Vypracovala: Mgr. Gabriela Cifrová

In modern society we are in daily contact with different types of mass media. We watch television, read newspapers or magazines, listen to the radio or surf the Internet. These are the media that reach large numbers of people, that is why they are called mass media.

The mass media serve, first of all, as sources of information. Apart from that, the role of mass media is to educate and entertain. Watching TV is most people’s favourite way of relaxation. They watch football or hockey matches, films, sitcoms, soap operas or series, some prefer discussions or reality shows.

Radio, television

All radio and television stations, public or private, educational or commercial, large and small must have a licence to broadcast. Some radio stations have their specializations: some present pop music or sport, education and children’s programmes, some light entertainment or the main news.

In Slovakia we have three public television stations. The first channel is more and more like other commercial TV stations, the second specialises in documentaries, quiz shows, educational programmes, music and sport and the third channel specialises in sport and mainly broadcasts live football or hockey matches. Some cities and areas also have local TV stations presenting mostly local news.

Commercial stations, such as TV Markíza and TV Joj, also enjoy wide popularity. They don’t often specialise in anything in particular but try to satisfy viewers with different tastes and preferences. TA3, The first Slovak news channel started broadcasting in 2001. Thanks to this channel, Slovaks can watch current news throughout the whole day. Its programmes cover a wide range of topics, mostly from economy, politics, technology and sport.

Newspapers

Most newspapers are daily newspapers. Sme is a daily paper that is widely read and influential. Pravda is another widely read paper in our country. They both, as well as the other quality papers, contain a great variety of national and international news, reports from parliamentary debates, reviews of the arts, features about fashion and sport and business news. The best selling daily, however, is the tabloid Nový Čas, which doesn’t really publish any serious material. In this type of papers you mostly read about sex scandals and money, then there are advertisements, different competitions and some home news. Both types of the papers, quality ones and tabloids, pay special attention to the reporting of sports.

Magazines are printed weekly or monthly and are for women, man or teenagers, for people interested in various kinds of sports and hobbies, such as gardening, cars, tennis, knitting and many more.

Although the definition of the mass media does not cover it, it is important to mention the Internet. Nowadays many people do not hear the latest news from the TV or read about it in the papers but on the Internet. You can find there even older articles of your interest and many people would say that it is even easier than reading the papers.

However, the Internet is not only access to any type of information from the latest news to opening hours or details about products or services. These days, more and more people use e-mail to communicate and send information or documents. Many Slovaks use the Internet as a form of entertainment. Chatting, joining different discussion groups and reading blogs is becoming very popular, especially among the young.

The negative impact of television and the Internet

For many people the TV or the Internet are the only ways of entertaining themselves. The sick, the unemployed, the disabled or lonely people normally watch it much more than people who have families or who are busy.

However, there are people, especially children and the youth, who are obsessed with watching the TV or surfing the Internet several hours a day. It damages their eyesight and prevents them from doing sports or being outside. It can also prevent family members from communicating with each other and it is also one of the reasons why people do not read as many books as they did before.

Použitá literatúra:

Bérešová, J. a kol.: Nová maturita z angličtiny, Aktuell, 2005

Billíková, A., Preložníková, S. Angličtina – nová maturita – vyššia úroveň. Enigma, 2008.