ESSAY WRITING: Are the media more powerful than politicians?

1. ESSAY WRITING: Are the media more powerful than politicians? Methodologie

2. TRAVAIL AU BROUILLON: MOBILISER LE LEXIQUE • Trois champs lexicaux seront mobilisés correspondant aux trois mots clés de la question: • POWERFUL • MEDIAS • POLITICIANS Il faut donc se créer une banque de mots pour éviter les répétitions.

3. Broadcast Release – diffuse – spread – disclose – reveal Media conglomerates – media lobbies Chief editor – a columnist – the press people A tycoon – a moghul THE internet Have the capacity, ability to Power – might – clout – strength Almighty – influential – potent Carry a lot of influence on Be under s.o’s spell Hold sway over Fall under the sway of Decision-maker – policy-makers Government – administration Party members Leader - leadership

4. Convoquer des structures langagières pertinentes • Le sujet vous amène à utiliser des comparatifs ou superlatifs: • In our media age news outlets play as important a role as politicians. • The role of the medias has become more and more essential / increasingly crucial. • The most influential medias are those with a wider audience or readership. • The least we can say is that the political clout of big medias is overemphasized.

5. Vous pourrez également avoir besoin d’exprimer la coercition: • Politicians in office makejournalists focus on whatismost favorable to them. • Journalistsmaymakereaders / listeners / viewersbelieveintoanything. • The presidenthad the journalistdelete the mostcritical / scathing part of hisfeature. Structures résultatives: Somejournalistsmaybrainwash people intoelecting one candidate. Politiciansmay talk reporters intochangingtheiraccounts or threatenthemout of releasingundesirable information.

6. Modalisation adverbiale • L’utilisation d’adverbes vous permet d’exprimer votre point de vue: • Ever since they grew in strength, medias have undoubtedly / undubitably / unquestionably / admittedly exerted much political power. • The collision between politicians and the medias indisputably / undeniably has a bearing / an impact upon poltical life.

7. Clarifier le propos par des mots de liaison. • As/ since / because / in so far as / in as much as / giventhattheyshape public opinion, the medias are bound to affect political agendas. • The medias enjoy a bewildering / tremendous / stunning power but / nonetheless / yet / howeverthey are not impervious to political manipulation. • Besides / moreover / whatis more soft news and entertainmentmayequallyshapepeople’spolitical opinions. • The internet has fostered new information outlets, hencethe ever-increasing influence of opinion-makers.

8. Writing an introduction Never giveyouranswer to the question in the introduction. There are different types of introductions: Topical introductions: The lastestpresidentialelections in Europe or on the American continent have evidenced a growingpresidentialization of the function. As presidents have to becharismaticfigureheads, the media play an increasingrole in shaping the president’s public image. Have theybecome more influentialthanpoliticians? Historical introductions: Several film-makers have denounced the almightiness of the medias in the 1930s at a time whennewspaperswhereamalgamatedintohugeconglomerates. In the 19th century, whensteam power printing presses becamewidespread and when the number of readersrocketed up, the medias started to gain politicalclout. In the age of mass media, we are thereforeentitled to believethat the media are more powerfulthanpoliticians. Is itactually the case?

9. Over-reaching introduction: The question whether opinion-makers are more powerful than policy-makers is as old as the hills. The media age has turned this question into a burning / hot button issue. Media ownership has been under scrutiny for decades now as the counter-power that is at the core of democracy is in the hands of very few almighty people. The relations between the media and democracy are worth exploring.

10. Ebaucher un plan • Contrairement aux dissertations françaises, les essais ne comprennent pas obligatoirement trois parties (sous-divisées en trois sous-parties). • Un essai comporte autant de parties que d’arguments clés (3, 4, 5, voire 6). • Chaque partie sert à développer une idée maîtresse qui sera étayée par un exemple analysé. Elle est introduite par un saute de ligne et un alinéa.

11. Possible anwers: • 1 Medias fashion public opinion as they are the main transmitters of information. Surveys, pollsmay alter the results of an election; by choosingwhatisnewsworthy, the medias make issues salient. The medias are agenda-setters sincereformscan stem fromprevious mass coverage. The press structures the voters’ perception of reality. • 2. Theymayalsodowngradepolitics (trivialization of news, scandals), tarnish the reputation of a politician. Media emphasis impacts turn-out rates. Episodicframingnonethelesscurb the impact of releases uponvotingbehaviours.

12. 3 Yetthere are limits to the agenda-setting capacities of the media. Indeedlaws are preparedwell in advance, political programmes cannotbealteredatwill. • 4 Politiciansmayholdsway over the media. Tycoons and media owners are sometimes on speakingtermswithpoliticians. This collaboration maygivebirth to gentlemen’s agreements in which the interests of the two parties are satisfied. In « opinion democracies » thereis an interplay of influences. • 5 The internet and the growingnumber of information websites and outletsmaycurtail the mightiness of press and TV. It maylead to a new empowerment of the population.

13. Quelques conseils • La plupart des erreurs sont dues au fait que vous traduisez des phrases du français. Mettre sur votre brouillon des mots utiles, des structures vous permet d’éviter ce travers. • Ne rédigez pas votre essai au brouillon mais jetez-y du vocabulaire et les idées principales. Si vous avez mobilisé le lexique et des structures utiles, vous pouvez rédiger directement sur la copie. • Relisez vous pour corriger des erreurs d’inattention: les ‘s’ de 3e personne, l’accord et la place des adjectifs, le choix du pronom relatif (who vs. Which), etc. Rapellez vous que le verbe et le complément ne doivent pas être séparés.

14. Exemple de mise en mots Champ lexical : politician – policy-maker – leader – presstycoon – media owner Structures: comparatif / résultatives Adverbes: admittedly Idee: politicians influence journalists Ex: a presidentcanfire a news anchorperson if the TV channelis public A partir de ces éléments au brouillon vous pouvez rédiger ceci: Politiciansmayadmittedlybe more powerfulthan media owners and the incumbentpresident, if publicycriticized in a news outlet, maythreaten a journalist out of releasing a piece of news or fire an anchorperson if hethinks the person has been disrespectful.