Reading a newspaper

L. A. Smirnova

READING A NEWSPAPER

Many people begin their day by reading the paper. In this way they learn what is going on in the world. Sometimes, however, they don’t have the time to read the news carefully and must be satisfied with a quick look at the front page.

1.  THE FRONT PAGE: LAY-OUT

The front page invariably carries a lead story, indicated by heavier, larger headline type than for other stories. Most front-page stories contain objective news. Others are ‘human interest’ stories.

The front page often carries a wide-ranging balance of local, national and international news. A table of contents is a regular feature and gives page numbers – and sometimes summaries – of main items on the inside pages.

The front page always contains about two or three pictures relating to front-page stories. Cartoons or comics rarely appear.

In general, the front page is designed both to inform and to provoke ‘human interest’.

CATEGORIES OF ARTICLES

Most newspapers have several sections. There is, in addition to the front page with the most important news, the sport section, book reviews, special articles on topics of interest at the moment, the amusement section, a business page, and the editorials.

In accordance with the contents articles fall into the following categories:

Foreign News – news from other countries;

Home News – various events which take place inside the country and affect the nation as a whole;

Human Interest Stories – stories about individuals and their lives and events that are likely to affect a lot of people.

Features – articles which give background information on a country, personality or development of current interest.

Notices - small advertisements, personal announcements;

Court and Social - official notification of the forthcoming social engagement, military appointments, weddings and other similar events;

Gossip – rumours about the private lives of prominent people.

JOURNALISTIC TERMS

There are some journalistic terms that newspapers use. Here is a list of some of them with their definitions.

Editorial – regular article which summarizes the paper’s own point of view.

Column – a vertical section of words on the page; the term also means a regular written feature in the paper.

Headline – the ‘title’ of the article

2. TYPES OF NEWSPAPERS

British newspapers can be classified into groups according to various criteria, such as area of distribution, size of sales, socioeconomic class of their readers, day of publication and political bias. Each of these different criteria will lead to more or less different groupings.

NATIONAL AND LOCAL PAPERS

With regards to the area of distribution, a fairly clear distinction can be made between national and local papers.

The nationals (in Britain e. g. The Times, The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Express etc.) are readily obtainable in all parts of the United Kingdom at the same time. On the other hand, the local papers (e. g. The Yorkshire Post, The Liverpool Echoes etc.) serve a particular area, and outside that area must be specially ordered.

POPULAR AND QUALITY PAPERS

As regards the sale figures, it must be recognized that there is no clear line that will distinguish between large and small sale. However, a somewhat arbitrary distinction is made here, party based on copies sold, but also influenced by the type of content of the papers. The first function of newspapers is to give the news. It is very important to know the difference between fact and opinion and to compare the space various newspapers give, to the same news. This separates the so-called ’popular’ papers from the ‘quality’ papers. The ‘qualities’ like The British Sunday Times, or The Financial Times, tend to have longer, more serious articles than the ‘populars’ (e. g. The People, The News of the World). In general, the ‘popular’ papers appeal to a larger audience than the ‘quality’ papers, and as a consequence, they have larger sale.

To take Britain as an example, we could compare one ‘popular’ and one ‘quality’ paper and deduce the following features in the form of a list, e. g.

……………………………………………………………………………

POPULAR QUALITY

……………………………………………………………………………………….

-Huge sensational headlines. -Headlines containing information.

-Comparatively little text on - Long, complicated words even in

the front page. headlines.

-Uses short words, especially -Presents news in an objective and rather

in headlines. abstract way.

-Concern for ‘human interest’ - Front page is used to inform the reader,

stories. not to arouse curiosity.

-Lots of entertaining material. - Little sensational news.

-Written in conversational, -Several reports on political affairs.

everyday language.

……………………………………………………………………………

Regarding the socioeconomic class of the readers, a classification on these lines will to a large extent reflect the above distinction into quality and popular. This is because the quality papers are mostly intended for the upper income groups, while the popular papers find their readers among the lower socioeconomic groups. Thus, the reader of The Financial Times, which is a quality paper, is likely to be an educated person with quite a good income.

3.  HEADLINES

English newspaper headlines are governed by linguistic rules of their own. The language is elliptical and compressed, yet it is quite different from other condensed codes such as ‘telegramese’. And often the fractured grammar and idiosyncratic vocabulary of English headlines will challenge the understanding even of native speakers. But these ‘problems’ are often, in themselves, stimulating challenges to non-native speakers. There are other, bigger learning advantages too:

* In dealing with headlines, the reader is always involved in seeking out meaning.

·  Graphologically, headlines – big, short and often accompanied by a relevant picture – are interesting examples of language use.

·  It is possible to train a wide range of skills, from writing ability to pronunciation, by deducing the rules of headlines usage and using these rules in different ways.

·  The most compelling argument for studying headlines is that you need to be able to interpret them, for this is one of the skills required by anyone in an English-speaking culture. A person who cannot ‘use’ headlines to grasp the gist of newspaper articles is at a big disadvantage: he or she cannot browse through newspapers so as to choose what to read, skim or ignore. So the exercise like deciphering headlines without access to the accompanying article serves a real-life need.

It is important to realize that there are lexical, structural and stylistic differences between headlines and other written forms. Look at some of the language features to be found in English headlines.

THE LANGUAGE FEATURES DEDUCTION

1)  Study these examples of headlines from British and American pages.

-  What comments can you make about the language used?

-  Start to build up the vocabulary list.

Holiday fans flock back to see Soccer sizzle

CHELSEA FAN FURY RIVAL FOR THE ROVER

METRO MADNESS

NO HUNGER IN HUNGARY

2) Headlines are shorter than normal sentences.

- Which words do you think are omitted from these headlines?

- Why do you think they are omitted?

POWER BILLS SPARK REVOLT Charles, 32, seeks bride

Montana housewife fights Federal law

FAN KILLS WIFE Town Council airs its objection

3) Some of these headlines refer to the past, some refer to the future.

- Which ones do you think refer to the past?

- Which refer to the future?

Spain backs financial transaction

Dinner to bar some reporters

POWER BILLS SPARK REVOLT COFFEE PRICES SOAR

Killer escapes from courtroom

Labour to debate 5-day week

4) These headlines show a special way of expressing passives and the action which is still continuing.

-Which headlines are expressed passively?

- Which headlines do you think show that the action is still going on?

FLAGS FLYING

STEEL PAY CLAIM GRANTED REPORTERS BARRED FROM DINNER

3injured in bomb attack PREMIER WINNING BATTLE OF NERVES

Thames approaching danger level

5) Look at the punctuation in these headlines.

What kind of punctuation mark:

-  can indicate a direct result?

-  can indicate that someone’s exact words are being used?

-  can be a substitute for and?

Tornado hits Jamaica – 6 die BREARLEY: ’I quit’

Health survey: New Yorkers fitter, slimmer

ICI profits down - strong pound U. S. A-fuel to Pakistan “immoral”, says Archbishop

France calls for ‘vigilance’ in face of weakening dollar

Japan’s overtime work – paid late or never – hits record

HEADLINE ABBREVIATIONS AND METONYMY

BBC – British Broadcasting Corporation

BR – British Rail

CIA – Central Intelligence Agency

CID – Criminal investigation Department

FBA – (USA) Federal Bureau of Investigations

IOC – International Olympic Committee

ITV – Independent Television

MP – Member of Parliament

NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NF – National Front

NHS – National Health Service

PM – Prime Minister, Premier

PC – Police constable

TUC – Trade Union Congress/ Council

UK – United Kingdom

UN – United Nations

EEC – European Economic Community*

EC – European Community

EU – European Union

CE - Council of Europe

City, the – British Financial Capital

Commons – House of Commons

Downing Street – British Government

Fleet Street – British Press

Labour – Labour Party

Tories – Conservative Party

Scotland Yard – Metropolitan Police Force

Whitehall – British Government

·  The European Economic Community (EEC) also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993, was an international organization created with a view to bring about economic integration (including a single market) among the Inner six of European integration: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands. With the entry into force of the treaty on European Unity (Treaty of Maastricht) in 1993, the organization changed its name from the European Economic Community to the European Community.

The legal personality of the EC was transferred to the EU as a whole, a change in line with the Lisbon Treaty’s wider aim of consolidating the legal nature of the Union.

Summary of the Language Features of Headlines

Read the groups of selected headlines in order to deduce the language ‘rules’ which operate.

ANSWER:

-  What kinds of words are omitted?

-  How do headlines refer to PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE time?

What grammatical devices do they use?

-  How are passive forms expressed?

-  What do particular kinds of punctuation seem to signify in

headlines?

-  What unusual words (i. e. not used in normal speech) can you

find? Why do you think they are used?

DEDUCTIVE EXERCISES

Study the following groups of headlines, formulate the ‘rules’ of headlines usage, transform the headlines into a lexical, structural and stylistic form of usual English sentences.

SET 1: DELITIONS

-  Talks Aimed at Ban of Chemical Weapon

-  15 Seized in Attack.

-  Two Shot Dead in Protests.

-  50 Hurt as Police Hit Peru Demo.

-  Tory Rivals Face Summer of Strife.

-  Peer and Economist among New MPs.

SET 2: USE OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

-  EEC Cost Britain a Billion.

-  PLO Calls for UN Role.

-  Bid to Save Rhino from Extinction.

-  Tory Threatens Anti-demo Law.

-  Canadian CP Hits CIA.

-  Lib-Lab Pact Survives

SET 3: SHORTENED VERB FORMS.

-  Strike Wave Hits Denmark.

Killer Escapes from Court-Room.

Coffee Prices Soar.

-  Food Running out in Snow Hit New-York.

Marines Awaiting Go-Ahead.

Democrats gaining in Polls.

-  Rating Changes to Hit the Poorest?

TUC to Probe Safety at Plant.

Opera Company to Tour Sweden.

-  Students Hit by Visa Rule.

Steel Pay Claim Granted.

More Families Forced to Cut Spending, Poll Shows.

SET 4: SPACE-SAVING PUNCTUATION

-  Harvard’s New Dean to Build ‘Intellectual Bridges’.

-  Tornado Hits Jamaica – 6 Die.

-  Factory Closes: 6.000 Jobless.

SET 5: “SHORT WORDS FOR LONG”

Ban, bar – prohibit(ion), prevent(ion)

Cut – reduce, reduction

Push – encourage, support

Urge – insist, recommend strongly

Spark – cause, initiate

Grab – seize, win

Probe – investigate

Rap – reprimand

Boost – promote/promotion, increase, support

Axe – cancel(lation), dismiss(al)

Seek – try to obtain

Irk – anger

A blow – setback, unexpected difficulty

Face – have to undergo

To smash – defeat

Bid - attempt

Hit – to criticize, affect

SET 6: PREMODIFIED NOUN PHRASES

-  Tube Strike Threat

-  British Unions Back ‘Better Life’ Drive

-  Teenage Murder Charge Girl Found Not Guilty

-  Bank Equal Pay Breakthrough

-  Poison Gas Fear Haunts City

MATCH THE LANGUAGE ‘RULES’ WHICH OPERATE WITH THE SELECTED HEADLINES (SET 1 – 6).

A.  In English Headlines short, monosyllabic verbs and nouns are frequently used as substitutes for longer, colloquial expressions.

B.  In English headlines punctuation marks are often used to indicate quotations, questions, causal relations and connections.

C.  In English headlines articles, personal pronouns, this/that, the verb ‘to be’ and words of minor importance are omitted if no severe ambiguity results.

D.  In English headlines acronyms and abbreviations are used to save space.

E. In English headlines if nouns are piled one in front of another

(i. e. pre-modified noun phrases), start reading with the last one, going gradually back to the first noun, connecting the words in accord with the rules of English grammar.

F. In English headlines simple present refers to the action in the past, the infinitive denotes future, past participle conveys the passive meaning, present participle shows that the action is in progress now.