The Role of the Mass Media.
My Favourite TV Programs and Personalities
 It’s
impossible to imagine our life without mass media. TV, radio, newspapers, magazines are
everywhere. Around us all the time, they have a strong influence on our mood, feelings,
ideas, attitudes to life and politics. But the mass media offer both advantages and
disadvantages.
 Of course,
radio, television and the press are valuable; not without reason are the mass media known
to be the fourth estate. Firstly, we always get the latest news, to say nothing of the
fact that we can get everything we want from the internet in a few minutes. Secondly,
weather forecasts can warn of different natural disasters; so the mass media help people
to avoid harm and losses. Then, there is the possibility of having a good time: it’s
wonderful to relax sitting in an armchair in front of the screen or reading some
newspapers. Nowadays, lots of entertaining, female, musical and fashion magazines, and
different TV and radio programs, help us to relax. But there are some drawbacks of the
mass media.
Sometimes I look at various newspapers and magazines, watch TV-news,
and I suppose the main disadvantage of them is the amount of negative information they
portray. Watching the news we learn primarily about wars, crimes, disasters and accidents.
I find gossip another minus of the mass media... To cut a long story short, all the
negative and false information can cause stress and a bad mood. And finally, TV and
computers have a harmful effect on people. The majority of teenagers don’t read books
and never visit theatres. I want to add that TV and computers can spoil one’s health.
Yet, the mass media have more pluses than minuses, in my opinion.
It’s a very interesting scope of activity, which has the possibility of making life
brighter. There are lots of intellectual TV programs nowadays; they are my favourites. I
like “What? Where? When?”, where I try to answer interesting questions, and
“Details” with Tina Kandelaki. By the way, she’s one of my favourite TV
personalities. This woman is an optimist; she’s cheerful, smart, communicative, pleasant
to look at, and she dialogues with splendid people on her program. I like Tina
Kandelaki’s bearing: she allows no familiarities, but also doesn’t look tense, she
speaks without teenager slang. The other TV personality I like is Andrei Maximov, who
seems to be a very intelligent, clever, charming and easy-tempered man. He always asks
interesting questions without approaching gossip. Maximov is also a playwright, a director
and a talented person. These people can be taken as models for future journalists.
By Yulya Gorshkova
11th grade,
School No. 204, Moscow
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