Short
Videos:
Discussion
Questions:
- How do you keep up with news and current events?
- How often do you get the news?
- About what kind of news topics do you usually read?
- Do you have a subscription to any newspapers or
magazines?
- How do you know the sources of your news
are accurate?
- Are some news sources biased?
- Which sources are more/less accurate?
- How do you know which news sources to trust?
- What do you think about the news industry/media?
- What the purpose of the news/media?
- What’s fake news and what the problem with it?
- How has the news media changed over the years?
- How will it change in the future?
Vocabulary:
Digital: using or
characterized by computer technology.
Objective: based
on facts rather than feelings or opinions.
Biased: having or
showing a bias : having or showing an unfair tendency to believe that some
people, ideas, etc., are better than others.
Accurate: free
from mistakes or errors.
Fake: not true or
real.
Source: a place,
person, or thing from which something comes or can be obtained.
Update: to change
(something) by including the most recent information.
Trustworthy: able
to be relied on as honest or truthful.
Subscription: an
agreement that you make with a company to get a publication or service
regularly and that you usually pay for in advance.
Through word of
mouth: By someone telling you.
“I heard about
the new cafe by word of mouth. My friend told me about it.
To keep up
(with):
1. to
stay well informed about something <I keep up with the news
by reading the newspaper>
2 : to
continue without interruption < the rain kept up all
night>
3: to
stay even with others (as in a race) <she found it difficult to keep
up with the other runners>
Pictures:
Go to the links and describe the pictures:
Reading:
Pre-intermediate
Newspapers have existed since the beginning of the printing
machine. Editors and a large number of reporters work at a newspaper. Reporters
write about current events. The cartoon section will give you a lighthearted
look at the news and will keep you up-to-date with the stars. Sport sections
are also popular and give news about sporting and racing events. However, it's
the news section that people read, especially stories that have a catchy
headline. Some newspaper stories are a bit sensational, such as reports about
the personal lives of celebrities. Such news should go in the gossip section of
the newspaper.
Newspapers get their money by selling advertising space,
and from the price that people pay for them. Although newspapers should report
on the facts, some countries have strict censorship rules for all forms of mass
media including newspapers.
Intermediate
Newspapers have been in circulation since the invention of
the printing machine. Newspapers usually employ a large editorial team and a
large number of reporters to write about current events. The cartoon section
and the gossip column will give you a lighthearted look at the news and will
keep you up-to-date with the stars. Sport columns are also popular and provide
news about sporting and racing events. However, it's the news section that
people read, particularly stories that have a catchy headline. Some newspaper
stories are a bit sensational, such as reports about the personal lives of
celebrities - such news should really go in the gossip column.
Newspapers make their money by selling advertising space,
and from the price that people pay for them. Although newspapers are supposed
to report on the facts, some countries apply strict censorship rules to all
forms of mass media including newspaper publications.
Source: unknown.
Listen and fill in the blank
___________have been in circulation since the invention of
the printing________. Newspapers usually employ a______ editorial team and a
large number of reporters to ______about current events. The cartoon section
and the gossip column will give you a lighthearted look at the news and will
_______you up-to-date with the stars. Sport columns are also _________ and
provide news about sporting and racing events. However, it's the news________
that people read, particularly stories that have a catchy headline. Some
newspaper stories are a _______ sensational, such as reports about the personal
lives of celebrities - such news should _________ go in the gossip column.
Newspapers make their money by selling ___________space,
and from the price that people pay for them. Although newspapers are supposed
to report on the _________, some countries apply strict censorship rules to all
forms of mass ________ including newspaper publications.
Newspapers have been in circulation since the
invention of the printing machine. Newspapers usually employ
a large editorial team and a large number of reporters to write about current
events. The cartoon section and the gossip column will
give you a lighthearted look at the news and will keep you
up-to-date with the stars. Sport columns are also popular and
provide news about sporting and racing events. However, it's the news section that
people read, particularly stories that have a catchy headline. Some
newspaper stories are a bit sensational, such as reports about
the personal lives of celebrities - such news should really go
in the gossip column.
Newspapers make their money by selling advertising space,
and from the price that people pay for them. Although newspapers are supposed
to report on the facts, some countries apply strict censorship
rules to all forms of mass media including newspaper
publications.
What’s your favorite section of the newspaper?
How free is the press in your country? How much censorship
is in your country?
How strict should censorship be?
How do newspapers get money/profits?
Should the news be free or should people pay for it?
Can newspapers’ need for profit affect objectivity?
Vocabulary
Circulation - the number of newspapers or magazines sold or
published.
editorial - a news article or an article that gives an
opinion.
reporters - a person who investigates and reports about
current affairs in the news.
current events - something that is happening now (usually
news).
cartoon - a funny drawing or animation about real life.
gossip –when people talk about what is happening with other
people. Often when they’re not sure if the information is true.
lighthearted- easy, not serious, something that makes you
feel good.
columns - see editorial above.
catchy-something that attracts (catches) attention.
headline - the title of a news article.
sensational – something very shocking or exciting that
sometimes is too good to be true.
advertising - to promote a product or service.
Strict - used to describe a command, rule, etc., that
must be obeyed.
censorship - to ban something from publication.
Upper intermediate and up
Read and then explain the following texts. To what extend to you agree or disagree with the author's ideas?
Reading the morning newspaper is the realist's morning
prayer. One orients one's attitude toward the world either by God or by what
the world is. The former gives as much security as the latter, in that one
knows how one stands.
― Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
The sole aim of journalism should be service. The newspaper
is a great power, but just as an unchained torrent of water submerges whole
countryside and devastates crops, even so an uncontrolled pen serves but to
destroy. If the control is from without, it proves more poisonous than want of
control. It can be profitable only when exercised from within. If this line of
reasoning is correct, how many journals of the world would stand the test? But
who would stop those that are useless? And who should be the judge? The useful
and the useless must, like good and evil, go on together, and man must make his
choice.
--M.K. Gandhi
Additional resources about the
news:
Pre-intermediate and up
Breaking English news stories
Intermediate and up
Voice of America
BBC Six Minute
English
Upper
Intermediate and up
School of Life
TED
NPR
The Economist
