2011 MOCK EXAM
MOCK EXAM – LETTRES
2011 – AGADIR
Social media, traditional press
compete in Tunisia
In the midst of recent protests in SidiBouzid, the Tunisian public discovered a new source of
information which enabled them to get the latest developments as soon as they
took place. Social media sites such as Facebook now
compete with professional news organisations, which some observers have
criticised for not reporting on the demonstrations.
« At the time when the official
media was absent, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and
blogs were full of videos, images and timely coverage of events. World news
agencies and satellite television channels were all also using the content
published by these media and depend on it in preparing their reports and news
coverage, » al-Watan weekly editor NoureddineMbarki said.
« Perhaps we won’t be exaggerating
when we confirm that these events were field applications of what has been
known for years as ‘new media’ which makes use of modern communication. It’s also
an application of what some people call ‘citizen-based media,’ which means that
each citizen can be a reporter of news and events, ».
He added that « this has created the
following picture: official media that is absent from events as if such events didn’t
exist in the first place, and a foreign media (satellite channels, news
agencies, websites, magazines and newspapers) that reports what’s going on
based on their backgrounds and agendas; something that has created a major
state of sympathy with them because they took on the burden of reporting the
voice and demands of protesters to the entire world. »
For his part, journalist Nasredine Ben Hadid refused to
consider social networking sites a form of journalism. »Rather, I consider it
to be some sort of participation because it isn’t subject to the minimum
requirements of media characterisation. As far as the content is concerned, if
we put aside evil intentions and attempted intentional fallacies by some
people, the average citizen is unable to notice, describe, and therefore,
report, » he said.
During the period of crisis, many
satellite television channels, such as Al Jazeera,
depended on what Tunisian citizens posted on the internet despite the poor
image quality.
There are over a million Facebook subscribers in
« Today we have 1.5 million
journalists via Facebook. This means that all
barriers have been removed through this digital media, which is in fact a
popular media that was able to penetrate to a biggest possible number of
people, » al-Shaab journalist and General Labour
Union member Ghassan al-Kosaibi
said.
« The blackout is over once and for
all. What we want the traditional media to do is to keep pace », al-Kosaibi said. « I simply say ‘goodbye’ to blackout, but
‘yes’ to information, ‘yes’ to objectivity and ‘no’ to blackout, and ‘no’ to
exaggeration. »
For his part, Mahmoud
al-Jadidi, an education official, believes that the
media is no longer restricted to professionals. »Rather, each owner of a
computer has become a media man, reporter of news and rumours. We’re at a time
in which a rumour can become a fact as a result of its frequent circulation,
speed of its reporting and dissemination, and difficulty of knowing its source,
» al-Jadidi said.
By JamelArfaoui
for Magharebia in
I. COMPREHENSION (15 POINTS)
BASE ALL YOUR ANSWERS
ON THE TEXT
1 – CHOOSE THE RIGHT
ANSWER FROM THE LIST GIVEN. (
a. This text is probably taken from:
a – a website
b – an
interview
c – a
magazine
b. The text is about:
a – chatting in
b – Tunisian websites
c – Social media versus traditional media
c. This text is mainly
a – argumentative
b - narrative
c – descriptive
2 – ARE THESE SENTENCES
TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY. (
a – TV channels were using
information published by the official media.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
b – Almost all Tunisians have mobile
phones
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
c – Journalist Nasreddine
Ben Hadid believes that social
networking sites is a form of participation.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3 – ANSWER THESE
QUESTIONS. (
a – What is “Social Media”?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
b – What does
“citizen-based media” mean?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
c – How did the world media get
information during the events in
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
4 – COMPLETE THE
FOLLOWING SENTENCES. (
a – Observers critiscised
the professional news organisations because………………………………………………………………………………………
b – Tunisians were able to get the
latest news thanks to………………………………………………………………………………………………………
5 – FIND IN THE TEXT
WORDS OR EXPRESSIONS THAT MEAN THE SAME AS: (
a – rely on (paragraph 2) …………………………….
b – obstacles (paragraph 7) …………………………..
6 – WHAT DO THE
UNDERLINED WORDS IN THE TEXT REFER TO? (
a – them (paragraph 1):…………………………….
b – these
media (paragraph 2): ……………………….