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Slovak press run blank front pages

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Ideas and Articles by David Robinson

16^th April, 2008

Category: Current Affairs / Media / Press Act

Level: Intermediate / Upper intermediate

This lesson is the copyright of www.newsflashenglish.com

START

1. NEW PRESS ACT IN SLOVAKIA: What do you know about the new Press Act in Slovakia? Is a good or bad piece of legislation? Are you for it or against it? Go round the room swapping stories. Change partners often.

2. DICTATION: The teacher will read some of the article slowly and clearly. Students will write down what they hear. The teacher will repeat the passage slowly again. Self correct your work from page 2 - filling in spaces and correcting mistakes. Be honest with yourself on the number of errors. Advise the teacher of your total number of errors. Less than 5 is very good. 10 are acceptable. Any more is room for improvement! More than 20 - we need to do some work!

3. READING: Get students to read the passage aloud. Swap readers every paragraph.

4. VOCABULARY: Students look through the article. Underline/highlight any vocabulary you do not know. Look in dictionaries. Discuss and help each other out. The teacher will go through & explain any words or phrases you do not understand.

5. EXPLAIN: Explain the following: blank front pages / undermines press freedom / abolition of the law / condemnation / human right groups / gross interference / freedom of the press / editorial interference / constitutional court / serving their readers / tabloid and broadsheet dailies / chiefly / sparked a drawn-out fight / institutional reform / ratification / toned down / ethnic / broke ranks / adjusts / periodicals / dissemination of information / equally prominent space / protection of the source / obligation / quasi-state organisation / reputation / tactics / reiterated / suppression / zeroed in / enforcement / freedom of speech / tamer of the media / circumvents / Leftist / welfare policies / allegations / unheard-of / regret

6. THE NEW PRESS ACT IN SLOVAKIA: Think of three advantages and disadvantages of the new Press Act in Slovakia. Compare and discuss with your partner(s).

Advantages	Disadvantages
1	1
2	2
3	3

The teacher will choose some pairs to discuss their findings in front of the class.

7. PRESS ACT: With your partner on the board write as many words to do with ‘Press Act’ as you can. One-two minutes. Compare with other teams. Discuss together – linking your words.

8. SENTENCES: Choose six/nine of the words from no 7. Write two/three sentences using two/three words in each. Underline your chosen words. The teacher will if necessary correct your work. Students might be asked to read their sentences aloud.

9. QUICK DEBATE ON THE NEW PRESS ACT: Students A are members of the government. They believe the new Press Act in Slovakia is a good thing as the current one needed updating. Explain why. Students B are opposition members. You definitely don’t agree with it. Explain why.

10. ARTICLE QUIZ: With your partner or in small groups: (1 point for each correct answer. Lose ½ point if you look at the article for help!)

Student A
1) What happened on Friday?
2) What did Fico tone down?
3) What is the Treaty of Lisbon about?
4) What does the media law await?
5) What did the Slovak union of publishers say?
6) Sum up what was put on the front pages of the daily newspapers.
7) What do the media fear?
8) Name the ethnic Hungarian party
9) Who has not made any comment on the new law?
10) What do the tabloid and broadsheets dailies object chiefly to?
Student B
1) How old is the current Press Act?
2) What did Fico refuse to accept?
3) Who will consider challenging the law in court?
4) Which courts might the challenge go to?
5) Who broke ranks?
6) What happened on Thursday?
7) When will the new Press Act become effective?
8) Who criticised the act on Thursday?
9) Sum up the OSCE’s feelings.
10) Name two points in the new Press Act.

11. I ATTENDED THE SLOVAK PARLIAMENTARY SESSION OF THE PRESS ACT VOTE & SAW…: Think of 10 things you might have seen had you been at the parliamentary session of the Press Act vote. Write them below. Compare and discuss with your partner.

1	6
2	7
3	8
4	9
5	10

The teacher will choose some pairs to discuss their findings in front of the class.

12. THE TREATY OF LISBON: What do you know about the Treaty of Lisbon? Discuss with your partner.

13. QUICK DEBATE ON THE TREATY OF LISBON: Students A are for ratifying the Treaty of Lisbon. Explain why. Students B are against it. Explain why.

14. UN-SCRAMBLE: Put the following into the right order:

Easy
1) pages Friday papers blank ran on front the
2) are the appealing president to we
3) law a approved media parliament
4) papers law the called the abolition the of for
5) old Act the is current years Press 42
Harder
6) demands refused the Fico accept opposition to
7) had of opposition the Lisbon of threatened the ratification the Treaty
8) The media law awaits the signature by a president
9) He any has not made law comment the on
10) a gross the is interference into the law freedom the of press

(Answers are on page 15 – sentences adapted from article)

15. SENTENCE STARTERS: With your partner(s), finish these sentence starters. Change partner(s) and talk about the sentences you made.

1. Daily newspapers _______________________________________________

2. The papers ___________________________________________________

3. The law _______________________________________________________

4. The Press Act __________________________________________________

5. Fico said, ______________________________________________________

6. The opposition __________________________________________________

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: After reading the article guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	The current Slovak Press Act is 42 years old	T / F
b.	Slovakia’s leading newspapers ran blank front pages recently	T / F
c.	The Treaty of Lisbon is about EU enlargement	T / F
d.	The Slovak opposition are in favour of the new Press Act	T / F
e.	The Association of European Journalists is in favour of the new act	T / F
f.	Press freedom is guaranteed in the new Press Act	T / F
g.	Other European countries have similar press acts	T / F
h.	Newspaper editors are delighted by the new Press Act	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	Blank	Blackmail
b.	Abolition	Started
c.	Undermine	Huge
d.	Gross	Stop
e.	Sparked	Tribal
f.	Fight	Thwart
g.	Threatened	Reduce
h.	Block	Removal
i.	Tone down	Debate
j.	Ethnic	Empty

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article:

a.	Slovakia’s leading daily newspapers	to continue serving their readers
b.	The papers on Friday	signature by President Ivan Gasparovic
c.	The media fear	not made any comment on the law
d.	The law,	block the ratification of it…
e.	Fico refused to	they would consider challenging the law…
f.	The media law awaits	accept the opposition’s main demands
g.	He has	they will be overwhelmed by politicians’ …
h.	…some opposition parties said	have come out with blank front pages
i.	…to allow newspapers	replacing the existing one
j.	…the opposition had threatened to	ran empty front pages

GAP FILL: READING

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Slovak press run blank front pages Slovakia’s leading daily __________ have come out with blank front pages in protest at a two-day old media law they say undermines _____ _______. The papers on Friday ran empty front pages apart from a call for the abolition of the law, which was approved despite condemnation from human rights groups and the media. “The parliament approved a _____ law that is a gross interference into the freedom of the press and editorial independence,” the newspapers said in the front page _______. “We are appealing to the president, the constitutional court and international organisations to allow newspapers to continue serving their readers,” they said. Both _______ and __________ _______ object chiefly to a clause that forces newspapers to run responses from people they have reported on, even if the published information is true. The media fear they will be overwhelmed by politicians’ requests to print their reactions.		dailies broadsheet tabloid press protest freedom media newspapers
The law, replacing the existing one that dates back 42 years, also sparked a drawn-out _____ over the ________ of the European Union’s landmark treaty on institutional reform, the ______ of Lisbon, as the opposition had threatened to block the ratification of it unless Prime Minister Robert Fico toned down the ____. Fico refused to accept the opposition’s main demands, but eventually won support for the EU Treaty after the ______ Hungarian SMK party broke ranks with other __________ factions and helped the government push through the document on Thursday. The media ___ awaits signature by President Ivan Gasparovic. He has not made any comment on the law but he has good relations with the Fico administration. The country’s union of __________ and some opposition parties said they would consider challenging the law either in Slovak or European courts.		bill ethnic Treaty approval publishers opposition fight law

GAP FILL: LISTENING:

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Slovak press run blank front pages

Slovakia’s leading daily newspapers have come out with _________________ in protest at a two-day old media law they say undermines press freedom. The papers on Friday ran empty front pages apart __________________ abolition of the law, which was approved despite condemnation from human rights groups and the media. “The parliament approved a ___________________ gross interference into the freedom of the press and editorial independence,” the newspapers said in the front page protest. “We are appealing to the president, the ____________________ and international organisations to allow newspapers to continue serving their readers,” they said. Both ______________________ dailies object chiefly to a clause that forces newspapers to run responses from people they have reported on, even if the published information is true. The media __________________ overwhelmed by politicians’ requests to print their reactions.

The law, replacing the existing one that dates back 42 years, also sparked a drawn-out fight over ___________________ European Union’s landmark treaty on institutional reform, the ________________, as the opposition had threatened to block the ratification of it unless Prime Minister Robert Fico toned down the bill. Fico refused to accept the opposition’s main demands, but eventually won support _________________ after the ethnic Hungarian SMK party broke ranks with other opposition factions and helped the government push through the document on Thursday. The media law awaits signature by President Ivan Gasparovic. ___________________ comment on the law _______________ relations with the Fico administration. The country’s union of publishers and some opposition parties said they would consider challenging _________________ Slovak or European courts.

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?

2. What do really think about the new Press Act?

3. Do you think the newspapers were right to run a blank front page?

4. What do you think the newspaper editors will do next?

5. Do you think the new Press Act in Slovakia will mean the end of the freedom of the press there?

6. Do you think the President of Slovakia will sign the new Press Act?

7. Why do think the President of Slovakia has not made any comment on this act?

8. Why has the new Press Act been so controversial?

9. Are you for or against the new act?

10. Why are press so opposed to this new act? Surely the right to reply by any individual is only fair?

?---------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Are you for or against freedom of speech?

2. Do you think other EU government’s will follow Slovakia’s footsteps and introduce similar laws?

3. What do you think the EU will think about the new law?

4. Is it right for a government to gain control of its media?

5. Do you think Slovakia is about to follow Russia’s footsteps in its suppression of its press?

6. Do you support the government in its new Press Act?

7. What do your friends think of the new Press Act?

8. Why do you think the government has introduced this Press Act?

9. Do you think the press has had too much power in Slovakia in recent years?

10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?

2. Was there a question you did not like?

3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?

4. What did you like talking about?

5. Which was the most difficult question?

LANGUAGE: CORRECT WORD: Choose the correct words from a–d below and write them in the article.

Slovakia’s leading (1)__ newspapers have come out with (2)__ front pages in protest at a two-day old media law they say undermines press freedom. The papers on Friday ran empty front pages apart from a call for the abolition of the law, which was approved (3)__ condemnation from human rights groups and the media. “The parliament approved a media law that is a gross interference into the (4)__ of the press and editorial independence,” the newspapers said in the (5)__ page protest. “We are appealing to the president, the constitutional court and international organisations to allow newspapers to continue serving their readers,” they said. Both tabloid and broadsheet dailies object chiefly to a (6)__ that forces newspapers to run responses from people they have reported on, even if the published information is true. The media fear they will be overwhelmed by politicians’ requests to print their reactions.

The law, replacing the existing one that dates back 42 years, also sparked a drawn-out fight over the approval of the European Union’s (7)__ treaty on institutional reform, the Treaty of Lisbon, as the opposition had threatened to block the ratification of it unless Prime Minister Robert Fico toned down the bill. Fico refused to accept the opposition’s main demands, but eventually won support for the EU Treaty after the ethnic Hungarian SMK party broke ranks with other opposition factions and helped the government push through the document on Thursday. The media law (8)__ signature by President Ivan Gasparovic. He has not made any comment on the law but he has good relations with the Fico administration. The (9)__ union of publishers and some opposition parties said they (10)__ consider (11)__ the law either in Slovak or European (12)__.

1.	(a)	daily	(b)	weekly	(c)	monthly	(d)	yearly
2.	(a)	empty	(b)	blank	(c)	red	(d)	black
3.	(a)	despite	(b)	in spite	(c)	spite	(d)	fight
4.	(a)	liberty	(b)	freedom	(c)	free	(d)	kingdom
5.	(a)	front	(b)	back	(c)	inside	(d)	empty
6.	(a)	claws	(b)	pause	(c)	clause	(d)	jaws
7.	(a)	landfill	(b)	landmark	(c)	landmine	(d)	landscape
8.	(a)	waits	(b)	awaits	(c)	awaiting	(d)	awaited
9.	(a)	county	(b)	country	(c)	country’s	(d)	countries
10.	(a)	should	(b)	would	(c)	could	(d)	wood
11.	(a)	challenge	(b)	challenges	(c)	challenging	(d)	challenged
12.	(a)	cities	(b)	courts	(c)	palaces	(d)	theatres

GRAMMAR 1: MIDWAY

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Slovak press run blank front pages Slovakia’s leading daily newspapers have come out (1)____ blank front pages in protest at a two-day old media law they say undermines press freedom. The papers on Friday ran empty front pages apart (2)____ a call for the abolition of the law, (3)_____ was approved despite condemnation from human rights groups and the media. “The parliament approved a media law that is a gross interference (4)____ the freedom of the press and editorial independence,” the newspapers said in the front page protest. “We are appealing to the president, the constitutional court and international organisations to allow newspapers to continue serving their readers,” they said. Both tabloid and broadsheet dailies object chiefly to a clause (5)____ forces newspapers to run responses from people they have reported on, (6)____ if the published information is true. The media fear (7)____ will be overwhelmed by politicians’ requests to print (8)_____ reactions.		they from with into their even that which
The law, replacing the existing one that dates back 42 years, (1)____ sparked a drawn-out fight over the approval of the European Union’s landmark treaty on institutional reform, the Treaty of Lisbon, as the opposition had threatened to block the ratification of it unless Prime Minister Robert Fico toned down the bill. Fico refused to accept the opposition’s main demands, but eventually won support for the EU Treaty (2)____ the ethnic Hungarian SMK party broke ranks (3)____ (4)____ opposition factions and helped the government push (5)_____ the document on Thursday. The media law awaits signature by President Ivan Gasparovic. He has not made any comment on the law but he has good relations with the Fico administration. The country’s union of publishers and (6)____ opposition parties said they (7)____ consider challenging the law (8)_____ in Slovak or European courts.		some through other with also either would after

GRAMMAR 2: EASY

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Slovak press run blank front pages Slovakia’s leading daily newspapers have come out with blank front pages in protest at a two-day old media law they say undermines press freedom. The papers (1)__ Friday ran empty front pages apart from a call (2)__ the abolition of (3)__ law, which was approved despite condemnation from human rights groups and the media. “The parliament approved (4)__ media law that is a gross interference into the freedom of the press (5)__ editorial independence,” the newspapers said in the front page protest. “(6)__ are appealing to the president, the constitutional court and international organisations to allow newspapers (7)__ continue serving their readers,” they said. Both tabloid and broadsheet dailies object chiefly to a clause that forces newspapers to run responses from people they have reported on, even if the published information is true. The media fear they will be overwhelmed (8)__ politicians’ requests to print their reactions.		we by on for a and to the
The law, replacing the existing one that dates back 42 years, also sparked a drawn-out fight over the approval (1)__ the European Union’s landmark treaty on institutional reform, the Treaty of Lisbon, (2)__ the opposition had threatened to block (3)__ ratification of (4)__ unless Prime Minister Robert Fico toned down the bill. Fico refused to accept the opposition’s main demands, (5)__ eventually won support for the EU Treaty after the ethnic Hungarian SMK party broke ranks with other opposition factions and helped the government push through the document on Thursday. The media law awaits signature by President Ivan Gasparovic. He has not made any comment (6)__ the law but (7)__ has good relations with the Fico administration. The country’s union of publishers and some opposition parties said they would consider challenging the law either in Slovak (8)__ European courts.		but it as he of or on the

HOMEWORK

1. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: Write an article on “The new Press Act in Slovakia” (You may need to use the internet for this!) (Minimum 200 words)

2. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: Write an article on “Why Slovak newspapers ran blank front pages” (You may need to use the internet for this!) (Minimum 200 words)

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Which article was best and why?

WRITING: IN CLASS:

1. FIVE MINUTE ARTICLE: Write an article on “The new Press Act in Slovakia” You have five minutes. Afterwards swap articles with your partner. Read through their article and correct any mistakes. The teacher will select some students to read out their work. Countdown: Every minute the teacher may say, “You have xx minutes.”

2. FIVE MINUTE ARTICLE: Write an article on “Why Slovak newspapers ran blank front pages” You have five minutes. Afterwards swap articles with your partner. Read through their article and correct any mistakes. The teacher will select some students to read out their work. Countdown: Every minute the teacher may say, “You have xx minutes.”

SPELLING TEST

The teacher will ask the class individually to spell the following words that are in the article:

1 newspapers	11 despite
2 abolition	12 overwhelmed
3 broadsheet	13 factions
4 eventually	14 information
5 through	15 reactions
6 opposition	16 politicians’
7 challenging	17 institutional
8 interference	18 approval
9 protest	19 landmark
10 editorial	20 ratification

ANSWERS: 2

12. UN-SCRAMBLED: (adapted from article)

Easy
1) The papers on Friday ran blank front pages
2) We are appealing to the president
3) Parliament approved a media law
4) The papers called for the abolition of the law
5) The current Press Act is 42 years old
Harder
6) Fico refused to accept the opposition demands
7) The opposition had threatened the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon
8) The media law awaits a signature by the president
9) He has not made any comment on the law
10) The law is a gross interference into the freedom of the press

ANSWERS: 1

TRUE / FALSE:

a. T

b. F

c. T

d. F

e. T

f. T

g. F

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	Blank	Empty
b.	Abolition	Removal
c.	Undermine	Thwart
d.	Gross	Huge
e.	Sparked	Started
f.	Fight	Debate
g.	Threatened	Blackmail
h.	Block	Stop
i.	Tone down	Reduce
j.	Ethnic	Tribal

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	Slovakia’s leading daily newspapers	have come out with blank front pages
b.	The papers on Friday	ran empty front pages
c.	The media fear	they will be overwhelmed by politicians’ …
d.	The law,	replacing the existing one
e.	Fico refused to	accept the opposition’s main demands
f.	The media law awaits	signature by President Ivan Gasparovic
g.	He has	not made any comment on the law
h.	…some opposition parties said	they would consider challenging the law…
i.	…to allow newspapers	to continue serving their readers
j.	…the opposition had threatened to	block the ratification of it…

GAP FILL: Slovak press run blank front pages: Slovakia’s leading daily newspapers have come out with blank front pages in protest at a two-day old media law they say undermines press freedom. The papers on Friday ran empty front pages apart from a call for the abolition of the law, which was approved despite condemnation from human rights groups and the media. “The parliament approved a media law that is a gross interference into the freedom of the press and editorial independence,” the newspapers said in the front page protest. “We are appealing to the president, the constitutional court and international organisations to allow newspapers to continue serving their readers,” they said. Both tabloid and broadsheet dailies object chiefly to a clause that forces newspapers to run responses from people they have reported on, even if the published information is true. The media fear they will be overwhelmed by politicians’ requests to print their reactions. The law, replacing the existing one that dates back 42 years, also sparked a drawn-out fight over the approval of the European Union’s landmark treaty on institutional reform, the Treaty of Lisbon, as the opposition had threatened to block the ratification of it unless Prime Minister Robert Fico toned down the bill. Fico refused to accept the opposition’s main demands, but eventually won support for the EU Treaty after the ethnic Hungarian SMK party broke ranks with other opposition factions and helped the government push through the document on Thursday. The media law awaits signature by President Ivan Gasparovic. He has not made any comment on the law but he has good relations with the Fico administration. The country’s union of publishers and some opposition parties said they would consider challenging the law either in Slovak or European courts.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - a

2 - b

3 - a

4 - b

5 - a

6 - c

7 – b

8 - b

9 - c

10 - b

11 - c

12 – b