MEDIA

The most common types of media today: Newspapers and magazines Radio Television The Internet

The first expansion of media was when the radio and television were invented The second and the biggest boom started in 1960s when the first communication satellite was launched into orbit

Newspapers Newspapers are the oldest kind of communication They are not flexible because when something happens you can’t read about it until the next day Three main kinds of newspaper: 1) Broadsheets 2) Tabloids 3) Special interests magazines

1) Broadsheets (a serious newspaper) Very big pages, hardly any colour pages, not too many photos It focuses on some topic – more details and facts, longer articles, more tidy-looking, nearly about everything (politics, culture, finance...) People who read it are mostly people with higher education, who don’t like gossip In the GB: The Times, The Guardian In the USA: The New York Times, The Washington Post In the CR: Mladá Fronta, Lidové noviny

2) Tabloids Smaller pages, dramatic headlines, lots of colour pages, plenty of photos, short articles, human interests stories and sensation, simple language, a lot of gossip They are more popular than broadsheets In the GB the circulation is about 3 mil per day, it is read by all society ranks In the GB: The Sun, Daily Mirror In the USA: Weekly World News In the CR: Blesk

3) Special interests magazines Issued weekly or monthly They focus on special things (gardening, computers, food...) Much more expensive than daily newspapers but they are printed on better paper You should be more educated in specialized subjects to understand

Radio Radio is the second oldest kind of media It has lots of advantages: - you can take it nearly wherever you want (very popular in a car) - it is very good for relaxing – just lie down and listen to it (watching TV becomes tiring) - it can notify about events quicker than a TV - you can also notify people about traffic jams and other events

At present you can choose from lots of channels, some of them are state (which you can listen to everywhere in the state: ČRo1 but most of them are private (they have many advertisements: Orion, Helax, Radio City..) Kinds of programs: Current affairs (news), discussions, music – all kinds, culture, weather forecast, sport events and matches, breakfast radio.. 

Broadcasting in GB The world famous British radio station is the BBC because they have their BBC World Service, which broadcasts in 37 languages The total number of program hours is 800 Audience of English programs during one week is about 25 mil people, the total week audience (with other 36 languages) is about 120 mil people

TV TV is maybe the most widespread media in cultivated countries It is a media with the largest number of strengths – it can influence us very much With coming of communication satellites you can choose from a variety of programs (news, children’s programs, films...) Commercial TVs use lots of advertisements because they want to earn money 

Broadcasting in GB and CR GB – 5 channels: BBC 1, BBC 2 (these two don’t have adverts), ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, + satellite programs CZ – ČT 1, ČT 2, Nova, Prima, + satellite programs

The Internet World-wide, lots of information – more than on TV You can find on-line newspapers, magazines, radio stations, television channels which have the same features as the original sources... Websites specialised on topics, for example blogs (people write their own stories or opinions) Social websites such as Twitter, Myspace or Facebook are created for sharing personal information

Advantages: the internet allows you to get news for free at any time of the day from many sources; the information is frequently updated Disadvantages: the news on the internet might not be as reliable as other media; it is strenuous to read from the screen