Assignment 1 Module 4

Treasure Hunt: Online News

Instructions:

Use the links selected for each section.

A. The Press in Britain

Complete the tables below. Then answer the questions briefly.

Broadsheets /

Tabloids

/
Right-wing
/

Left-wing

/
Sunday Papers
The Times

Table 1

Political orientation / Sales average / Was founded / Other features to comment
The Mirror
The Daily Mail
The Guardian
The Express
The Daily Telegraph
The Independent
The Sun

Table 2

  1. Do you know any other names to refer to quality press and popular press in Britain?
  1. Give two characteristics of "popular newspapers”
  1. Which of the current newspapers is the oldest?
  1. Which is the most conservative quality paper?
  1. Which of all newspapers sells best?
  1. Which is typical for the Sun newspaper?
  1. Which newspaper supports the labour party?
  1. Are there any daily newspapers similar to the Spanish “Marca” containing only sport news?
  1. What is Fleet Street famous for?
  1. Can you explain what the phenomenon in the second article “free morning papers” is?

B. Online News Sites

Answer the following questions very briefly.

  1. Write down the headings of at least 4 important sections in “The Times”
  1. Can you find any evidence of the political ideas in “The Daily Telegraph” or in any other newspapers?
  1. What is the lead story in “The Daily Express”? What else can you say about the online edition of this newspaper?
  1. How many eye-catching articles are there on the front page of “The Sun”?
  1. Which news seems to stand out from the others in “News of the World”?
  1. Which of all these newspapers has the simplest layout?
  1. Select a piece of news that appears in more than two newspapers and copy the headlines down below.
  1. Give one news story that surprised or attracted you in one of the newspapers that you visited. Where did you read it? Copy and paste the URL address here or the whole text.

C. News Writing

1. What is the meaning of the following terms in context of newspapers?

headline, crosshead, byline, caption, bias, lead paragraph

2. What does 5Ws and H stand for?

3. What is the inverted pyramid?

4.What is the aim of an introductory sentence?

5. What is the difference between a news story and a feature story?

6. What is the best way to appear objective?

7. Which writing strategies do you think popular press tends to use?