【Unit 1】2. Text I What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream

Warm-up

◆What is media? How do you understand the term? Define the term with your

partner within 50 words.

1.Cambridge: newspapers, magazines, radio and television considered as a group

2.Oxford: the main ways that large numbers of people receive information and

entertainment, that is television, radio, newspapers and the Internet.

3.Wikipedia: In communications, media (singular medium) are the storage and

transmission channels or tools used to store and deliver information or data. It is often referred to as synonymous with mass media or news media, but may refer to

a single medium used to communicate any data for any purpose.

◆Do you know the following terms related to “media”? Illustrate them with

some examples.

1.Advertising media: various media, content, buying and placement for advertising

2.Broadcast media: communications delivered over mass electronic communication

networks, e.g. TV, radio

3.Digital media: electronic media used to store, transmit, and receive digitized

information, e.g. Internet

4.Hypermedia: media with hyperlinks, e.g. Internet

5.Mass media: all means of mass communications

6.Multimedia: communications that incorporate multiple forms of information

content and processing, e.g. Internet (including text, audio, still images, animation, video footage or interactivity)

7.New media: a broad term encompassing the amalgamation of traditional media

with the interactive power of computer and communications technology, e.g.

Internet, websites, computer multimedia,

8.News media: mass media focused on communicating news, e.g.

https://www.360docs.net/doc/f714901953.html,

9.Print media: communications delivered via paper or canvas (paper-based

publication), e.g. magazine, newspaper

10.Published media: any media made available to the public

11.Social media: media disseminated through social interaction, e.g. https://www.360docs.net/doc/f714901953.html,,

Facebook, Twitter

◆What types of media do mainstream media encompass? Why do you think

mainstream media are controlled by and what is the motive for controlling?

◆Recently a complaint posted on Sina weibo, a popular micro-blogging

website in China, about a Sanya seafood restaurant overcharging tourists has triggered controversy among Web users. How does micro-blogging affect the society in terms of the freedom of information? How is it different from the traditional media?

The seafood stall/restaurant with the sky high prices exposed by 罗迪微博: 朋友一家3口前天在三亚吃海鲜，3个普通菜被宰近4000元。他说是被出租车司机推荐来的。邻座一哥们指着池里一条大鱼刚问价，店家手脚麻利将鱼捞出摔晕，一称11斤，每斤580元共6000多元。那哥们刚想说理，出来几个东北大汉，只好收声认栽。别说服务水平了，连最基本的诚信都做不到，遑论国际旅游岛。——罗迪微薄(2012年1月28日)

(More information about the news is available at the following webpage: https://www.360docs.net/doc/f714901953.html,/2012/02/sanya-restaurants-ripping-off-customers-fle ecing-tourists/)

Do you know any other event that has got a lot of media exposure in China or the world? Try to uncover the real reasons why it got so much attention.

What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream

Noam Chomsky1

【1】Part of the reason why I write about the media is because I am interested in the whole intellectual culture, and the part of it that is easiest to study is the media. It comes out every day. You can do a systematic investigation. You can compare yesterd ay‘s version to today‘s version. There is a lot of evidence about what‘s played up2and what isn‘t and the way things are structured.

【2】My impression is the media aren’t very different from scholarship or from, say, journals of intellectual opinion – there are some extra constraints3–but it’s

1Avram Noam Chomsky

Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, and activist. He is a Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the ―father of modern linguistics‖ and a major figure of analytic philosophy. His work has influenced fields such as computer science, mathematics, and psychology. According to the Arts and Humanities Citation Index in 1992, Chomsky was cited as a source more often than any other living scholar from 1980 to 1992, and was the eighth most cited source overall.

2play sth up: to try to make sth seem more important than it is 夸大…的重要性；渲染(P6) SYN overplay OPP play down

play up | play sb up: (informal, especially BrE) to cause sb problems or pain （给某人）添麻烦；使痛苦

●The kids have been playing up all day. 孩子们整天价惹麻烦。

●My shoulder is playing me up today. 我的肩膀今天疼起来了。

3constraint vs.limit vs. restriction vs. control vs. restraint vs. limitation

These are all words for sth that limits what you can do or what can happen. 以上各词均表示限制或限定。

constraint: (rather formal) a fact or decision that limits what you can do 指限制、限定、约束：

●We have to work within severe constraints of time and money. 我们必须在时间

紧迫、资金紧绌的限制下工作。

limit: the greatest or smallest amount of sth that is allowed 指极限、限量、限额

●The EU has set strict limits on pollution levels. 欧盟对污染程度订下了严格的

限制。

●the speed limit 速度限制

restriction: (rather formal) a rule or law that limits what you can do 指限制规定、限制法规

●There are no restrictions on the amount of money you can withdraw. 取款没有限

额。

control: (often in compounds) the act of limiting or managing sth; a method of doing this （常构成复合词）指限制、约束、管理、管制

●arms control 军备控制

restraint: (rather formal) a decision, a rule, an idea, etc. that limits what you can do; the act of limiting sth because it is necessary or sensible to do so 指约束力、管制措施、制约因素、控制、限制

●The government has imposed export restraints on some products. 政府对一些产

品实行了出口控制。

●The unions are unlikely to accept any sort of wage restraint.工会不大可能接受

任何形式的工资限制。

limitation: the act or process of limiting sth; a rule, fact or condition that limits sth 指限制、控制、起限制作用的规则、事实或条件

●They would resist any limitation of their powers. 他们会抵制对他们权力的任何

限制。

Restriction, constraint, restraint or limitation?

These are all things that limit what you can do. A restriction is rule or law that is made by sb in authority. A constraint is sth that exists rather than sth that is made, although it m ay exist as a result of sb‘s decision. A restraint is also sth that exists: it can exist outside yourself, as the result of sb else‘s decision; but it can also exist inside you, as a fear of what other people may think or as your own feeling about what is acceptable.以上各词均表示限制规定。restriction 指掌权者所作的限制规定或法规。constraint 指现存的、也可能是由于某人的决定而存在的限制或约束。restraint 亦指现存的限制或制约因素，可能是由于他人的决定而存在于自身之外的限制，也可能是由于担心别人的想法而自设的限制。

●moral/social/cultural restraints 道德╱社会╱文化制约因素

A limitation is more general and can be a rule that sb makes or a fact or condition that exists. limitation 较通用，可指人为的规定，也可指客观存在的构成限制的事实

not radically different. They interact, which is why people go up and back quite easily among them.4You want to study the media the way, say5, a scientist would study some complex molecule6or something. You take a look at its internal institutional structure and then make some hypothesis based on the structure as to7

或情况。

4My 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.

5say: to suggest or give sth as an example or a possibility 比方说；假设

●You could learn the basics in, let‘s say, three months. 比方说，三个月你就可以

掌握基本知识。

●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？

6molecule: (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

7as 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

what the media product is likely to look like. Then you investigate the media product and see how well it conforms to8the hypotheses. Virtually9all 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。

8conform to sth: to agree with or match sth 相一致；相符合；相吻合

●Wordsworth changed the ideas of his poem to conform with his later religious and

political opinions.

●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。

9virtually:

1)almost or very nearly, so that any slight difference is not important 几乎；差不

多；事实上；实际上

●This y ear‘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

10soap 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

11the 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, ―t he 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 i ntellectual, and Bill O‘Reilly, a right-wing commentator. Thus the term denotes a

agenda-setting media because they are the ones with the big resources, they set the framework in which everyone else operates. The New York Times12and CBS13, that kind of thing.14Their 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.

12The New York Times (https://www.360docs.net/doc/f714901953.html,)

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.

13CBS (https://www.360docs.net/doc/f714901953.html,)

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.

14There 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

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 ongoing15fashion. They are basically managers of one sort16or 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.

15ongoing: 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。

16sort: 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？

17They 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.

the Associated Press18, who grind out19 a constant flow of news, in the mid-afternoon it breaks and there is something that comes along every day that says ―Notice to Editors: To morrow‘s New York Times is going to have the following stories on the front page.‖The point of that is, if you‘re an editor of a newspaper in Dayton, Ohio and you don‘t have the resources to figure out what the news is, or you don‘t want to think about it anyway, this tells you what the news is. These are the stories for the quarter page that you are going to devote to something other than local affairs or diverting20your audience.21These are the stories that you put there because that‘s what The New York Times tells us is what you‘re supposed to care about

18The Associated Press (https://www.360docs.net/doc/f714901953.html,)

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists. Many newspapers and broadcasters outside the United States are AP subscribers, paying a fee to use AP material without being contributing members of the cooperative.

As of 2005, the news collected by the AP is published and republished by more than 1,700 newspapers, in addition to more than 5,001 television and radio broadcasters. The photograph library of the AP consists of over 10 million images. The Associated Press operates 243 news bureaus, and it serves at least 120 countries, with an international staff located all over the world.

19grind out: to produce with great efforts 努力地制造出(P6)

grind sth out/ grind out sth: to produce sth in large quantities, often sth that is not good or interesting 大量生产（尤指粗制滥造）SYN churn out

●She grinds out romantic novels at the rate of five a year. 她以一年五部的速度

胡乱拼凑低劣的爱情小说。

20divert: to take sb‘s thoughts or attention aw ay from sth 转移（某人）的注意力；使分心SYN distract

●The war diverted people‘s attention away from the economic situation. 战争把民

众的注意力从经济状况上移开了。

21These are the stories for the quarter page that you are going to devote to something other than local affairs or diverting your audience.

These stories are neither about local affairs nor employed to distract your audience‘s attention. Rather, they are the stories that you will save for publishing in the most noticeable section of the newspaper.

tomorrow. If you are an editor in Dayton, Ohio, you would sort of22have to do that, because you don‘t have much else in the way of resources. If you get off line23, if you‘re producing stories that the big press doesn‘t like, you‘ll hear about it pretty soon. In fact, what just happened at San Jose Mercury News24is a dramatic example

22sort of: (informal)

1)to some extent but in a way that you cannot easily describe 有几分；有那么一点

●?Do you understand?‘ ?Sort of.‘ “你懂了吗？”“有点懂了。”

2)(also sort of like) (BrE, informal) used when you cannot think of a good word to

use to describe sth, or what to say next 可以说，可说是

●We‘re sort of doing it the wrong way. 我们的方法好像有点不对头。

23get off line: to become strayed from the guidelines or rules 偏离正轨(P6)

24Garry Webb and “Dark Alliance” series (The San Jose Mercury News)

Gary Webb (1955-2004) was a Pulitzer prize-winning American investigative journalist. Webb was best known for his 1996 ―Dark Alliance‖ series of articles written for the San Jose Mercury News and later published as a book.

In the three-part series, Webb investigated Nicaraguans linked to the CIA-backed Contras who had allegedly smuggled cocaine into the U.S. Webb charged that the Reagan administration shielded inner-city drug dealers from prosecution in order to raise money for the Contras. Webb‘s reporting generated fierce controversy, and the San Jose Mercury News backed away from the story, effectively ending Webb's career as a mainstream media journalist. In 2004, Webb was found dead from two gunshot wounds to the head, which the coroner's office judged a suicide.

(For more information about the ―Dark Alliance‖ series, you may go to http://www.mega.nu/ampp/webb.html)

1996年8月，《圣荷西信使报》刊登了加里.韦伯（Gary Webb）的系列调查报告《黑暗的联盟》，指八十年代在向洛杉矶运送和贩卖可卡因的尼加拉瓜贩毒组织将贩毒获利用于资助尼加拉瓜反政府武装，而后者一直得到美国中央情报局支持。虽然韦伯没有直接宣称中情局通过协助贩毒来为尼加拉瓜反政府武装提供资助，但他认为对于可卡因的向美国境内的大规模运输和交易，中情局是知情的。文章刊登之后，舆论哗然。《华盛顿邮报》、《洛杉矶时报》、《纽约时报》等纷纷刊登文章否认贩毒组织和尼加拉瓜反对派之间存在联系。八个月之后的1997年5月，曾对《黑暗的联盟》给予高度评价的《圣荷西信使报》的主编杰利·塞珀斯宣布该文内容失实。而加里·韦伯也被重新分配到距离其住150英里之外的办公室工作，因此他不得不于同年12月从该报社辞职。

of this. So there are a lot of ways in which power plays can drive you right back into line25if you move out. If you try to break the mold26, you’re not going to last long.27That framework works pretty well, and it is understandable that it is just a reflection of obvious power structures.

【6】The real mass media are basically trying to divert people. Let them do something else, but don’t bother us (us being the people who run the show). Let them get interested in professional sports, for example. Let everybody be crazed about28professional sports or sex scandals29or the personalities and their

25bring sb/sth, come, get, fall, etc. into line (with sb/sth): to behave or make sb/sth behave in the same way as other people or how they should behave 使一致；使规范；使符合；（和……）一致

●Britain must be brought into line with the rest of Europe on taxes. 英国必须在税

收上与其他欧洲国家保持一致。

26break the mold (AmE) /mould (BrE) (of sth): to change what people expect from a situation, especially by acting in a dramatic and original way 改变……模式；打破……模式

27So there are a lot of ways in which power plays can drive you right back into line if you move out. If you try to break the mold, you’re not going to last long. What would happen if a local newspaper published contents that the big press does not like?

If the local newspaper does not abide by the guidelines or rules set by the big press or the elite media, they will force it back on track in many ways with threatening or coercion. If the former try to break the rules, it would not be able to survive for very long.

28be crazed about: to have strong feelings and lack control with sth 为……狂热、着迷(P6)

craze: n. ~ (for sth) an enthusiastic interest in sth that is shared by many people but that usually does not last very long; a thing that people have a craze for（通常为一时的）狂热，疯狂；风行一时的东西SYN fad

●the latest fitness craze to sweep the country 最近风靡全国的健身热

crazed: adj. ~ (with sth) (formal) full of strong feelings and lacking control 疯狂的；发狂的

●crazed with fear/grief/jealousy 害怕/伤心/嫉妒得发疯

problems or something like that. Anything, as long as it isn’t serious. Of course, the serious stuff is for the big guys. “We” take care of that.30

【7】What are the elite media, the agenda-setting ones? The New York Times and CBS, for example. Well, first of all, they are major, very profitable, corporations. Furthermore, most of them are either linked to, or outright31owned by, much bigger corporations, like General Electric, Westinghouse, and so on. They are way32up at

29scandal:behaviour or an event that people think is morally or legally wrong and causes public feelings of shock or anger 丑行；使人震惊的丑事；丑闻

●to cause/create a scandal 引发丑闻

●The scandal broke (= became known to the public) in May. 这桩丑闻是在五月

份曝光的。

●There has been no hint of scandal during his time in office. 他在任期间没有任

何丑闻。

30The real mass media are basically trying to divert people. Let them do something else, but don’t bother us (us being the people who run the show). Let them get interested in professional sports, for example. Let everybody be crazed about professional sports or sex scandals or the personalities and their problems or something like that. Anything, as long as it isn’t serious. Of course, the serious stuff is for the big guys. “We” take care of that.

Who do “us” refer to?

The top-level decision-making people in the society, i.e. people from elite institutions, big corporations or the government.

What do the real mass media try to divert people with?

The real mass media try to divert people‘s attention with something not serious, such as professional sports, sex scandals or the personalities and their problems or something like that.

What is the “serious stuff” that the big guys are taking care of?

Something serious such as politics, business or economy, which reflects the interests of elite institutions, big corporations or the government.

31outright:adj. & adv. complete and total 完全的（地）(P6)

●She was the outright winner. 她是绝对的优胜者。

●Neither candidate won outright. 两个候选人谁也没干脆利落地获胜。

32way: (used with a preposition or an adverb) very far; by a large amount 很远；大

the top of the power structure of the private economy which is a very tyrannical33 structure. Corporations are basically tyrannies, hierarchic34, controlled from above. If you don‘t like what they are doing you get out. The major media are j ust part of that system.

【8】What about their institutional setting? Well, that‘s more or less the same. What they interact with and relate to35is other major power centers –the government,

量

●The price is way above what we can afford. 这价格大大超过了我们的支付能

力。

33tyrannical:adj. using power or authority over people in an unfair and cruel way 暴君的；专横的；残暴的SYN autocratic, dictatorial

●He was brought up by a cruel and tyrannical father.

● a father tyrannizing his children

●The children had no protection against the tyranny of their father.

●His boss is a complete tyrant.

34hierarchy (pl. hierarchies): n.

1) a system, especially in a society or an organization, in which people are organized

into different levels of importance from highest to lowest 等级制度（尤指社会或组织）

●She‘s quite high up in the management hierarchy. 她位居管理层要职。

2)the group of people in control of a large organization or institution 统治集团

3)(formal) a system that ideas or beliefs can be arranged into 层次体系

● a hierarchy of needs 不同层次的需要

hierarchical: adj. arranged in a hierarchy 按等级划分的；等级制度的

● a hierarchical society/structure/organization 分等级的社会/结构/组织

35relate to sth/sb:

1)to be connected with sth/sb; to refer to sth/sb 涉及；与……相关；谈到

●We shall discuss the problem as it relates to our specific case. 我们应针对我们

的具体情况来讨论这个问题。

●The second paragraph relates to the situation in Scotland. 第二段谈到苏格兰的

形势。

2)to be able to understand and have sympathy with sb/sth 能够理解并同情；了解；

体恤SYN empathize with

other corporations, or the universities. Because the media are a doctrinal36system they interact closely with the universities. Say you are a reporter writing a story on Southeast Asia or Africa, or something like that. You‘re supposed to go over to the big university and find an expert who will tell you what to write, or else go to one of the foundations, like Brookings Institute or American Enterprise Institute and they will give you the words to say. These outside institutions are very similar to the media.

【9】The universities, for example, are not independent institutions. There may be independent people scattered around in them but that is true of the media as well. And it’s generally true of corporations. It’s true of Fascist states37, for that matter38.39But the institution itself is parasitic40. It‘s dependent on outside sources

●Many adults can‘t relate to children. 许多成年人并不了解儿童的想法。

●Our product needs an image that people can relate to. 我们的产品需要一个大家

能理解的形象。

36doctrinal:adj. (formal) relating to a doctrine or doctrines 教义的，学说的(P6) ●the doctrinal position of the English church 英国国教教义的地位

●(disapproving) a rigidly doctrinal approach 硬搬教条的方法

37Fascist states: countries that follow fascism 法西斯国家(P6)

fascism (also Fascism): an extreme right-wing political system or attitude which is in favour of strong central government and which does not allow any opposition 法西斯主义

38for that matter:used to add a comment on sth that you have just said就此而论；在这方面

●I didn‘t like it much. Nor did the kids, for that matter. 我不怎么喜欢它。孩子们

也同样不喜欢。

39The universities, for example, are not independent institutions. There may be independent people scattered around in them but that is true of the media as well. And it’s generally true of corporations. It’s true of Fascist states, for that matter. In what way are the universities similar to the media, corporations or Fascist states? All of them are dependent institutions, relying on outside sources of support and those sources of support, such as private wealth, big corporations with grants and the government.

Whom do “independent people” refer to? What are they likely to end up with?

They are the ones who are cap able of independent thinking, who don‘t internalize the

of support and those sources of support, such as private wealth, big corporations with grants, and the government (which is so closely interlinked with corporate power you can barely distinguish them), they are essentially what the universities are in the middle of41. People within them, who don‘t adjust to42that structure, who don‘t accept it and internalize43it (you can‘t really work with it unless you internalize it, and believe it); people who don‘t do that are likely to be weeded out44along the way, starting from kindergarten, all the way up. There are all sorts of filtering45devices

framework of belief and attitudes of the surrounding power system in the society. They are likely to end up with being removed from the system.

40parasitic: (also less frequent parasitical) (of a person) always relying on or benefiting from other people and giving nothing back 寄生的(P6)

●She lives a parasitic existence, constantly borrowing money from her friends.

41be in the middle of sth/of doing sth: to be busy doing sth 忙于做

●They were in the middle of dinner when I called. 我打电话的时候，他们正在吃

饭呢。

●I‘m in the middle of writing a difficult letter. 我正在写一封很难写的信。

42adjust to sth/to doing sth | adjust yourself to sth: to get used to a new situation by changing the way you behave and/or think 适应；习惯SYN adapt

●After a while his eyes adjusted to the dark.

●It took her a while to adjust to living alone.

●You'll quickly adjust yourself to student life.

43internalize: (technical) to make a feeling, an attitude, or a belief part of the way you think and behave 使（感情、态度或信仰）成为思想行为的一部分；使内在化●Minority groups tend to internalize the values of the dominant society. COMPARE externalize: (formal) to show what you are thinking and feeling by what you say or do（以言行）表达；使（思想、感情）表露出来

●His worries about losing his job were externalized in angry outbursts at home.

44weed out:to remove or get rid of (people or things) from a group because they are not wanted or are less good than the rest 清除；淘汰(P6)

●Most applicants get weeded out before the interview stage.

45filter: to pass liquid, light, etc. through a special device, especially to remove sth that is not wanted 过滤

●Use a sun block that filters UV A effectively. 使用能有效滤掉紫外线的防晒霜。

●(figurative) My secretary is very good at filtering my calls (= making sure that

to get rid of people who are a pain in the neck46and think independently.47 Those of you who have been through college know that the educational system is very highly geared to48rewarding conformity and obedience; if you don‘t do that, you are a troublemaker. So, it is kind of a filtering device which ends up with people who really honestly (they aren’t lying) internalize the framework of belief and attitudes of the surrounding power system in the society.49The elite institutions like, say, Harvard and Princeton and the small upscale50colleges, for example, are very much geared to socialization51. If you go through a place like Harvard, most of what goes on there is teaching manners; how to behave like a member of the upper classes, how to think the right thoughts, and so on.

calls that I do not want do not get through). 我的秘书很会替我过滤我的电话。46a pain in the neck: sth/sb that is unpleasant to deal with 令人讨厌的人或事(P6) (BrE also a pain in the arse/backside) (AmE also a pain in the ass/butt)

47There are all sorts of filtering devices to get rid of people who are a pain in the neck and think independently.

What are the filtering devices?

For example, the elite educational system from kindergarten all the way up to college, in which only some people can stay who really honestly internalize the framework of belief and attitudes of the power system in the society.

48gear sth to/towards sth: to make, change or prepare sth so that it is suitable for a particular purpose 适应(P6)

●The course had been geared towards the specific needs of its members. 课程已

作调整，以满足学员的特别需要。

49So, it is kind of a filtering device which ends up with people who really honestly (they aren’t lying) internalize the framework of belief and attitudes of the surrounding power system in the society.

So, it is like a filtering device which ends up with people who accept as their own without any doubts the key belief and attitudes of the power system influencing their social surroundings.

50upscale: (= BrE upmarket) adj. designed for or used by people who belong to a high social class or have a lot of money 高档的；高级的OPP downscale (= BrE downmarket)

51socialization:(formal) the process by which sb, especially a child, learns to behave in a way that is acceptable in their society 适应社会的过程；社会化

【10】Okay, you look at the structure of that whole system. What do you expect the news to be like? Well, it‘s pretty obvious. Take The New York Times. It‘s a corporation and sells a product. The product is audiences. They don‘t make money when you buy the newspaper. They are happy to put it on the worldwide web for free. They actually lose money when you buy the newspaper. But the audience is the product. The product is privileged people, just like the people who are writing the newspapers, you know, top-level52decision-making people in society. You have to sell a product to a market, and the market is, of course, advertisers (that is, other businesses). Whether it is television or newspapers, or whatever, they are selling audiences. Corporations sell audienc es to other corporations. In the case of the elite media, it‘s big businesses.

【11】Well, what do you expect to happen? What would you predict about the nature of the media product, given53that set of circumstances? What would be the null54 hypothesis55, the kind of conjecture56that you’d make assuming nothing

52top-level: involving the most important or best people in a company, an organization or a sport（公司、机构或运动人员中）最重要的，最优秀的

● a top-level meeting 最高级会谈

●top-level tennis 顶级网球比赛

53given: prep. when you consider sth 考虑到；鉴于

●Given his age (= considering how old he is), he's remarkably active. 考虑到他的

年龄，他已是相当活跃的了。

●Given her interest in children, teaching seems the right job for her. 考虑到她喜

欢孩子，教书看来是很适合她的工作。

given that: conj.

●It was surprising the government was re-elected, given that they had raised taxes

so much. 令人惊奇的是政府把税收提高这么多仍再次当选了。

54null: adj. (technical) having the value zero 零值的；等于零的

● a null result 毫无结果

null and void: (law) (of an election, agreement, etc.) having no legal force; not valid 无法律效力的；无效的

●The contract was declared null and void. 合同被宣布无效。

55null hypothesis: the idea that an experiment that is done using two groups of people will show the same results for each group 无效假设(P6)

The practice of science involves formulating and testing hypotheses, assertions that

further.57The obvious assumption is that the product of the media, what appears, what doesn‘t appear, the way it is slanted58, will reflect the interest of the buyers and sellers, the institutions, and t he power systems that are around them. If that wouldn‘t

are capable of being proven false using a test of observed data. The null hypothesis typically corresponds to a general or default position. For example, the null hypothesis might be that there is no relationship between two measured phenomena or that a potential treatment has no effect.

56conjecture: n. an opinion or idea that is not based on definite knowledge and is formed by guessing 猜想(P6) SYN guess

●The truth of his conjecture was confirmed by the newspaper report. 新闻报道证

明了他的推测果然不假。

57What would be the null hypothesis, the kind of conjecture that you’d make assuming nothing further.

The null hypothesis that the nature of the media product (i.e. the audience) has nothing to do with the internal institutional structure of the media can bring us nowhere, since it is the kind of proposition that you would not make any further and more assumptions.

58slanted: adj. tending to be in favour of one person or thing in a way that may be unfair to others 有倾向性的(P6)

● a biased and slanted view of events 对事件有失公正、带倾向性的观点slant: v.

1)to slope or to make sth slope in a particular direction or at a particular angle（使）

倾斜，歪斜

●(literary) The sun slanted through the window. 太阳斜照进窗户。

2)(sometimes disapproving) to present information based on a particular way of

thinking, especially in an unfair way 有倾向性地陈述；有偏向地报道

●The findings of the report had been slanted in favour of the manufacturers. 报告

中的调查结果偏袒制造商。

n.

1) a sloping position 倾斜；歪斜；斜线；斜面

●The sofa faced the fire at a slant. 沙发斜对着壁炉。

2) a way of thinking about sth, especially one that shows support for a particular

opinion or side in a disagreement（有倾向性的）观点，态度

●She put a new slant on the play. 她对那出戏提出了一种新的见解。

happen, it would be kind of59a miracle.

59kind of: (informal) (also kinda) slightly; in some ways

●That made me feel kind of stupid. 那使我感到有点儿愚蠢。

●I like him, kind of. 我有点儿喜欢他。

Other idioms with ―kind‖:

in kind:

1)(of a payment) consisting of goods or services, not money 以实物支付；以货代

款；以服务偿付

●As well as his salary, he gets benefits in kind.

2)(formal) with the same thing 以同样的方法（或手段）

●She insulted him and he responded in kind. 她侮辱了他，他也以其人之道还治

其人之身。

nothing of the kind/sort: used to emphasize that the situation is very different from what has been said 决不是那么回事，一点也不，才不哩；没有的事

●?I was terrible!‘ ?You were nothing of the kind.‘ “我那时糟透了！”“你才不哩。”of a kind:

1)(disapproving) not as good as it could be 不怎么样，徒有其名（指不如本应有

的那么好）

●You're making progress of a kind. 你也算是有点进步的。

2)very similar 同一类的；类似的

●They're two of a kind—both workaholics! 他们俩一个样——都是工作狂。one of a kind: the only one like this 独一无二；独特SYN unique

●My father was one of a kind—I‘ll never be like him. 我的父亲很独特——我决

不会像他的。

something of the/that kind: something like what has been said （与所言）类似的事物

●?He‘s resigning.‘ ?I‘d suspected something of the kind.‘ “他要辞职了。”“我料

到会有这样的事。”

Comprehension Check

◆Reading for general ideas (P7)

1.In Chomsky’s eyes, why are the media, as a part of the whole intellectual culture,

the easiest to study?

In Chomsky‘s opinion, the media come out everyday and permeate people‘s daily life. They can be regarded as representative of the whole intellectual culture, and with easy access to ample evidence, a systematic investigation is made possible.

2.According to Chomsky, what are the steps for studying the media, the way a

scientist would conduct research?

One can take a look at the media‘s internal institutional structure and then make some hypotheses based on the structure as to what the media product is likely to look like. Then one may investigate the media product and see how well it conforms to the hypothesis.

3.According to the text, what are the two major sectors of the media?

One is the mass media such as Hollywood productions and most of the newspapers in the country. The other is the elite media such as The New York Times and CBS.

4.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 are mostly privileged people, who are wealthy and often involved in the political system.

5.What would happen if a local newspaper published contents that the big press

does not like?

The big press or the elite media would drive the local newspaper right back into line if they moved out. If the latter tried to break the mold, it would not be able to survive for very long.

◆Reading for specific information (P7)

1.To Chomsky, it is almost impossible to study the media in the manner of

scholarship. ( F )

2.Almost all work in the media analysis is in making the assumptions about the

nature and structure of the media. ( F )