[bad word]  [bad word] englistening
 
About this script 
Please note that this is not a word for word transcript of the programme as broadcast. 
In the recording process changes may have been made which will not be reflected 
here. 
 
   
 
Jackie: Hello I'm Jackie Dalton. You're listening to Talk About English – live 
from our offices in London. 
 
Callum: I'm Callum Robertson. Today in the programme 
 
News clips 
 
Jackie: Media and the language of news. 
 
Callum: Your views on the media in your country. 
 
Jackie: And how to win an mp3 player by sending us your own reports. 
 
Callum: That's [bad word] up in Talk About English. 
 
 And our special guest today, who'll be helping us understand the media 
and the language of news is a very experienced journalist, now 
Assistant Editor of BBC World Service Business programmes Alex 
Ritson. Hello. 
  
Alex: (responds) 
 
Jackie: Well, news really is a big topic, with lots of different areas to look at. 
But let's start simply by looking at what news is. What do we mean by 
the word 'news'? Obviously it's something that's happened that's 
reported in newspapers or on television reports. But let's get the 
perspective of a journalist – Alex for you, what is 'news'? 
 
Alex: (responds) 
 
Jackie: Let's look at some of the language surrounding how news is delivered 
through the media. I think broadly speaking, nowadays, we can divide 
it into three main sections. Broadcast news, print news and more 
recently online. 
 
Callum: Yes, so broadcast journalism means any news that goes out through 
television or radio – it's broadcast. We've got quite a recent form of 
journalism now – online journalism, which refers to news published on 
the internet. Then there's an older form of journalism - print journalism 
- refers to newspapers, we sometimes talk about 'the printed media', or 
'the press', which includes things like magazines as well. 
 
Jackie: And here in the UK we have two main different types of newspaper 
don't we? 
 
Callum: Yes, they are what we called broadsheet newspapers, which 
traditionally – although that's changing – were the bigger kinds of 
newspaper. They're generally seen as taking a more serious look at 
important stories. 
  
Jackie: So that's broadsheets, the more serious papers, then we also have 
tabloids. 
 
Callum: (explain tabloids) 
 
Jackie: Alex, so we've got broadsheets and tabloids – traditionally the two 
types of newspaper, but recently we've seen some changes and the 
arrival of the 'qualoid'… 
 
Alex: (responds) 
 
Jackie: Do you think the media has a lot of power in the UK? 
 
Alex: (responds) 
 
Jackie: Now let’s have a recap of some of the words we just heard. 
 
Recap  
Broadcast news –"Television and radio both provide broadcast news." 
print journalism – "Some people think print journalism is losing popularity." 
online news –"I use the internet everyday to catch up with the latest news online." 
broadsheets – "I find broadsheets really boring, they're so intellectual."  
tabloids – "As for the tabloids, they're just full of gossip." 
 
 
Jackie: Now let's look more closely at some of the more recent changes in 
news, and some of the language [bad word] with it. One of these is the 
arrival of 24 Hour News. Alex, can you tell us what this is? 
 
Alex: (explains) 
  
Jackie: What about some of the language [bad word] about from this or at 
least phrases that have [bad word] more popular because of the rise of 24 
hour news? 
 
All: rolling news 
breaking news – not new, a term we hear nearly all the time now 
news flash  
'we bring you the news as it happens'  
up to the minute news 
news just in  
'bringing you live coverage of…' 
 
   
Jackie: Let's here more examples of this language in use. 
 
Recap  
Breaking news…tune in for our 24 hour news coverage…your rolling news 
channel…news just in…we bring you the news as it happens…bringing you live 
coverage of 
 
 
Jackie: We're going to look at another of the more recently developed areas of 
journalism and news now, which is online journalism – news on the 
internet. Some people think it's going to lead to the death of the 
newspaper – people will stop buying newspapers because they'll read 
the news online instead. Tamsen Booth is the Media Editor of the 
international weekly newspaper, The Economist. She's going to tell us 
what she thinks about the future of the newspaper - a word she'll use 
which it might help you to understand is 'giveaways'.  
 
Callum: 'giveaway' is something that you give people for free.  
 
Jackie: For example, if you buy a women's magazine you might get a free 
lipstick with it. The idea being that you're more likely to buy the 
magazine if you get a free gift with it. 
 
Callum: This was not something that newspapers in the UK, particularly 
broadsheets, used to do. But that's changed and you often get free CDs 
or DVDs with newspapers now. 
 
Jackie: Let's listen to Tamsen of the Economist now.  
 
Tamsen  
  
Jackie: Tamsen says more and more people going online means newspapers 
are dying. 
 
Callum: So couldn't newspapers just survive by putting their material online 
instead, if that's where more and more people are going for their news? 
 
Jackie: Well Tamsen thinks not. Why does she think newspapers can't survive 
just by putting all their content online? 
 
Tamsen  
 
Callum: Tamsen said online is not as 'profitable' as print. Which means it 
doesn't make as much money through advertising. 'Advertising 
revenue' – the money firms make from advertising is after all what 
keeps most newspapers alive. 
  
Jackie: She says it's difficult for newspapers because even though they do have 
to move onto online there's no guarantee - it's not certain – they'll be 
able to make enough money. 
 
 Next we'll hear from [bad word]  the Editor of one of Britain's 
broadsheet newspapers, The Guardian. He'll share his views on the 
future of newspapers. 
 
Callum: We'll hear the phrase 'advertising revenue' again, he'll also talk about 
'circulation' – which is how many copies of a newspaper are sold each 
day or each week. For example, the newspaper with the highest 
circulation here is the tabloid, the Sun, it sells the most copies. 
 
Jackie: Now what does Alan think? Does he think that all newspapers should 
be able to survive if they put their material on the internet? Listen to 
find out. 
 
Alan  
Callum: Alan says times are difficult for newspapers and they will have to put a 
lot of money into online journalism. But he says he's not convinced 
everyone will 'make it' – which means he doesn't believe all 
newspapers will be able to survive. 
 
Jackie: But what about his newspaper? The Guardian has created one of the 
most popular online news sites alongside its normal printed newspaper. 
Alan says it is making good money – revenues from online are going 
up fast. By how much? 
 
Alan  
 
Callum: Alan says online revenues are going up 50% a year.  
 
Jackie  Alan says he's ambivalent about how we consume news. We shouldn’t 
get hung up on print on paper. What does that mean – first of all 
ambivalent? 
 
Callum: It means you don't really care. 
 
Jackie: To consume news. 
 
Callum: To follow the news, to read it or watch it. 
 
Jackie: We shouldn't get hung up on print on paper. 
 
Callum: 'To be hung up on something' means to be obsessed with it, to think it's 
important. Alan thinks we shouldn't be hung up on the idea of print on 
paper – in other words, newspapers.  
Jackie: Let’s have another recap of some of that new vocabulary. 
 
Recap  
giveaway – "Newspapers nowadays include so many giveaways….it's the only way 
people will want to buy them." 
Circulation – "The newspaper boosted its circulation by doing more advertising." 
Advertising revenue – "We must increase our advertising revenue otherwise we won't 
make it." 
 
END OF PART ONE  
 
Jackie: You're listening to Talk About English with me, Jackie Dalton and 
Callum Robertson. Our guest today is journalist Alex Sullivan. We've 
been asking you to send [bad word] about the media in your 
country…do you [bad word] it? Is there anything you would change about it? 
We're going to hear some of [bad word] now, read by actors. The 
first is from Brigita in Slovakia. Does she [bad word] the media? 
 
Brigita  
Media all around the world often brainwashes people. I do not [bad word] them. It is all 
about how they want the news to sound. They create stories which are often not [bad word] 
or they add or leave out whatever they want to. The media are the same everywhere 
and unfortunately many people take them as they are.  
 
Jackie: Brigita doesn't [bad word] the media. She thinks the media tends to 
brainwash people – what do we mean by that Callum? 
 
Callum: (explains brainwash) 
 
Jackie: She also says many people just take the media as they are – what does 
that mean? 
 
Callum: (expl