Unit 12. Text I What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream 联系客服

发布时间 : 星期四 文章Unit 12. Text I What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream更新完毕开始阅读fc68877c172ded630a1cb643

【Unit 1】Text I What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream

not radically different. They interact, which is why people go up and back quite easily among them.4 You want to study the media the way, say5, a scientist would study some complex molecule6 or something. You take a look at its internal institutional structure and then make some hypothesis based on the structure as to7

或情况。

4

My impression is the media aren’t very different from scholarship or from, say,

journals of intellectual opinion – there are some extra constraints – but it’s not radically different. They interact, which is why people go up and back quite easily among them.

In what way are the media similar to academic world?

We can study the media the way a scientist would study some complex molecule. First we look at its internal institutional structure and then make some hypothesis about the media product, which we then investigate and see how well it conforms to the hypothesis. Finally we make the analysis. Paraphrase the sentence.

My impression is that the media aren‘t very different from the academic world or from, say, journals that publishes intellectual opinions. Although there are some extra constraints on the media but the difference is not huge. These fields interact with each other, which is why people switch their work quite easily among them.

5

say: to suggest or give sth as an example or a possibility 比方说;假设 掌握基本知识。

● You could learn the basics in, let‘s say, three months. 比方说,三个月你就可以● Let‘s take any writer, say (= for example) Dickens… 我们随便举一个作家为

例,比如说狄更斯……

● Say you lose your job: what would you do then? 假设你把工作丢了,那你怎么

办呢?

6

molecule: (chemistry) the smallest unit, consisting of a group of atoms, into which a

substance can be divided without a change in its chemical nature 分子 (P6) ● A molecule of water consists of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen.

水分子由两个氢原子和一个氧原子构成。 molecular: adj.

● molecular structure/biology 分子结构/生物学

7

as to sth | as regards sth: used when you are referring to sth 关于;至于

● As to tax, that will be deducted from your salary. 至于税款,将从你薪水中扣

5

【Unit 1】Text I What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream

what the media product is likely to look like. Then you investigate the media product and see how well it conforms to8 the hypotheses. Virtually9 all work in media analysis is this last part – trying to study carefully just what the media product is and whether it conforms to obvious assumptions about the nature and structure of the media.

【3】Well, what do you find? First of all, you find that there are different media which do different things, like the entertainment/Hollywood, soap operas10, and so on, or even most of the newspapers in the country (the overwhelming majority of them). They are directing the mass audience.

【4】There is another sector of the media, the elite media11, sometimes called the

除。

8

conform to sth: to agree with or match sth 相一致;相符合;相吻合 political opinions.

● Wordsworth changed the ideas of his poem to conform with his later religious and ● It did not conform to the usual stereotype of an industrial city. 这和一座常规的

工业城市那种千篇一律的格局不一样。

9

virtually:

多;事实上;实际上

1) almost or very nearly, so that any slight difference is not important 几乎;差不● This year‘s results are virtually the same as last year‘s. 今年的结果几乎和去年

的一样。

2) (computing) by the use of computer software that makes sth appear to exist; using

virtual reality technology 模拟;虚拟;以模拟现实技术

10

soap opera: (also informal soap) a story about the lives and problems of a group of

people which is broadcast every day or several times a week on television or radio 肥皂剧

● the longest-running soap opera on British television

11

the elite media

The elite media is a term used to describe newspapers, radio stations, TV channels and other media that influence the political agenda of other mass media. According to Noam Chomsky, ―the elite media set a framework within which others operate.‖ The New York Times is used as an example of elite media by both Chomsky, a left-wing intellectual, and Bill O‘Reilly, a right-wing commentator. Thus the term denotes a

6

【Unit 1】Text I What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream

agenda-setting media because they are the ones with the big resources, they set the framework in which everyone else operates. The New York Times12 and CBS13, that kind of thing.14 Their audience is mostly privileged people. The people

structural position within the mass media, rather than a particular political agenda. However, the term, like its sibling term ―liberal elites‖, may be used by conservatives in a pejorative context.

12

The New York Times (www.nytimes.com)

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization. Its website is the most popular American online newspaper website, receiving more than 30 million unique visitors per month. The print version of the paper remains both the largest local metropolitan newspaper in the United States, as well the third largest newspaper overall, behind The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

13

CBS (www.cbs.com)

CBS Broadcasting Inc. (CBS) is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network‘s former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. It is the second largest broadcaster in the world behind the BBC. The network is sometimes referred to as the ―Eye Network‖ in reference to the shape of the company‘s logo. It has also been called the ―Tiffany Network‖, which alludes to the perceived high quality of CBS programming during the tenure of its founder William S. Paley (1901–90). It can also refer to some of CBS‘s first demonstrations of color television, which were held in a former Tiffany & Co. building in New York City in 1950, thus earning it the name ―Color broadcasting system‖ back when such a feat was innovative.

14

There is another sector of the media, the elite media, sometimes called the

agenda-setting media because they are the ones with the big resources, they set the framework in which everyone else operates. The New York Times and CBS, that kind of thing.

Why are the elite media also called the “agenda-setting” media?

The elite media are sometimes called the ―agenda-setting‖ media because they are the ones with the big resources, they set the framework in which everyone else in the industry operates. Their audience is mostly privileged people, who are wealthy and often involved in the political system. They are the top-level decision-making people

7

【Unit 1】Text I What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream

who read The New York Times – people who are wealthy or part of what is sometimes called the political class – they are actually involved in the political system in an ongoing15 fashion. They are basically managers of one sort16 or another. They can be political managers, business managers (like corporate executives or that sort of thing), doctoral managers (like university professors), or other journalists who are involved in organizing the way people think and look at things.17

【5】The elite media set a framework within which others operate. If you are watching

who are capable of organizing the way people think and look at things.

15

ongoing: adj. continuing to exist or develop 持续存在的;仍在进行的;不断发

展的

● an ongoing debate/discussion/process 持续的辩论/讨论/过程 ● The police investigation is ongoing. 警方的调查在持续进行中。

16

sort: a group or type of people or things that are similar in a particular way SYN

kind

● For dessert there's a fruit pie of some sort (= you are not sure what kind). 甜点是

一种水果派。

● Most people went on training courses of one sort or another (= of various types) last year. 多数人去年都上过这样那样的培训班。

● (informal) There were snacks—peanuts, olives, that sort of thing. 有各种小吃—

—花生米、橄榄什么的。

● (informal) There are all sorts of activities (= many different ones) for kids at the campsite. 在营地有为孩子们组织的各种各样的活动。

● (informal) What sort of price did you want to pay? (= approximately how much) 你想出什么样的价?

● (informal) What sort of time do you call this? (= I‘m very angry that you have

come so late.) 你看看这都什么时候了?

17

They can be political managers, business managers (like corporate executives

or that sort of thing), doctoral managers (like university professors), or other journalists who are involved in organizing the way people think and look at things.

They can be people who manage political affairs, corporate executives or other types of business managers, scholars, or journalists who engage themselves in analyzing things and influencing the way people think and look at things.

8