Talking about the Media

1. NIVEL AVANZADOC1
Helena Manrubia, Isabel
Bastida & Ana Mena

2. • “The Independent” is a newspaper which is published
everyday, so it is called a …….
• “Time Magazine” is an American magazine which is printed
every week, so it’s called a …..
• “Newsweek” sells more than 3 million copies. It has a very
large ……
• People who read a newspaper are called …..
• Many people buy the paper in a ….., others prefer to
receive it at home, that’s why, they ….. to their favourite
paper.
• The first page in a newspaperis called the ……., but in a
magazine this first page is called the …..
• The title written in large letters over a story in a newspaper
is called ......
QUIZ TIMEQUIZ TIME

3. • How do you keep up with the news?
• What kind of stories do you find most/least
interesting?
a) celebrity gossip b) politics c) sports
d) science & technology e) business f) health
• Which TV channels/newspapers/radio stations in
your country do you think are…?
a) Biased b) Reliable c) Sensationalist
• Do you have a favourite ... ?
a) news reader b) journalist c) correspondent

4. THINK ABOUT A PIECE OF NEWS YOU READ/ HEARD OF AND
HAVE A CONVERSATION.
START WITH THESE EXPRESSIONS.
• Did you see/ hear this thing in the news about …?
• Have you heard the news today? Apparently, …
• I can’t believe they’re talking about …
• Did you hear … on the news this morning?
• What do you think of this business with …?

5. HEADLINES CAN BE DIFFICULT DUE TOHEADLINES CAN BE DIFFICULT DUE TO
UNGRAMMATICAL LANGUAGE.UNGRAMMATICAL LANGUAGE.
•Omission of articles
•Passive sentences written without the auxiliary verbs
•Present Simple used for a completed action
•Infinitive used for future actions
•Leaving out the words which can be guessed from the text (ex. the
verb to be)
•Preposition change: in = involved in; over = about, because of
for = in favour of
•Noun phrases with no verb (noun strings)
•Abbreviations
•Play on words (puns)

10. Study the sentences and match the underlined idioms with
theircorrect meaning below:
1.The new drama serial will hit the airwaves this Thursday.
2.The politician hit the headlines last year when he was caught accepting a
bribe.
3.I heard about Joanne’s illness. When did the doctor breakthe news?
4.The seriousness of the story was completely blown out of proportion in the
media.
5.The news of the terrorist attack spread like wildfire.
a.Be broadcast on television or the radio
b.Became known by more and more people.
c.Exaggerated
d.Make known new information, usually bad information.
e.To appear in the news suddenly or receive a lot of attention in news reports.
Which news stories have hit the headlines this week?
Can you think of any news stories that have blown out of proportion?


11. • Do you think the media have too much power?
• How is today’s media different from that of 30 years ago?
• Can you think of any examples of the media being
irresponsible?
• Do you always believe the media?
• Should there be any censorship on the media?
• Do you think the media tries to manipulate people or
change their views?
• Does the media care more about the truth or profits?
• What is fake news? What makes it fake?
• Have you ever discovered a story you had talked about or
shared on social media was “fake news?” Speak about it