研究生英语第九单元上.ppt

English Reading and Translation Jincao YU Warming-up Work with your partner and complete the following table. Rate the forms of mass media from 1(lowest) to 10(highest). Explain the reasons for your choice. Forms of Mass Media Rating Reason The Internet 10 News values --Truth --Impact (importance, consequence or significance) --Unusualness (bizarreness, oddity or novelty) --Prominence --Timeliness and freshness --Conflict --Human interest How Mass Media Affect Our Perception of Reality? by Robert Sylwester “Mass media” is a deceptively simple term encompassing a countless array of institutions and individuals differing in purpose, scope, method, and cultural context. Mass media include all forms of information communicated to large groups people, from a handmade sign to an international news network. Being very pervasive in industrialized countries, they have a powerful impact on how those populations view the world. It is only the most local and personal events that are experienced first-hand. Those in the larger community, the state, the country, and the rest of the world are experienced through the eyes of journalists. 1. Just before September 11, the U.S. mass media were focused on sports, the lives of various celebrities, and a Congressmans relationship with a missing staff member. Then everything changed. A skyscraper complex, militant group, and distant country suddenly dominated mass media as people sought to understand what had occurred, what to make of passenger planes turned into missiles, and who to trust for credible information on terrorism. 2. That dramatic shift in media emphasis is an excellent recent example of how mass media help to shape our shifting concerns and beliefs. Why could we have been so concerned about celebrity lifestyles one week and so unconcerned the next? Why such a prior general disinterest in an already notorious terrorist group, and in festering Middle East countries and cultures? Why the sudden media shi