Newspaper Industry

Answer the following questions:

Which departments do common papers include?

What are the main steps in the process of getting out a newspaper?

Guess the meaning of the following words:

Study the following words and expressions:

Read and translate the text:

The departmental structure and staffing of a newspaper vary with its size. Obviously, a small-town weekly with only a half-dozen employees will not have the same arrangement as the New York Times. All papers, however, have certain common aspects. They have a publisher and are generally divided into three main departments. The publisher is in charge of the entire operation of the paper. He or she sets the paper's editorial policy and is responsible for the tone and overall personality of the newspaper. The three main departments at most newspapers are (1) business, (2) production, and (3) news-editorial.

In the news operation, the central position is that of the managing editor. The managing editor oversees the total day-by-day operation of the news department and coordinates the work of the several departments in the newsroom. The wire editor scans the thousands of words transmitted over the wires of the major news services, Associated Press and United Press International, and selects those stories most relevant to the paper, edits them, and adds headlines. The city editor supervises the newspaper's local coverage. He or she assigns stories to local "beat" reporters or general-assignment reporters. Beat reporters have a specified area to cover: city hall, courts, police station. General-assignment reporters handle a variety of stories, ranging all the way from fires and accidents to the local flower show. Many stories are "enterprisers," and are generated by the reporters themselves. The city editor also assigns photographers to go along with reporters on selected stories. The copy editor usually works inside a special U-shaped desk (called the slot) in the newsroom and supervises the editing, headline writing, and changes in stories submitted by local reporters.

.Finally, there are specialized departments in the paper that generally have their own editor and staff. These may vary from paper to paper, but typically they include the sports, business, family, real estate, and entertainment departments.

Getting out a newspaper is a twenty-four-hour-a-day job. News happens at all hours, and many stories happen unexpectedly. Not only that, news is perishable; it becomes less valuable as it ages. Trying to cope with the never-ending flow of news and the constant pressure to keep it fresh requires organization and coordination among the paper's staff. This section will illustrate the coordination by sketching how a newspaper gets published.

There are two basic sources of news copy: local reporting and the wire services. Early in the day, the wire editor will scan the output from the wire machines and flag possible stories for the day's paper. At the same time, the city editor is checking his or her notes and daily calendar and making story assignments to various reporters. The city editor must also keep track of the location of reporters in case a story breaks unexpectedly during the day and someone has to be pulled off a regular assignment to cover it. While all of this is going on, the managing editor is gauging the available space, called the newshole that can be devoted to news in that day's issue of the paper. This space will change according to the number of ads scheduled to appear on any one day. The more ads, the greater the number of pages that can be printed and the larger the newshole. The editor also checks over available material such as copy that didn't get into the edition of the paper it was meant for or copy that is timeless and can be used to fill space on an inside page.

As the day progresses, reporters return from assignments and write and store their news stories at a personal computer. These stories are "called up" by copy editors, who trim and make changes in the stories and code them for use in the paper. If, upon further reflection, the managing editor decides that the story is not newsworthy enough for inclusion, the story can be purged from the machine. The managing editor can also instruct the computer to store the copy for future use. The newsworthy stories are then processed by the design desk. Decisions about page makeup and the amount of space to be devoted to a story are made as the deadline for publication appears. Other decisions are made about the ratio of wire copy to local and state news. Photographs and other artwork are selected for inclusion; headlines are written; space is cleared for late-breaking stories; updates are inserted in breaking stories.

In the composing room, high-speed computerized photocomposition machines take electronic impulses and translate them into images and words. The stories are printed on strips of photographic paper. These strips then go to the makeup room where, along with ads, photos, artwork, and headlines, they are pasted up into full newspaper pages. Computers are now being developed to do this layout task. This pasted-up page looks and reads just like the final printed page. Throughout the day, each page in the paper, including the special sections such as sports, family, classifieds, entertainment, and so on, is pasted up. The paste-ups are taken to the camera room, where a photograph is made of the whole page. This results in a negative, which is sent to the platemaking area. An offset plate is made by placing the negative between glass and a sheet of photosensitive metal and exposing the plate to bright light.

As the plates are being readied, huge rolls of newsprint are threaded into the presses. The plates are then attached to the press, and the printing process begins. Finished and folded papers emerge from the press and are sent by conveyor belt to the distribution area. The distribution staff counts and bundles the newspapers and then hands them over to the circulation track drivers, who then deliver them to newsstands and carriers.

Ex.1. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the publisher in charge of ?

2. Who occupies the central position in the news operation?

3. What are the duties of the wire editor?

4. What is the city editor responsible for?

5. Where does the copy editor usually work?

6. What is the difference between “beat” reporters and general-assignment reporters?

7. What are two basic sources of news copy?

8. What is the main feature of news?

9. What happens in the composing room?

10. What is the camera room for?

Ex.2. Give Russian equivalents:

Ex.3. Give English equivalents:

Ex.4. Complete the table with appropriate forms of the words given:

Ex. 5. Match the words with their definitions:

Ex.6. Insert the words and phrases given into the sentences in their correct form:

1. ___ a newspaper is a twenty-four-a-day job.

2. The managing editor ___ the total day-by-day operation of the news department and ___ the work of the several departments in the newsroom.

3. General assignment reporters ___ a variety of stories, ranging all the way from ___ and ___ to the local flower show.

4. Trying to cope with the never-ending ___ and the constant pressure to keep it fresh requires organization and coordination among the paper’ staff.

5. The city editor must also ___ of the location of reporters in case a story breaks unexpectedly during the day and someone has to be pulled off a ___ to cover it.

6. As the day ___, reporters return from___ and write and store their news stories at a personal computer.

7. Decisions about page ___ and the amount of space to be devoted to a story are made as the ___ for publication appears.

8. The stories are printed on ___ of photographic paper.

9. These strips then go to the makeup room where along with ads, photos, artwork, and headlines, they ___ into full newspaper pages.

10. Finished and ___ papers emerge from the press and are sent by conveyer belt to the ___ area.

Ex.7.Translate from Russian into English:

1. Структура отделов и персонала газеты варьирует с её размерами.

2. Газеты имеют издателя и, в основном, делятся на три крупных отдела.

3. Выпуск газеты – это ежедневная 24-часовая работа.

4. Попытка справиться с бесконечным потоком новостей и постоянный прессинг, чтобы сохранить их свежими требует организации и координации персонала газеты.

5. Чем больше рекламы, тем больше число страниц, которое может быть напечатано и тем крупнее полосы без рекламы и объявлений.

6. В течение дня репортёры возвращаются с заданий, пишут и сохраняют свои новостные статьи на своих персональных компьютерах.

7. Эти статьи выводятся на дисплей литературными редакторами , которые урезают их, правят и кодируют для использования в газете.

8. Решения по поводу вёрстки страницы и количество места, которое будет отдано этой статье, принимаются, когда наступает последний срок для публикации.

9. Выбираются фотографии и другие иллюстрирующие материалы, пишутся заголовки, освобождается место для недавно случившихся историй, последняя информация включается в эти истории.

10. Полосы с историями поступают затем в цех вёрстки. где вместе с рекламой, фотографиями, иллюстрациями заголовками они наклеиваются на полные газетные листы.