Mass media in Russia

Mass media in Russia 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Mass media in Russia.

The topic I’m going to speak about is entitled “Mass media in Russia”. To begin with I’d like to say that mass media play an important role in our life. Firstly they inform us help to keep up with the latest events in the present-day life of our country and the whole world. What is more they cover vital, topical problems that concern everyone and us with information   about recent inventions, discoveries in different spheres of life, such as science, technology, medicine, news in the world of sport and art. Secondly they influence and form public opinion and shape our views. Mass media often express a certain political opinion and doubtlessly affect the way we see the world. Nobody will deny if I say that people often turn to mass media to get a piece of advice about problem they face or decision they have to make. That s why we can say that mass media do not influence the way we think, but the way we behave. Thirdly mass media help us to become educated people. As far as I know there are different educational programmes on TV and there are magazines that specialize in a particular subject for example geography, natural science, history, art and music. Doubtlessly they arouse our interest and curiosity in these subjects, develop our world outlook, and as a result we become more educated people, who are interesting to communicate with. Finally, mass media offer us wonderful possibilities for entertainment. Everybody can find something for their liking. All the latest and the most significant  events in the world of sport, music, theatre, art, cinema are highlighted by mass media and help to make our life more enjoyable. On the whole I should say that mass media is often called a mirror of current events. I must admit that I’m in two minds about this opinion. On the one hand they really reflect current problems and help us to understand the present-day of the country and the world. Unfortunately not all newspapers and TV programmes report the events objectively and provide us with reliable information, that is why we often have to decide ourselves whether to believe the information we can learn  from them or not.

I can’t avoid saying that there are different sources of information: newspapers and magazines, radio and TV, the Internet which is modern rapidly developing technology and local nets.

Doubtlessly it is almost impossible to imagine our life without newspapers. Millions of copies of them appear every day. There are few homes to which at least one newspaper is not delivered every morning. Many people subscribe to two or even more newspapers; others buy morning or evening papers at the newsstands. In my opinion there are advantages and disadvantages of both ways of getting newspapers. If you subscribe to them you get every copy cheaper and the newspapers are delivered to your home every morning. However they can be stolen from your post-box. On the other hand before buying a newspaper you can look through the headlines and decide if it’s worth buying and reading. By contrast the newspapers are more expensive and you should be an early riser to get the copy of your favourite newspaper before it is sold out.

It’s worth saying that there are national daily newspapers such as Izvestiya, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Trud, and Sovetskaya Rossiya. There are also national weekly papers, for example, Argumenty i Fakty, Literaturnaya Gazeta, Nedelya. Most national papers express a political opinion and people choose the newspaper according to their own political beliefs. What is more there are local papers in all parts of Russia. In Moscow the most popular local newspapers are Moscovsky Komsomolets and Vechernyaya Moskva. There are also many free local newspapers which are delivered to people’s homes whether they ask for them or not. They usually contain a lot of advertisements.

   In spite of the fact that there is a great number of newspapers for people from all walks of life, young people prefer reading special magazines for teenagers. Some of them are very popular with teen girls. Among them is worth mentioning Teen, Yes, Cosmopolitan, Glamour and many others. The way I see it these magazines appeal to young people, because they reflect their hopes and worries, their leisure time and education, attitudes and opinions. What is more some magazines have a problem page and teenagers can write to the magazine to get a piece of advice or to share their experience with someone who has similar problems.

As for me I’m in the habit of reading Elle Girl and Yes. However Elle Girl appeals to me more, because it has got an attractive eye-catching cover, it has plenty of colorful pictures and has some useful information about the latest fashion and the shop where I can buy some modern clothes. Elle Girl comes out once a month and ad far as I know it was first published in Russia in March 2003. The magazine has 130 pages. As I have already said it has a very bright cover. The magazine contains reviews of the latest films and books, gossip columns about the life of different celebrities, a horoscope, some useful advice for girls how to change their appearance and to look more attractive, letters to the editor and interview with the film, sport and film stars. It also has some pages devoted to dream interpretation. And of course there are a lot of advertisements. I must admit I never read the magazine from cover to cover and I only choose the material I’m interested in. In my opinion the magazine has a reputation of a popular publication for teenage girls.

Nobody will deny if I say that there are advantages and disadvantages of advertisement in the press. On the one hand advertisements contain a lot of useful information, offer services in different areas of life: medicine, education, traveling, and entertainment. Moreover, newspapers and magazines earn money from advertising. On the other hand advertisements take too much space; sometimes the information is not reliable, because advertisers are not responsible for the quality of goods and services.

A writer and philosopher Albert Camus-French once said: “Free press can of course be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom it will never be Anything but bad.” I fully agree with this opinion. Many people feel that freedom of the press is very important. It means that newspapers can report what they like, can criticize the government, and can carry out investigative journalism without worrying that they are breaking the law.

When there is no freedom of the press, people are often not told the truth about what is really happening. Governments can use newspapers for their own propaganda, and can censor facts and opinions that they don’t want people to read about.

But in some cases, newspapers themselves do not always tell the truth about what is happening. Hey sometimes try to influence peoples’ political opinions, and newspapers reports can be biased.

Many newspapers are more concerned with sensations than with serious news reporting because this helps them to sell more copies of the paper.

In some countries, however, it can seem as if the press has too mush freedom. Famous people feel that newspapers are intrusive and print too much about their private lives. Many countries have laws that are designed to protect peoples’ privacy.

If newspaper prints something that is untrue about someone, they can be charged with libel but this can still mean that peoples’ lives, families or jobs can be seriously damaged.

There is no doubt that there is a great diversity of newspapers nowadays and it isn’t an easy matter to make a choice of which newspaper to buy or to subscribe to. It depends on a wide range of topics and problems that the newspaper cover, an interests it excite and viewpoints of the reader. I can’t help mentioning  that there are various newspapers and magazines for all tastes, that is why to make a choice some people look through it, others just read the headlines and some few look at the eye-catching cover, that appeal to them. Those who want to get great amount of information choose reputed principal newspapers, by contrast, those who are interested in entertainment choose colourful magazines.

As for me I read Argumenty i Fakty regularly. The editor of the newspaper is Nikolay Ziatkov. It comes out once a week. As far as I remember it was first published in 1982 and consisted of 6 pages. Nowadays it consists of 56 pages in A3 format. It covers such spheres of life as politics, economic and culture. It also publishes material about sport competitions and their results. They give full attention on to such problems as poverty, political parties and their plans for future. This newspaper has several supplements. From my point of view is rather popular, because there you can find convincing arguments and facts for every problem, there are not many advertisements and reports are fair and reliable. As for me I find it interesting, because it is always exciting to learn about new discoveries in science, to learn about life of people in different parts of Russia.

Nowadays a lot of vital problems are covered in all sources of mass media. Among them is the banning of the social benefits that were replaced by allowances. The elder people could use public transport and buy medicines free of charge. Now they regularly receive a particular sum of money that will help them to pay for everything they need. However some people think that it will not cover all their expenses. A lot of demonstrations against allowances have been organized and held in different parts of Russia.

In spite of the fact that newspapers are considered to be the main source of information some people still prefer the radio. You can listen to it everywhere: in the car on your way to work, in the open air or while you are doing something about the house. There is a great diversity of radio channels in Russia. Most of them are private and specialize on different kinds of music. For instance Europe Plus plays pop music, Russian Radio play Russian songs and Radio Maximum plays rock. These stations earn money from advertising. As for me my favourite radio is Europe Plus. I’m in the habit of listening to it while I’m doing my homework. Strange as it may seem but it help me to concentrate on my homework. What is more it creates some background noise that doesn’t make me feel alone when nobody is at home. Europe Plus appeals to me because it plays my favourite music; DJs are very friendly with a good sense of humour and have very pleasant voices. Besides this radio station report news every hour and it helps me to keep with the latest events.

Doubtlessly another important source of information is television. People like TV news because they can see everything with their own eyes and it is an important advantage, because seeing as we know is believing. In addition, it’s much more difficult for politicians to lie in front of the cameras than on the pages of the newspapers. TV reacts to the events as soon as they happen in real life. From my point of view TV channels in Russia offer a wide choice of programmes to TV viewers and they can choose what they want to see, from news items to cartoons, from sporting events to talk shows and soap operas. Frankly speaking I’m fond of watching the latest news on TV, but I hardly ever watch political discussions, because I’m too young to understand the importance of the problems that are usually discussed in such problems. I’m interested in talk shows, because ordinary and famous people have an opportunity to speak about vital problems, share their experience with TV viewers and work out possible solutions. I find them very realistic and informative. If you ask me I suppose that the success of the programme in which TV viewer take part depends very much on the personality of the talk-show host. The host or an announcer should possess some qualities. A good appearance is naturally of the first importance. This doesn’t mean good looks only. The first assets are an attractive face and a reasonably good figure in a woman, and, in a man, the ability to hold himself well. Next comes intelligence, which includes a good understanding of the language, a very large measure of common sense and a good memory. You should also have a friendly, likeable manner and a pleasant voice. To this must be add the ability to be posed and at ease before the cameras. Personally speaking my favourite TV announcer is Svetlana Sorokina, because she possesses all these qualities. She is smart, knows two foreign languages and can easily speak on different topics, especially politics.

I can’t help mentioning that there is too mush violence on TV and it has a negative effect on young people. That is why I avoid watching criminal reports, thrillers, and documentaries on wars.

The general opinion about TV is that it is exciting, powerful, but patentionally dangerous. Undoubtedly TV has advantages. It has the power to educate. It enriches our intellect, because it brings the world to our livingroom. We see other countries and people, learn about their lifestyle and get acquainted with their customs, culture and problems. Furthermore children can learn a lot watching TV and become more informed. What’s more TV is a cheap form of entertainment which gives pleasure to millions. However some people argue that television in our society has many disadvantages. They argue that TV can have a terrible effect on family life, because people give their all free time to television. They sit glued to the screen instead of visiting and communicating with their friends and relations. In addition television may lead to poor health, through rushed meals, lack of sleep, lack of exercises and eyestrain. I can’t help mentioning that TV cuts us off from the real world; we get lazy and choose to spend a fine day watching TV, rather then go out into a real world itself. So finally a person can turn into a coach potato.

To sum up I’d like to say that television can be a useful part of everyday life, but we should still have time for our families and other interests and parents should control the viewing habits of their children.

In conclusion I’d like to say that nowadays the sources of information are changing. Some of them have become less popular, for instance newspapers, while others are becoming more popular and available. The Internet is new modern rapidly developing technology. Its main advantage is that news appear on the screen as soon as they happen in real life and you don’t have to wait for news time on TV. But people can’t live without information. In future they will look for new means of communication which can reach large parts of people in any part of the world.