R.P.:
O f course,
Mr,
Blake's accusations are u n foun de d , as are the accusations of
10............................................................. w e have received. However, I can safely say th a t the D a ily Views never pays people huge am ounts of m o ney fo r stories. W e have far to o m uch 11.............................................................fo r that. A n d d o n 't fo rg e t th a t m y paper also has an excellent reputation fo r 12................................................................R em em ber it was us w h o uncovered corruption in the banking system, and ran a series o f articles on child labour in clothing factories. W e give o u r 13............................................................. w h a t the y w a n t, and that's w h a t really counts. T.B.:
But most of w h a t you report isn't really news. A n d a lot of it is just a big pile of lies. Sensational stories made up to entertain people. Typical 14........................................................ behaviour, in other words. I'm amazed 15......................................................................yet.
nobody
has
sued
you
for
topic-specific vocabulary
The media
3 N o w read this essay and complete the gaps w ith one of the w o rd s o r phrases from Exercises 1 and 2. You w ill need to change the form of some of the w ords. 'Th e media plays a valuable role in keeping us inform ed and entertained. However, m any people believe it has to o much p o w e r and fre ed om .' Discuss you r views on this, giving examples and presenting a balanced a rgum e nt both in favour of, and against, the p o w e r and freedom of the media. Barely a hundred years ago, if w e w an ted to stay inform ed a bo u t w h a t was going on in the w orld , w e had to rely on w o rd of m outh or, at best, newspapers. But because com m unication technology was very basic, the news w e received was often days or weeks old. W e still have newspapers, of course, but they have changed almost beyond recognition. W hether w e choose to read the 1........................................................... w ith their quality 2..........................................................of news and other 3............................................................ by to p 4 ......................................................... and articles by acclaimed 5............................................................ or w e prefer the popular 6.........................................................., w ith their lively gossip and colourful stories, w e are exposed to a w ealth of inform ation barely conceivable at the beginning of the last century. W e also have television and radio. News 7.............................................................let us k n o w a bo u t w o rld events practically as the y happen, w hile sitcoms, chat shows and docum entaries, etc. keep us entertained and inform ed. A n d there is also 8 ............................................................., w h e re w e can access inform ation fro m millions of 9 .............................................................a round the w o rld w hich w e can then 10............................................................. on to o u r o w n com puters. However, these forms of 11.......................................................... and 12.......................................................... (or 'infortainm ent' as they are sometimes collectively called) have their negative side. Famous personalities frequently accuse the 13.......................................................... (and sometimes even respectable papers) of 14 by gangs of 15........................................................... w h o follow them around w ith their cameras and long lenses. Newspapers are often accused of 16.......................................................... by angry politicians w h o hate reading dam aging lies about themselves, and there are frequent accusations of 17.......................................................... , w ith 18...........................................................reporters paying people vast sums of m oney to tell them about the crime they com m itted or w h a t their famous neighbour has been up to. O f course, it's not just the papers which are to blame. Television companies have cast their 19.......................................................... aside to get a good story, and you cannot even 2 0...........................................................to the Internet w ith o u t seeing som ething shocking or unacceptable. 2 1...........................................................argue that they are just giving people w h a t they w ant, but in m y opinion, people should not always g e t w h a t they w ant. M a n y argue tha t the go vern m en t should impose stricter 22............................................................. to prevent such things happening. But others argue tha t 23............................................................. is the keystone of a free country. Personally, I take the view tha t w hile the media may occasionally abuse its position of power, the benefits greatly o u tw e ig h the disadvantages. O u r lives w o u ld be much em ptier w ith o u t the w ealth of inform ation available to us today, and w e are better people as a result.
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