News and media – B1 English Vocabulary

News and media

In this Intermediate Vocabulary Lesson about News and Media, you will learn essential terms and phrases used in the world of journalism and broadcasting. The pictures, definitions and sentence examples below will help you understand and remember the terms.

Written Media

1 Print media is any type of mass publication that is printed on paper. Newspapers and magazines are both examples of print media.

• Print media is less popular than it was in the past.

A 2 magazine is a regular publication in the form of a thin book that contains articles and photographs on a particular topic. A 3 newspaper, or paper, on the other hand, is a daily or weekly publication on folded paper containing news articles and advertisements. There are various types of newspapers, and a 4 tabloid is a type of newspaper with small pages containing many photos and articles of a less serious nature.

• I read it in a science magazine.
• I read the news in the newspaper this morning.
• I don’t always believe what I read in the tabloids.

The 5 front page is the first page or cover of a newspaper, and anything that is front-page news is usually of great importance. A 6 headline, on the other hand, is the larger piece of writing at the top of an article that tells you what it is about. When a piece of news makes headlines, it becomes the main story in newspapers and media.

• The story was on the front page of every newspaper.
• Many people only read the headlines, so they are not really informed. 
• The scandal made headlines around the world.

An 7 article is a piece of writing on a particular topic that is published in a magazine or newspaper alongside other articles. A 8 blog post is like an article but is a more informal piece of writing that is published regularly in a blog.

• I read an interesting article on elephants.
• Tom writes a new blog post for his blog every week.

Television and Radio

When a show, speech or news report is 9 broadcast, it is sent out by radio waves so that it can be heard on the radio or on television. The word broadcast is also a noun to mean a piece of content that is broadcast on the radio or TV.

• The World Cup final will be broadcast live on several sports channels this Sunday.
• The morning news broadcast includes weather updates and traffic reports.

A 10 TV channel is a television station and the shows that it broadcasts, while a 11 radio station is a network that produces and broadcasts shows. A 12 programme (UK) or program (US) is another word for a show that is broadcast on television or radio.

• I listen to my favourite radio station while I drive to work.
• They show a lot of good shows on that TV channel.
• I watched an interesting programme on television last night.

13 An advertisement, or ad, is a message in a newspaper, online, on TV, or on a poster that tells people about a product, event, or job. A 14 commercial is the American word for ads broadcast on television or radio.

• I saw an advertisement in the paper for a second-hand bicycle.
• The problem with that channel is that there are too many commercials.

People in the media

15 The press is a collective word used to refer to the people who work in the media, such as journalists and photographers, and a 16 journalist is a person who researches, writes, and reports information through newspapers, magazines, television, radio, or online platforms.

• After the incident the press was all over the place.
• That journalist writes an article in the local newspaper every week.

A 17 listener is a person who listens to radio programmes, whereas a 18 viewer is a person who watches something on television. The 19 audience is a collective term for the viewers or listeners who watch or listen to a programme.

• The number of listeners has increased, since the station hired a new presenter.
• It’s a popular show with over 30 million viewers.
• We have an important message for our audience.

20 Paparazzi are photographers who follow famous people to take photos of them. A 21 cameraman, on the other hand, is someone who films programmes, ads, or reports for television, cinema, etc.

• The paparazzi were waiting outside the actor’s house.
• The cameraman told me to act natural, and behave as I normally would.

A 22 presenter is a person who presents a programme on radio or television, and a 23 host is a type of presenter that talks to guests on a programme.

• That man is a presenter on the 5 o’clock news.
• The host welcomed the two guests to the show.

A 24 reporter is someone who collects information and reports news that is broadcast on radio or television. There are different types of reporters, and a sports reporter is a person who collects and delivers sports news, whereas a weather reporter is a person who reports the predicted weather to the public.

• The reporter was speaking live from the site of the disaster.
• As a sports reporter, Sam attends a lot of football matches.
• The weather reporter said that it would be sunny all weekend.

After completing the exercises in this lesson on News and Media, you can use the unit’s Vocabulary Flascards to revise and help you memorize the terms.