Fiche de révision : The Power of the Press

📋 Plan du Cours

1. La presse comme quatrième pouvoir
2. Les enquêtes journalistiques emblématiques
3. Désinformation et médias numériques
4. Évolution de la diffusion des journaux
5. Campagnes pour la presse papier
6. Presse papier et presse numérique
7. Le rôle démocratique de la presse
8. Presse libre et pouvoir politique
9. Adjectifs composés avec un nombre

📖 1. La presse comme quatrième pouvoir

🔑 Notions clés & Définitions

• Fourth Estate : the press, including newspapers and other media

★ À maîtriser

• The First Amendment protects :

  • religion
  • speech
  • press
  • petition
  • assembly

• A neutral and unbiased press is necessary to educate citizens and is essential to a functioning democracy, according to Bonnie McDonald in “Rebuilding the Fourth Estate: The Press’s Role in the Digital Era,” published in Epic Presence on 10 March 2020.

Compléments

• The first three estates correspond to :
  • the executive, including the president and the government
  • the legislature, including the Senate
  • the judiciary, including the court system

💡 Astuce mémo

Le pouvoir judiciaire juge ; la presse contrôle et informe.

📖 2. Les enquêtes journalistiques emblématiques

★ À maîtriser

• From 1972 to 1974, Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward investigated the Watergate scandal, which led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation.

• In 2001–2002, The Boston Globe investigated sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, exposing abuse involving more than 800 articles over two years and leading to Cardinal Bernard Law’s resignation.

Compléments

• 🔄 The Watergate affair unfolded as follows :

  1. Five men broke into the Watergate building to steal documents from political competitors.
  2. The men were arrested.
  3. The White House tried to cover up the affair and destroy evidence.
  4. Journalists exposed the affair.

• The Boston Globe’s coverage led to more than 150 priests being accused of sexual misconduct and earned the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

• The Pulitzer Prize is an important award that honors excellence in American journalism and was first created in 1917.

💡 Astuce mémo

L’enquête révèle les faits → les responsables démissionnent.

📖 3. Désinformation et médias numériques

★ À maîtriser

• The false claim that drinking bleach could cure COVID-19 led some people to drink it, creating a risk of poisoning or death.

📌 Misinformation is false information shared unintentionally, whereas disinformation is false information spread on purpose.

• Digital outlets allow anyone to share information as fact, and people in power can use biased posts to bypass fact-checking and mislead the public, according to Bonnie McDonald’s 2020 article.

Compléments

• During the 2020 COVID crisis, Donald Trump spread propaganda on social media and created a YouTube channel that shared false information.

• The 24-hour news cycle intensifies competition to break a story first, increasing pressure on journalists and the risk of biased or false reporting.

💡 Astuce mémo

La course au scoop accélère la diffusion de fausses informations → la confiance recule.

📖 4. Évolution de la diffusion des journaux

★ À maîtriser

• American daily newspaper circulation has declined since the 1990s, and weekday circulation, once higher than weekend circulation, reversed relative position around 1990.

• The circulation of British newspapers almost halved between 2010 and 2018, with an even stronger decline for Sunday titles.

• Newspaper print sales are declining, although some readers still buy printed newspapers while others turn to online sources.

Compléments

• The chart compares : weekly print readership by newspaper title, weekly online readership by newspaper title, combined weekly print-and-digital readership by newspaper title

💡 Astuce mémo

Presse papier en baisse ; bascule américaine en 1990 ; recul britannique de 2010 à 2018.

📖 5. Campagnes pour la presse papier

★ À maîtriser

• The Guardian and The Observer launched a three-part campaign in the London Underground in 2018 to encourage people to buy and subscribe to print newspapers.

• The campaign highlights these values of print newspapers :

  • unity and connection
  • communication and exchange
  • joy and happiness
  • quality
  • open-mindedness

Compléments

• The campaign uses slogans and sub-slogans drawing on digital vocabulary, such as “social media” and “browsers,” to connect with the habits of a new generation.

• The campaign may appeal more to older generations, while some younger people prefer online news because they find it faster, easier, and free.

• The illustration presents people sharing quality newspapers in the underground, drinking coffee and appearing relaxed and absorbed in reading.

📖 6. Presse papier et presse numérique

★ À maîtriser

📌 Online press provides headlines, regular updates, and a quick overview of local news, whereas print press supports in-depth reading, personal opinion formation, and serendipitous discovery.

📌 Print and digital press are described as complementary, with readers using each format for different purposes rather than treating them as substitutes.

Compléments

• Ben Affleck, a guest in a television interview, had worked for The New York Times and was deputy managing editor of the International Herald Tribune at the time described in the course.

• Online journalism can offer (Ben Affleck) :

  • videos
  • photographs
  • interactive graphs

• Journalists should adapt to readers and make free use of both types of press.

💡 Astuce mémo

Le numérique donne un aperçu rapide ; le papier favorise la lecture approfondie.

📖 7. Le rôle démocratique de la presse

★ À maîtriser

• The press should provide reliable, neutral, fact-checked information and educate citizens so they can develop critical thinking and make their own decisions.

• Investigative journalists should question claims and dig deeper to establish the truth and hold people in power accountable.

• A free and reliable press helps protect people’s freedom and support democracy by acting as a counterbalance to those in power.

Compléments

• Bonnie McDonald argues that if the press cannot act as a guardian of truth, fake news, misinformation, and biased reporting can shift power away from the people.

💡 Astuce mémo

Vérifier les faits → informer les citoyens → soutenir la démocratie.

📖 8. Presse libre et pouvoir politique

★ À maîtriser

• The cartoon identifies these pillars of democracy: (Steve Nease, September 2026) :

  • the legislature
  • the executive
  • the judiciary
  • the free press

• The course presents quality press as relying on fact-checking and investigative reporting to reveal truth, restore trust, and encourage critical thinking.

Compléments

• The course cites these actions toward the press : calling journalists “fake news” or “liars”, banning journalists, using social media to spread propaganda or misinformation

💡 Astuce mémo

Une boule de démolition menace les piliers de la démocratie, dont la presse libre.

📖 9. Adjectifs composés avec un nombre

★ À maîtriser

📌 In English, a number-based compound adjective placed before a noun uses a singular unit noun joined by hyphens, as in “a 2-week break” and “a 400-page book.”

Compléments

• The course gives these examples :
  • 16-year-old teenagers
  • a 6-episode series
  • a 2-month-old kitten
  • a 4-part report

📊 Tableaux de synthèse

Usages de la presse papier et numérique