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Regional newspapers
Most towns and cities throughout the UK have their own regional or local newspaper. These range from morning and evening dailies to Sunday papers and others that are published once or twice a week. Regional newspapers mainly include stories of regional or local attraction, but the dailies also cover national and international news, often looked at from a local viewpoint. Some regional titles are paid-for but many of the more successful newspapers are distributed free, generating their income solely from display and classified advertising. More often than not, free newspapers are distributed weekly, though there are high profile exceptions such as The Metro (which is a daily morning title). Following a period of rapid consolidation, most regional newspapers are controlled by large publishing concerns, such as Trinity Mirror (which is also owner of The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Mirror), Newsquest Media Group, Northcliffe Newspapers, Johnston Press and Associated Newspapers (The Daily Mail’s parent company). Examples of the top regional daily newspapers by circulation in England include the Express & Star (179,029) in the West Midlands, Manchester Evening News (170,346), Liverpool Echo (151,229), Birmingham’s Evening Mail (130,405) and the Leeds-based Yorkshire Post (71,632). Two regional Sunday papers – The Sunday Mercury in Birmingham and The Sunday Sun in Newcastle upon Tyne – sell 103,653 and 100,556 copies respectively. London has one paid-for evening paper, The Evening Standard (which has a circulation of about 434,000). By publishing a number of daily editions (from lunchtime until the end of the working day), the Standard provides Londoners with updated news and features covering events in the capital and of national and international interest. The Standard is owned by Associated Newspapers, which strengthened its grip on London’s newspaper market when it launched a free morning newspaper called The Metro in March 1999. The new title (which has a circulation of 360,000) is highly popular and complements the Standard’s afternoon editions. There are also local weekly newspapers for every district in Greater London; these are often different local editions of one centrally published paper. In Scotland, the publishing market has been dynamic since the UK Government began transferring key political powers to the new Scottish Parliament – a process known as devolution. The main regional dailies include The Daily Record (the sister paper of The Daily Mirror, with a circulation of 599,574), Glasgow’s Evening Times (104,060), Aberdeen’s Press and Journal (97,146), The Herald (published in Glasgow, 93,522), The Dundee Courier and Advertiser (90,431) and The Scotsman (90,730). The top Scottish Sunday regional papers are the Sunday Herald (60,357), Sunday Mail (Glasgow), Sunday Post (Dundee) and a quality broadsheet paper, Scotland on Sunday. The Observer and The Sunday Times both carry Scottish supplements while The Sun runs a regional edition reflecting local concerns. The daily morning paper, The Western Mail, is published in Cardiff and circulates throughout Wales (53,474), as do The Daily Post (66,049) and Wales on Sunday (60,564). Many others give more local coverage of Welsh events and the weekly press includes Welsh-language and bilingual papers. Welsh community newspapers receive an annual grant as part of the Government’s wider financial support for the Welsh language. Northern Ireland has two morning newspapers, one evening and two Sunday papers. They are all published in Belfast, with circulations ranging from 32,000 to 111,100. They are the News Letter, Irish News, the evening Belfast Telegraph, Sunday Life and Sunday World (Northern Ireland edition). There are just over 50 weeklies. Newspapers from the Irish Republic, as well as the UK national press, are widely read in Northern Ireland.
Mark the statements as true or false, then correct the false items: __ 1. Few towns and cities in the UK have their own regional or local newspaper. __ 2. Regional newspapers mostly include stories of regional or local attraction but also provide some national and international news coverage. __ 3. Most regional newspapers are controlled by large publishing concerns. __ 4. The Metro is a paid-for daily morning newspaper issued in Manchester. __ 5. The notorious devolution process impedes the Scottish press development. __ 6. The weekly press in Wales includes Welsh-language and bilingual papers. __ 7. Welsh community newspapers receive financial support for the Welsh language. __ 8. The biggest newspapers of Northern Ireland are published in its capital. __ 9. In Northern Ireland, people read not only the UK national press, but also newspapers from the Irish Republic.
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New technology
The regional press has always been at the forefront of technological innovation. The move from hot metal typesetting to highly-sophisticated computerised systems and the increasing use of quality colour are two examples of the pioneering nature of the industry. Following the exodus of the national newspapers from Fleet Street, most national newspapers are now printed under contract on regional newspaper presses, which receive high levels of investment. In 1998, regional publishers invested £300 million in new presses and production technology. The UK has advanced printing operations and colour reproduction facilities. At its London Docklands headquarters, for example, News International – publisher of two national daily and two Sunday papers – has one of the largest computer terminal systems installed at one time anywhere in the world. Computer-based technology has had a profound impact on the way newspapers are produced and printed. Presses produce newspapers at ever-increasing speeds (70,000 copies per hour for the largest machines). The introduction of new technology into the production process has streamlined and speeded the operation and opened doors to a vast increase in publishing activity through greater frequency of editions, special targeted supplements and new titles. New technology has also led to major changes in working practices throughout the industry. Previously, large-volume production needed a high labour input for typesetting, and printing was done in huge capital-intensive works. Publishers have been able to reduce these production costs in recent years by using advanced computer systems for editing and production processes. The 'single keying' system allows journalists and advertising staff to input copy directly into a computer terminal, and then transfer it electronically into columns of type. Many newspapers arrange page layouts on screen and output full pages to photographic paper bromides or film that are then used to make plates for the printing press. Some newspapers still output columns in bromide format from the computerised typesetting operation; these are then pasted up into pages before being sent to the camera room for negatives to be produced from which the plates are made. Increasingly, computer-to-plate systems that are now being introduced dispense with the intermediate stage of paper or film altogether. Most newspapers are printed by offset lithography, a method in which the printed image is transferred, or offset, from the printing plate to a rubber blanket (cylinder) and then on to the paper. The advent of the internet is having a profound impact. In May 2000, the regional press launched AdFast, an internet delivery system that allows advertisers and their agencies to provide copy quickly and efficiently to publishers. Publishers are also investing in electronic ventures, including internet sites, audiotex, teletext and other electronic services. There has been a growth in strategic alliances such as classified advertising website Fish4 and a rapid rise in the number of national and regional newspaper websites. Popular national newspaper sites include the Financial Times site, the Electronic Telegraph and Guardian Unlimited.
Questions:
1) 2) 3) 4)
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Magazines and periodicals
A glance around any newsagent’s shop will give an idea of the huge range of magazines and periodicals available in the UK. Sport, cookery, fashion, gardening, music, religion, computers, cinema, pets – whatever your interest, there is usually a magazine that covers it. Many appear weekly, others monthly or bi-monthly. There are about 3,174 consumer magazines that carry advertising. Titles defined as 'consumer' magazines provide readers with leisure-time information and entertainment. These contrast with 'business and professional' titles, which provide material relevant to work. In addition, the UK has seen rapid growth in customer magazines. Often produced by specialists known as publishing agencies, these titles are produced on behalf of retailers, car manufacturers, airlines, the public sector or utilities, which want to talk directly to customers, business contacts and staff. The best titles in this sector often have huge circulations. They share the same editorial and production standards as traditional consumer magazines and are just as well read. In 2000, this industry was worth around £360 million a year. Within the consumer category, there are general titles that have a wide appeal, and specialist titles, aimed at groups of people with particular interests, such as motoring or classical music. A range of literary and political journals, appearing monthly or quarterly, caters for a more academic readership. As a general rule, consumer titles have a cover price of £1 to £3 as well as raising revenue from advertising. The weekly magazines with the highest sales are those which carry details of the forthcoming week’s television and radio programmes, including cable and satellite schedules. What’s on TV, TV Times, Radio Times, TV Choice and TV Quick sell between 550,000 and 1.7 million copies. Reader's Digest, which covers just about any subject, has the highest circulation (1 million) among monthly consumer magazines. Women’s magazines still enjoy large readerships but have been slipping for much of the last decade. The exception is top-selling title Take a Breakwith a weekly circulation of over 1.1 million. Old favourites like Woman’s Weekly, Woman’s Own, Woman, Weekly News(which sells mainly in Scotland), Woman’s Realmand My Weeklyhave circulations ranging from 250,000 to over 600,000. Several women’s magazines owned by overseas publishing houses have attracted large followings; Primaand Best,launched by Germany’s Cruner & Jahr before being sold to a UK subsidiary of the US Hearst Corporation, each sell around 400,000 copies. Bellaand Hello!are also widely read, though the latter has been overtaken by Northern & Shell’s OK! magazine (586,000). Something of a recent phenomenon has been the upsurge in the market for men’s general interest magazines – for example, Loaded, GQ, FHM,Men’s Health,Maxim, and Esquire.Emap’s FHMnow leads the pack by a wide margin (with a monthly circulation of about 720,000). Another sector that has seen a resurgence of activity is children’s and teenage publishing. Younger children are well served with an array of comics while magazines like Smash Hits, TV Hits, CD:UK, Top of the Pops, Sugar, It’s Blissand Just Seventeen,with their coverage of the pop music scene, fashion and features of interest to young people, are popular with teenagers. Also popular with teenage boys are the dozen or so magazines linked to the Sony Playstation games platform. Leading journals of opinion include The Economist, an authoritative, independent commentator on national and international affairs, finance and business, science and technology; the New Statesman, which reviews social issues, politics, literature and the arts from a socialist point of view; and The Spectator, which covers similar subjects from a conservative standpoint. An irreverent approach to public affairs is taken by satirical fortnightly title Private Eye. Details of forthcoming events in London and other large cities are available in weekly listings magazines. London-based Time Out sells 86,600 and also publishes guidebooks. Although the number of business and professional titles can be seriously affected by macro-economic conditions, there are currently around 5,713, with the highest concentrations in medicine, business management, sciences, architecture and building, social sciences and computers. Controlled (free to certain designated professionals) circulation titles represent two-thirds of the market. Around 95 per cent of business and professional people regularly read the publications relevant to their sector.
Questions:
1) 2) 3)
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Date: 2016-01-03; view: 2029
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Read the texts explaining the highlighted words and combinations, then answer the questions:
Read the texts explaining the highlighted words and combinations, then answer the questions:
Read the text explaining the highlighted words and combinations, then solve the true/false problem in the statements given after it: