It may be some time before television sets become common in the average homes in Africa and Asia. However, radio is already rapidly becoming accessible to thousands of people in these areas. And, now that good radios are being made with transistors, and their price is gradually dropping because of mass production, it may not be" too long before radios become commonplace in areas which have no newspapers. Transistors make it possible for people to carry small radios wherever they go, without need of electric current. Even television sets are now operating on transistors, and the pocket TV may soon be as widespread
as the pocket radio.
Now that scientific progress is making it possible to send the news to all the
inhabitants of the earth, it will be important to consider what news is going to be sent to them. No matter what criteria are used in making the decision, a decision must be made, since no one would' have time to read or listen to an account of everything there is going on in the world!
People who have time to read several papers can already compare different reports of the same event. When an event has political significance, each paper reports it from the point of view of its own political beliefs or preferences. Ideally, of course, the expression of editorial opinion should be limited to the editorial page, and the news articles should be objective—telling the facts as completely as possible, without trying to give them a particular interpretation, or without otherwise trying to influence the reader's opinion. However, reporters and editors are only human, and if they have strong political beliefs it is almost impossible for them to hide them. If editors believe their point of view is best for the readers of their paper, what's to stop them from using the paper to try to influence public opinion? And if, some day, a world newspaper becomes a reality, will it be the most powerful press agencies that will choose the news to be sent out to all countries?
1. The expression "no man is an island" means that no man lives surrounded by water.
2. According to the author, it may not be long before people all over the world have access to newspapers.
3. The transferring of newspaper texts to film is time-consuming and costly.
4. Transistors are particularly useful because they are used in small radio and TV sets.
5. Television relays are often placed on a hilltop so that they can reach a satellite.
6. People are capable of knowing all the events going on in every part of the world.
7. If a world newspaper becomes a reality, it will take more responsibility for informing all the readers of the latest news in the world.
8. Newspapers have been published for about______.
9. Any television program could be transmitted to any part of the world by______.
10. It is ideal that the news articles______.
1. N 2. Y 3. N 4. Y 5. N 6. N 7. NG 8. 400 years 9. satellites 10. be objective
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