopaedic memory, impudence,
accuracy, industry, illiteracy, humility, a good command of at least
one foreign language, self-reliance, energy, genuine interest in
30
people, drive, initiative, arrogance, inquiring mind, excellent writing skills, laziness, broad personal experiences, diligence, sympathy
with people, responsibility, mellifluous voice, indifference, punctuality, resourcefulness, knowledge of psychology, highly-developed
communication skills, stubbornness, persistence
Exercise 7. Do you know the English proverb “A Jack of all
trades and master of none”?
Why do you think it was taken for the title of the unit?
Reading 1
Vocabulary Input
Exercise 1. The word beat has several meanings.
A) Get acquainted with those that are frequent in media language.
1. the territory or subject assigned to a reporter
2. the territory assigned to a policeman
3. an exclusive story; a story gained before rivals; also called
a “scoop”
4. the rhythm that a piece of music or a poem has.
B) Translate the following sentences:
1. Every member of the music band must follow the beat.
2. The editor may assign a general reporter to crime, education,
industrial, local government, farming (where relevant) or
environment beats.
3. On arrival, the journalist was thrown immediately into crime
beat covering drugs, car hijacking and murders.
4. In the UK policemen patrolling on a beat are not allowed
to carry guns on them.
Exercise 2. In English there are many groups of words which
have the same form for different parts of speech.
Some of the groups are polysemantic. Define
whether the words in bold type are nouns, adjectives or verbs. Translate the sentences.
1. What is the host country for the next Olympic Games?
2. The Grand Hotel is playing host to this year’s dentists’ conference.
31
3. Did he host that radio series on classical music?
4. He’s been the host of the talk show for two years.
5. As far as I know, the President is to address the nation today.
I think a host of people will gather in front of their TV-sets or
near radios to listen to his address.
6. Will you put down your address and telephone number here?
7. The plot of the play was so complicated that I had to read it
several times.
8. We found out, that the criminals were plotting against the
investigative reporter.
9. The documentary series was thoroughly plotted.
10. The police uncovered the plot to assassinate the president.
11. Some charity organisations award scholarship to study at Uni­
versities.
12. The award for this year’s best actor went to a graduate from
an art studio.
Exercise 3. Match the following words with their definitions:
1. abandon
a. sharp, biting, stinging, caustic
2. regard
b. a spoken or written account of the events that you
remember
3. reminiscence
c. so surprising that it is difficult to believe
4. digression
d. to think about smth / smb or look at smth / smb in
a particular way
5. observation
e. unknown, unimportant; difficult to understand
6. obscure
f. to stop doing smth because it is impossible to continue;
to leave smb
7. trenchant
g. turning aside from the main subject or line of argument, talk, description, etc.
8. astounding
h. a remark about smth you’ve noticed; the process
of watching
Exercise 4. Check that you pronounce and stress these words
correctly.
curiosity, encyclopaedic, impudence, humility, inquiring, diligence, mellifluous, punctuality, psychology, persistence
32
Do you know that…
Martha Gellhorn (1908–1998) is one of the first female war correspondents.
She began her career with the war in Spain, continued through the
war in Finland, the communist takeover in China, the Second World
War, the wars in Java and Vietnam, the Arab-Israeli Wars and the conflicts in Central America. Only when the Bosnian war broke out in the
1990’s did she concede she was too old to go.
The London Daily Telegraph hailed Gellhorn as “one of the great war
correspondents of the century; brave, fierce and wholly committed
to the truth of the situation”.
Reading Assignment
Read the text and be ready to discuss it.
ALISTAIR COOKE, MASTER OF STORYTELLING
Alistair Cooke (1909–2004) always considered himself, above all
else, a reporter. Jazz and golf, boxing and crime, simple family life,
as well as high politics and great men, were part of his re­pertoire. In
print and on air there were always reminiscences, jokes and digressions…
The son of an iron-fitter, Cooke was raised in his parents’ guesthouse in Blackpool. He was a bright boy. He won a scholarship
to Blackpool grammar school and another to Jesus College, Cam­
bridge. Cambridge helped him to reinvent himself as a refined young
aesthete who dropped his birth name, Alfred, in favour of the more
elegant Alistair by which he is now known around the world.
A fellowship from the Commonwealth Fund (1932) enabled him
to study theatre in America at Yale and Harvard for two years.
His first broadcasting job was as a film critic for the BBC. On
October 8, 1934, he addressed his listeners for the first time:
“I declare that I am a critic trying to interest a lot of people into seeing interesting films. I have no personal interest in any company.
As a critic I am without politics and without class.” The objectivity
of the reporter was a principle which he never abandoned.
His early career included spells as correspondent for The Times
and The Daily Herald, with regular appearances on the BBC, both as
commentator and news reporter. From time to time he was hired by
some other newspapers and broadcast stations.
33
If journalism became his life, America became his beat. The country fascinated him during his first visit in 1932, since then he never
doubted where his heart lay. He emigrated in 1937 and took citizenship in 1941.
In 1945 he joined his beloved Manchester Guardian. The editor hired him as UN correspondent, and then as chief US correspondent – a post held by him until 1972. In the late 1940s, readers
of The Guardian were able to follow in detail the two trials of Alger
Hiss4, a senior state department official of Roosevelt’s New Deal
years. Hiss was charged with betraying American secrets to the
communists, and Cooke, almost alone among British correspondents, recognised the huge importance of the event. His instincts were
right: the trial turned out to be a prelude to the McCarthy era.
After much pestering, the BBC gave him a programme American
Letter, first broadcast in 1946. But his BBC boss warned him that
money was short and the show would last only 13 weeks, or 26 at
most. It was, he likes to quip, “something they forgot”. The programme broke all broadcasting records, reaching its 2,869th edition
on February 20, 2004, when Cooke, who had vowed never to retire,
was advised by his doctors to pack up his typewriter.
His proud boast was that, until he sat down at his portable typewriter, he never had any idea what he was going to write about. So
the Letters drew heavily on personal experiences, conversations with
shopkeepers and taxi-drivers or obscure items in the media. And
in later years he was able to use his encyclopaedic memory to put
modern events into the context both of his own lifetime and the rest
of American history.
But the conversational style was deceptive: the Letter was meti­
culously plotted, complete with the pauses and asides which made
it sound so natural. At no stage was there any editorial oversight. He
simply delivered the text, usually in the BBC’s New York studio, made
any alterations required for timing purposes, and went home, leaving
the engineers to iron out the coughs caused by decades of smoking.
His measured and mellifluous voice guided BBC listeners through the
momentous events and everyday foibles of the United States.
4
Hiss Alger (1904–1996), a former US State Department official who was convicted in January 1950 of perjury concerning his dealings with Whittaker Chambers
(W. Chambers, a self-professed former courier for a Communist underground
“apparatus” in Washington, D.C.) who accused him of membership in a Communist
espionage ring. Hiss’s case, which came at a time of growing apprehension about
the domestic influence of Communism, seemed to lend substance to Senator
Joseph R. McCarthy’s sensational charges of Communist infiltration into the State
Department.
34
A man of broad experience and interests, he undertook a lot
of projects. He was a frequent lecturer, he edited some books, hosted
some documentaries, dozens of radio programmes for the BBC on
musical subjects, produced a gramophone record entitled An Evening
with Alistair Cooke – an unlikely combination of singing, whistling
and blues numbers tapped out on the piano.
However, there were some disappointments. He wrote and
directed two films, but both were shelved. He claimed that his television biography of Mark Twain was dropped by a network because
of Twain’s coruscating criticism of the American financial establishment. The second abandoned project was a history of his beloved
game of golf, which he took up at the age of 56. His BBC series on
George Gershwin, which he regarded as among his finest achievements, was never reissued on cassette.
But such reservations did not prevent the bestowing of a large
number of honours. For instance, his documentaries America and
Masterpiece Theatre won Emmies, in 1973 he was awarded an honorary knighthood (KBE). Perhaps his greatest distinction was to be
invited to address a joint session of Congress in 1974, the 200th anniversary of its founding. He warned against the three-pronged threat
facing the country – from violence in the cities, inflation and nuclear
war. But this, for Cooke, was a rare foray into the role of preacher or
prophet. “I am not by nature,” he wrote, “a ‘Whither America?’5 man.”
Only once did he try to encapsulate his own attitude to life,
in a magazine called Living Philosophy. He had been criticised, he
said, for being a jack-of-all-trades, constantly distracted by some new
interests. “The most practical conclusion,” he wrote, “appeared to be
to make a profession of observation, to become a reporter, a profession easily damned as that of a fence-sitter, a moral coward unwilling to take a stand. To these strictures, I can only reply that once
every four years at least I take a stand: I vote. And immediately afterward return to my reporting habits and the continuing discovery that
in life the range of irreconcilable points of view, characters, flaws,
idiosyncrasies and virtues is astounding.”
(From The Guardian, 31 March 2004)
Notes to the Text
grammar school – классическая школа для детей 11–
16 (18) лет; программа предусматривает изучение классических языков; часто это привилегированная школа.
5
Whither America? (возвыш., устар.) – Куда идёт Америка?
35
fellowship – зд. стипендия младшего научного сотрудника.
Commonwealth Fund – одна из филантропических организаций США, предоставляющая спонсорскую помощь медицинским
учреждениям, а также молодым учёным из Великобритании,
желающим обучаться в США.
New Deal – «Новый курс», система мероприятий администрации президента Ф. Рузвельта в 1933–1939 годах, направленная
на ликвидацию последствий Великой депрессии.
McCarthy era – эпоха маккартизма. Период политической
реакции в США в 1950–1954 годах, активная кампания преследования прогрессивных и либеральных политических деятелей;
возглавлялась председателем сенатского подкомитета по расследованиям Дж. Маккарти.
Emmy – приз «Эмми», присуждается ежегодно американской
Академией телевизионного искусства и науки за выдающиеся
достижения в исполнительском искусстве и за создание телепрограмм.
KBE = Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire –
кавалер Ордена Британской империи 2-й степени в Вели­ко­
британии.
Comprehension Check
Give short answers to the following questions:
1. What was Alistair Cooke’s vocation?
2. Did his parents have to pay for his education?
3. What was his first broadcasting job?
4. What was his main professional principle?
5. Why did he take US citizenship?
6. How long did he work for The Guardian?
7. Cooke was able to analyse and predict some political events
and developments, wasn’t he?
8. He was forced to host the programme American Letter, wasn’t he?
9. The programme American Letter became a record-breaker
in radio broadcasting, didn’t it?
10. What effect did reminiscences, digressions, pauses and asides
create?
11. Cooke hardly ever criticised the USA, did he?
12. What did he warn America against?
13. Was everything Cooke did a success?
14. Which of his films were awarded Emmies?
15. Did he like the role of a preacher or a prophet?
36
Journalism Is…
• Journalism is having a newsroom where the phone rings 20 times,
and the five reporters in the room don’t answer it.
• Journalism is shooting an event, then realizing later there wasn’t
any film in your camera.
• Journalism is the final exam in Ethics.
• Journalism is going everywhere with your camera, even to the bathroom.
• Journalism is having a million inside jokes that no one understands.
• And in the end, journalism is all of you.
Vocabulary Practice
Exercise 1. Check that you pronounce and stress these words
correctly:
repertoire, reminiscences, aesthete, a prelude, McCarthy era,
to vow, obscure items, meticulously plotted, momentous events,
do­cumentaries, gramophone, three-pronged threat, coward, irre­
concilable points of view, idiosyncrasies and virtues, astounding
Exercise 2. Give English equivalents to the following words and
expressions:
обманчивый; уходить на пенсию; размеренный и ласкающий
слух голос; побить все рекорды; воспоминания; строгая, суровая
критика; считать одним из наивысших достижений; незначительный, малозаметный; разочарование; предпринимать что-л.;
наблюдение; гордый; быть ведущим в документальном фильме;
десятки радиопрограмм; непримиримые точки зрения; трус;
редакторская проверка; годовщина; отступление; пророк, проповедник; объективность репортера; стипендия фонда; обращаться к слушателям; стараться заинтересовать людей в просмотре фильмов
Exercise 3. Translate the following sentences from the text:
1. In print and on air there were always reminiscences, jokes
and digressions…
2. Cambridge helped him to reinvent himself as a refined young
aesthete who dropped his birth name, Alfred, in favour of the
more elegant Alistair.
37
3. His early career included spells as correspondent for The
Times and The Daily Herald, with regular appearances on the
BBC.
4. If journalism became his life, America became his beat.
5. Cooke, who had vowed never to retire, was advised by his doctors to pack up his typewriter.
6. The Letters drew heavily on personal experiences and obscure
items in the media.
7. But the conversational style was deceptive: the Letter was
meticulously plotted, complete with the pauses and asides
which made it sound so natural.
8. A man of broad experience and interests, he undertook a lot
of projects.
9. He wrote and directed two films, but both were shelved.
10. But such reservations did not prevent the bestowing of a large
number of honours.
11. For Cooke this was a rare foray into the role of preacher or
prophet.
12. “I am not by nature,” he wrote, “a ‘Whither America?’ man.”
Exercise 4. Try to restore the words denoting professions and
occupations by their initial letters. Some words
may be used more than once.
Do you know that…
1. Michael Aspel (born 1933) is a British television h…. who
started as a newsreader before getting his own talk show.
2. Jeremy Beadle (born 1948) is an English television p….
known especially for his very cheerful manner and his programmes in which people are put into amusing or embarrassing situations.
3. Sir Robin Day (born 1923) is an English b…. and writer, one
of Britain’s best-known radio and television i…. . He became
famous for his interviews of p….s, in which he asked them
very sharp and thorough questions about politics.
4. Kate Adie (born 1945) is a television n…. r…. for the BBC,
who is known especially for being seen in foreign places
where dangerous events are happening.
5. Claire Rayner (born 1931) is a well-known English a…. a…. .
6. Desmond Lynam (born 1942) is a r…. and p…. of sports programmes on British radio and television.
38
7. Edward Murrow (1908–1965) is an American television n….
r…. known for reporting from London during the Blitz6 in the
Second World War.
8. Will Rogers (1879–1935) an American cowboy, humorist,
actor and n…. c…. . During the 1920s his terse, one-paragraph comment on the news of the day was syndicated in 350
newspapers. In 1938 his statue was placed in the Capitol
in Washington, DC.
Exercise 5. Revise the words from “Vocabulary Input” Exer­
cise 2. Write out all the words of the same type
from the text.
Exercise 6. Define the intention of the speakers in the left
colu­mn.
A) Make the sentences more interesting. Substitute the word
said with an appropriate verb from the right column. Use
each verb once.
B) Render the meaning of the sentences from the third person,
starting, for example:
She declared that…
1. She says: “I’m not sure, if he will undertake the project.”
– declare
2. He says: “Be careful. They may charge you with betraying
the network’s secrets.”
– claim
3. The party leader says: “I’ll never betray our course.”
– warn
4. Her mother says: “My daughter is very bright. She’s won
a scholarship to the Grammar School.”
– advise
5. His colleague says: “ If I were you, I’d plot the programme
more thoroughly.”
– vow
6. The editor-in-chief says: “I have the necessary authority
to publish the documents.”
– doubt
7. He says: “I’m a doctor. I’m without politics and without
class.”
– boast
6
The Blitz, the repeated bombing of cities in Britain, especially London, by the
German airforce in 1940 and 1941.
39
Grammar Practice
 Participles as Attributes 
(See Grammar Focus p. 250)
Exercise 1. Translate the following word combinations containing Participle I and Participle II borrowed from the
text:
broadcasting job; critic trying to interest people; a post held by
him until 1972; alterations required for timing purposes; coruscating
criticism; abandoned project; three-pronged threat facing the country; magazine called Living Philosophy; being a jack-of-all trades;
a profession easily damned; reporting habits
Exercise 2. Choose the correct form of Participle I or Participle II.
1. He was personally interested / interesting in the company.
2. It was a fascinated / fascinating experience.
3. The raising / raised public awareness of the role of mass
media is very important.
4. I am not keen on watching TV. When I do it, I am really boring / bored.
5. Continuing / continued discovery of something new in life is
very important for creative people.
6. The situation was terrifying / terrified that is why the worrying / worried administration cancelled the meeting.
7. In the USA specialized / specializing newsmen are preferable.
8. I am interested in the course of advancing / advanced practical journalism.
Reading 2
Reading Assignment
1) Alistaire Cooke entered record books as an urbane and
unsurpassed master of the colloquial radio essay. He
called it “writing for talking”.
Study the given extracts from the Letters. Express your
own opinion about the programme and Cooke’s “art
of storytelling”. Make use of the active vocabulary of the
unit.
The first “American Letter”, March 24, 1946:
“Good evening, I want to tell you what it’s like to come back
to the United States after a sobering month or more in Britain, and
40
what daily life feels and looks like in comparison. I came back with
a couple of thousand GI brides... An American soldier stood at the
cutter bow, cupped his hands and yelled: ‘You don’t want to go back,
do you?’ And the young mothers and wives, weeping like mad,
yelled: ‘No.’ ”
It ended: “I hope the next letter will be more cheerful than this,
but I thought you’d like to know how it feels to get back to the Land
of the Free and the Home of the Brave. Goodnight.”
On Vietnam, his 1,000th show, broadcast on March 24, 1968:
“A hundred books and a thousand editorial writers have recited
and disputed the origins of the war and enlarged on the human tragedy of its conduct. What matters, or will come to matter to most people, I think, is not any new balance we can strike in the old argument; but the realisation that America, which has seldom lost a war,
is not invincible; and the very late discovery that an elephant can
trumpet and shake the earth but not the self-possession of the ants
who hold it.”
On the retirement of Joe Louis, heavyweight champion of the
world, on March 1, 1949:
“The day Joe Louis retired must have brought a moment’s pause
and a sigh from many people who don’t care for sport, the sense
of a promised date that would never be kept; such as non-musical
people felt when Caruso7 or Paderewski8 died.”
On the death of Senator Robert Kennedy, who was shot in the
Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles on June 4, 1968:
“Only by the wildest freak is a reporter, after many years on the
hop, actually present at a single accidental convulsion of history.
Mostly we write about the coroner’s inquests, the account of the
funeral, the trail of the spy, not the hatching of the plot.
“Last Tuesday night, for the first time in thirty years, I found
myself by one casual chance in a thousand, in a small, narrow serving pantry of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, a place that I
suppose will never be wiped out of my memory: a sinister alley,
a Roman circus run amok, and a charnel house. It would be quite
false to say, as I should truly like to say, that I’m sorry I was there.
“...Well, the next morning when I saw and heard the Pope in his
gentle, faltering English, I still could not believe that he was talking
7
Caruso, Enrico (1873–1921) – the most admired Italian operatic tenor of the
early 20th century and one of the first musicians to document his voice on gra­
mophone recordings.
8
Paderewski, Ignacy (1860–1941) – a Polish pianist, composer, and sta­tes­
man, who was prime minister of Poland in 1919.
41
about this squalid, appalling scene in a hotel pantry, that I’d been
a part of and would always be a part of.”
On broadcasting:
“All broadcasting, whether it is a gardening talk or a battle report,
is a form of suspense, in which the listener tolerates the talker
because he’s not quite sure what’s coming next or how it will turn
out.”
(From: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00yjvy8)
2) Analyse the given extracts from Cooke’s Manchester
Guardian articles. Dwell on his manner of writing.
Trial of Alger Hiss9, June 1, 1949
The trial will be haunted at every turn by the great political issue
that bedevils the conscience and well-being of every responsible
ci­tizen of a democratic country Has a democrat the right to be a communist and to keep his job and a good opinion of society?
Across the square in which Mr Hiss will be tried, the trial of
11 com­munist leaders goes on to try to establish for the first time
a court test of whether a communist is ipso facto a man dedicated
to overthrow by force the government of this country. In the public mind the two trials set up a riptide in the ocean of fear and distrust that washes across all American discussion of communism. It
is the sense of this embroilment in a conflict of belief that is happening to lesser men now suspect in their fields of scholarship or government, and the degree of mystery that surrounds the personal relationship of two brilliant young men, that has made this trial fascinating to people uninterested in the legal issue and made it read so
far like an unwritten novel by Arthur Koestler10.
Hemingway’s Pulitzer prize, May 6, 1953
Ernest Hemingway, who has been a major novelist for a quarter
of a century and, with Faulkner, the dominant American influence
on European writing, yesterday won his first big prize from his native
land, which in the arts at any rate annually offers more prizes than
See Footnote 4 on p. 34.
Koestler, Arthur (1905–1983) – a Hungarian-born British novelist, journalist, and critic. Serving as a war correspondent for the British newspaper News
Chronicle during the Spanish Civil War, he was imprisoned by the fascists, an experience he recounted in Spanish Testament (1937). This experience and those leading to his break with the Communist Party are reflected in Darkness at Noon (1940).
Published in 30 languages, it is the penetrating story of an old-guard Bolshevik
who, during Stalin’s purge trials of the 1930s, first denies, then confesses to, crimes
that he has not committed.
9
10
42
the Iowa state fair. Mr Hemingway was declared top boy by the trustees of Columbia University after a lunch at which they confirmed
the awards of the Pulitzer prizes.
From A Farewell to Arms to Across the River and into the Trees,
Hemingway has been assuring his public that he was working up
to his still undelivered masterpiece. Last year he threw them a sop
in the shape of a short novel, or a long short story, The Old Man and
the Sea, about an old fisherman and his last unsuccessful attempt
to land a big fish. The scene was set in Cuba, where Mr Hemingway
has lived for a decade, and the Cuban government decorated him for
finding a moral hero among its beachcombers.
For once Hemingway’s American and European critics forewent
the pleasures of a snarling match over the merits of his latest novel.
Ever since Green Hills of Africa, it has been the privilege of British
critics especially to lament Hemingway’s tendency to equate virility with weightlifting. And it has been the pride of America to retort
that Hemingway was getting strong in every way.
The Old Man and the Sea, however, achieved the unique distinction
of enchanting Life magazine and Cyril Connolly11 at the same time.
The My Lai massacre12, December 15, 1969
There has been nothing in the memory of living Americans like
the massacre of My Lai. They cannot climb out of it and find an indecent scapegoat or some bearable explanation that can restore their
self-respect. For the nightly TV interviews with ordinary people
show how pitifully the people feel that their youth is on trial.
Now, from Saigon, comes a brave bit of analysis from William
F. Buckley13, the brilliant conservative columnist who for once does
not feel obliged to snatch a rightwing argument and give it maximum plausibility.
He faces the progressively grim alternatives by asking how many
people were guilty, because an aberration must have limits. “Jack
11
Connolly Cyril (1903–1974) – an English critic, novelist, and man of letters,
founder and editor of Horizon, a magazine of contemporary literature that was
a major influence in Britain in its time (1939–1950). As a critic he was personal and
eclectic rather than systematic, but his idiosyncratic views were perceptive and conveyed with wit and grace.
12
My Lai massacre – an event in the Vietnam War in 1968 in which US soldiers cruelly killed the people of the village of My Lai, mostly old people, women,
and children. The officer who ordered the killing was sentences to life in prison,
later reduced to 20 years.
13
Buckley William F. Jr (born 1925) – a versatile American editor, author, and
conservative gadfly who became an important intellectual influence in conservative
politics.
43
the Ripper was not a corporation, so that we can think of him as
aberrant,” which we cannot do about “the Nazis under Hitler or the
communists under Stalin”. But if 10, 20, 50 men “concerted in the
act of genocide”, then we must ask why “a cross-section of young
American found itself capable of utterly barbaric behaviour”.
The “preferable” explanation is that “the guilty company relapsed
into a kind of catatonic frenzy”. The second, “the horrifying” alternative, is that “America AD 1969 has bred young Americans who can
insouciantly murder grandmothers and little children”.
(From: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00yjvy8)
Notes to the Text
GI – разг. «Джи-ай» – солдат; сокращение от “Government
Issue” – «казённое имущество». Слово вошло в обиход во время
Второй мировой войны.
ipso facto – лат. в силу самого факта.
Pulitzer Prize – Пулитцеровская премия. Награда в области
журналистики, учреждённая Дж. Пулитцером, известным ре­дактором и издателем газет.
Jack the Ripper – Джек-Потрошитель (прозвище неизвестного преступника, предположительно ответственного за серию
убийств женщин, совершенных в Лондоне в 1888 году).
AD (сокр. от After Date) – от сего числа (надпись на векселях).
Speaking
Brainstorming: Inferring ideas from reading material
Sum up what you have learned about journalism as profession from Units 1 and 2. Read the text below with the dictionary and exchange ideas with your group mates on the question:
Do the following developments lead to multi-skilling
or de-skilling?
Since the arrival of new technology, the job has been through
many changes – not all of them positive. Staffing levels have been
reduced. At the same time, working hours have been extended. Many
44
entrants, desperate to get their foot in the door, are being cynically
exploited by managements, having to work long periods on unpaid
attachments. As newspapers move increasingly into the internet and
cable television, the demands for journalists are likely to mount.
Anthony Thornton, editor of one of Britain’s most popular websites, commented: “Now the journalist needs to be a writer, sub editor, designer, photographer, camera person, editor, technician and
radio presenter to carry out online journalism effectively.” In the
United States, reporters are increasingly having to write a story,
appear on television, broadcast on radio and then file a quick update
for the newspaper’s internet site. “Flexibility” is the buzzword.
Listening
Listening for figurative language
Follow the link below to find Alistair Cooke’s Letters from
America:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/lfaregan/all
Choose the Letter “LFA: Baseball and politics in 1988”, Fri,
21, Oct 1988. This Letter dates back to the year 1988 when presidential race in the USA and the famous American baseball
“World Series” were drawing to a close. Alistair Cooke looks at
the baseball metaphors used by the two candidates, George H.W.
Bush and Michael Dukakis, in their campaigns.
Listen to the podcast and answer the questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is the role of baseball in American society?
What baseball metaphors are used by the candidates?
Why do they use baseball metaphors in their speeches?
What game has the similar meaning in Great Britain?
Cooke mentions some remark given 60 years ago which was
shrewd and true at the time. What is the remark? Do you
think it still makes sense?
If you want to learn more about Alistair Cooke and to listen
to more Letters from America go to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/acooke
45
Developing Professional Skills:
Applying for a Job
Study the following text and carry out the tasks after it
(the Role Play and Writing).
TIPS FOR THOSE WHO’D LIKE TO PUT
THE FOOT IN THE DOOR
1. Contacts are crucial. Spend time while training concentrating
on building up sources and links in the industry. Also try to get
freelance work published. After, completing work attachments
on newspapers, get your supervisor to write you a reference.
Compile an attractive portfolio of your cuttings and references
and attach an up-to-date CV. Don’t forget to enumerate your
desktop publishing skills and publications. You may even want
to post your CV on the internet, including links to other works
you have completed. Also provide the URL (the name of your
website) in your prospective letter or email so that an employer
can click to it easily without having to bother with attachments.
2. It is vital to prepare for any job interview. Find out about the
paper or broadcasting organisation. Be ready to express your
opinion about them. Usually, the interviewers don’t like “yesmen”. They will also expect you to be able to speak confidently
about the national media – both print and broadcast, and the
internet. It also impresses if you can use some journalistic jargon.
If words like “follow-up”, “page lead”, “splash” and “stringer”
flow off your lips (at the appropriate moments, of course), this
shows that your newspaper ambition is more than a Hollywoodinduced fantasy. Dress tidily and be prepared to show off your
portfolio. And always go prepared to ask questions. Good luck.
Mini-Role Play
~ Job Interview ~
One of you is the personnel director of a publishing company.
The other is a journalist applying for a post at the company, for
example:
a) a cub reporter;
b) an experienced general assignment reporter;
46
c) a sub-editor with a provincial newspaper;
d) a freelance reporter.
Writing
You are looking for a job. You are:
a) a student in journalism (“I”– role);
b) a freelancer with certain experience;
c) a roving reporter;
d) a stringer.
You have come across some advertisements. (See the ad­ver­
tisements below on page 48). You are going to apply for either
job.
Write an application letter and enclose your CV.
SPG MEDIA GROUP
One of the world’s
leading media publishers to business
communities
Who we are
We are an international businessto-business media company providing world class controlled circulation
ma­gazines, internet reference portals
and business conferences and forums.
Vacancy: Editor
Senior Editorial position for Business, Management and
Finance Magazine and Finance Director Europe. Based in Pad­
dington, West London, you would be responsible for all publishing, commissioning and editorial aspects of these flagship titles.
 salary: £30,000 per year (Healthcare and Share Incentive
Scheme)
 location: West London
Key skills required:
• 3 years + experience as journalist and/or editor
• Previous experience of commissioning for B2B publications
• Solid sub-editing skills
• Experience of writing interviews, profiles and other articles
• Experience of working with editorial or advisory boards
47