41   I can understand newspapers

A    Newspaper publishing

LIFE AS AN EDITOR

Meet Cyrus Davis, who has spent his whole working life in journalism. He’s now the editor of The Evening Star, a local daily paper published in Birmingham. He’s been a news reporter on several national papers, a sports editor, and a headline writer. ‘The Star covers current affairs, sports, crime, and so on, but one section of our paper is about culture. It’s a good paper, but newspaper sales generally are declining because of TV and the internet. It’s a bad time for the press.’

 

Glossary

whole  complete; with no parts missing. SYN entire.

journalism  the profession of collecting and writing about news in newspapers, on TV, etc. (a person who does this is a journalist).

editor  the person in charge of a newspaper, magazine, etc. edit V.

daily  You can get a daily (newspaper) every day, except Sunday.

publish sth  prepare and print a book, newspaper, etc. publishing N.

several  more than two, but not many.

national  connected with all of a country (international = involving two or more countries).

headline  the title of a newspaper article (see next part).

current affairs  important political or social events happening now.

section  one of the parts into which sth is divided.

culture  activities involving art, literature, music, etc. cultural ADJ.

decline   become weaker or smaller. decline N. 

the press  newspapers and the journalists who work for them. 

4     Test yourself. Look at the glossary words and cover the meanings. Can you remember the meanings?

 

B    Headlines

FOOTBALL FANS CLASH WITH POLICE  

clash with sb  fight or disagree seriously with sb about sth. clash N.

200 AXED CAR WORKERS PROTEST IN CITY CENTRE 

axe sb/sth  cut numbers of people, jobs, etc. by a large amount (an axe is a large tool used for cutting wood).

protest  say or show that you don’t agree with sth, especially in public. protest N.

Bomb scare in city centre  

scare  a situation in which many people are afraid or worried (e.g. bomb scare, health scare, food scare).

NURSES DEMONSTRATE OVER TAX CHANGES  

demonstrate  take part in a public protest for or against sth. SYN protest. demonstration/protest N.

THREAT to Hollywood Star  

threat  a statement that sb may kill, hurt, or punish you if you don’t do what they want. threaten V.

MAN CLAIMS DOG CAN TALK  

claim sth OR claim that  say that sth is true without having proof. claim N.

GOVERNMENT PROMISES HIGHER PENSIONS  

promise (to do) sth  say definitely that you will do sth, or that sth will happen. SYN make a promise. promise N.

pension  money paid regularly by the government or a company to sb who has stopped working because of old age (sb who receives a pension is a pensioner).

GOVERNMENT PLEDGES AID FOR ETHIOPIA  

pledge sth make a formal promise to do or give sth. pledge N.

aid  money, food, etc. that is sent to a country or to people to help them (aid V FML means ‘give help’).

 

spotlight  verbs and nouns with the same form

There are many Words in English in which the base form of the verb and the noun are the same, e.g. clash, protest, claim, promise, pledge, and aid. 

There was a clash between the protesters and the police.

The police and the protesters clashed.

 

7     Test yourself. Look at the headlines and cover the meanings. Can you explain the headlines?