Section 2.

Task 1. British Newspapers.

Professor Richard Hill is talking about British Newspapers.

It seems to me that many British newspapers aren't really newspapers at all.

They contain news, it is true, but much of this news only appears in print because it is guaranteed to shock, surprise or cause a chuckle.

What should we expect to find in a real newspaper?

Interesting political articles?

Accurate reports of what has been happening in distant corners of the world?

The latest news from the stock exchange?

Full coverage of great sporting events?

In-depth interviews with leading personalities?

It is a sad fact that in Britain, the real newspapers, the ones that report the facts, sell in thousand,

while the popular papers that set out to shock or amuse have a circulation of several million.

One's inescapable conclusion is that the vast majority of British readers do not really want a proper newspaper at all.

They just want a few pages of entertainment.

I buy the same newspaper every day.

In this paper, political matters, both British and foreign, are covered in full.

The editorial column may support government policy on one issue and oppose it on another.

There is a full page of book reviews and another devoted to the latest happenings in the theatre, the cinema and the world of art.

Stock exchange prices are quoted daily.

So are the exchange rates of the world's major currencies.

The sports correspondents are among the best in the country, while the standard of the reader' letters is absolutely first class.

If an intelligent person were to find a copy of this paper 50 years from now, he or she would still find it entertaining, interesting and instructive.

So my favourite newspaper is obviously very different from those popular papers that have a circulation of several million.

But that does not mean that it is better or that they are worse. We are not comparing like with like.

A publisher printing a newspaper with a circulation of several million is runing a highly successful commerical operation.

The people who buy his product are obviously satisfied customers and in a free society, everybody should have the right to buy whatever kind of the newspaper he pleases.