Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below:
Edmund Burke called the press, the Fourth Estate of
the realm. I think he did not use this title for the Press thoughtlessly as a
social ruling group of class. The three Estates or Realms (in England) are the
Lords Spiritual 1.e. the Bishops in the house of Lords, the Temporal i.e. other
Lords and Commons i.e. the common people. The Press has been rightly called the
Fourth Estate as it also constitutes a ruling group or class like the Lords and
Commons. It cannot be denied in a free country that the Press exercises a good
deal of influence in shaping public opinion and pointing out the weakness or
defects of society or of Government and, in general, bringing to‘ light all
those good or bad things in society which would have otherwise remained
unnoticed. The power is not limited or put under any check. The Press, instead of
being controlled by any one, controls lifeand thought of a nation. Hence the
Press constitutes an Estate by itself.
Obviously, the power which the Press is any country
wields, depends upon the number of newspapers readers. The opinions and
comments of newspapers can influence the life of a nation only when they are
read by people. Reading, in turn, requires that the genéral mass of people
should be educated. Thus, the spread of education determines the extent of the
newspapers. Where readers are few, newspapers must necessarily be few. Their influence,
in the case, can extend to a small minority of population. In a country like
India the percentage of literacy is very low and the standard of journalism is
not very high. So, the Press has to play the role of teacher here.
Questions:
(a) What title was given by Edmund Burke to the Press?
(b) Name the other three Estates as mentioned in the
passage.
(c) What does the term Fourth Estate stand for?
(i) landed property
(ii) social ruling group.
(iii) an area of land. |
(iv) instrument of power.
(d) What functions do the press play in a free
countrty?
(e) What is the secret of power of the press?
(i) the money which the newspaper owners can invest.
(ii) the number of newspaper readers.
(iii) the extent to which it supports the official
policy.
(iv) the patronage of the Government.
(f) What determines the extent of newspaper readers?
(g) Find a word in the passage which means "newspaper
and periodicals"?
