RENDERING. Богатова С.М - 15 стр.

people had been here long, long time. They had many legends to tell.          Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to proclaim May 3 World Press
But they never mentioned this guy Columbus»                                   Freedom Day.
       Italian-Americans here say they fear they have been made a
scapegoat. Frank Busnardo, the president of the Federation of Italian-              Culture
American Organizations in Denver, which sponsored Columbus Day                      The First Amendment of the American Constitution proclaims
parade on Saturday, said Columbus Day should honour all people. He            freedom of religion, speech, of the press and right of petition. The first
said his group would reject any «assistance» from the Klan or other           ten amendments popularly known as the Bill of Rights were proposed
racist groups. «The theme for our parade is that Columbus is a bridge         and sent to the states by the first session of the First Congress. They
between two worlds – the Old World and the New World», Mr. Bus-               were ratified December 15, 1791.
nardo said. «The Italian community has gotten a bad deal out of this.
                                                                                      Who Cares About a Free Press?
It’s supposed to be for all ethnic groups, including the Indians».
       But Mr. Emhoolah said that joining the Columbus celebrations                   UNESCO has proclaimed May 3 World Press Freedom Day. In
would be a betrayal. «We’re getting to the last of the people who know        the American consciousness this is not likely to rank with Mother’s
the language, the culture», he said. «I don’t know what it’s going to be      Day, Secretaries’ Day, Pharmacists’ Day or even Kiss-Your-Mate Day,
like in 2091. I don’t know if there will be any tribes. I hope so. It’s our   but it deserves some attention at a time when America is more dissatis-
responsibility to pass on the culture to the next generation.                 fied than ever with its own media.
       «When it comes to Christopher Columbus, we can’t pay too                       The exercise brings to mind a 17th century English pamphleteer
much attention to that. I know the Europeans think the world of him.          named John Twyn who published a defense of revolution. Condemned
But that’s their deal. It’s not mine».                                        for treason, he was hanged, cut down while still alive, emasculated,
                                                                              disemboweled, quartered and, presumably to make absolutely sure be-
      EXERCISE 1. Because the article discusses the conflict over             headed. A great many Americans today feel that this is just about the
Columbus Day, both negative and positive words are used to de-                treatment appropriate to their journalists. Elsewhere in the world, they
scribe the same person or event. For example, in the title discovery          are in fact treated almost that way. In 1994, according to the Commit-
is a positive description of Columbus’s arrival, invasion is a nega-          tee to Protect Journalists, 58 members were assassinated and 173 were
tive one. Find in the text about 15–20 words to place into their              in prison in 23 countries at the end of the year.
proper categories:                                                                    After the collapse of the Soviet Union, democracy seemed to be
                                                                              on the march everywhere, together with an independent press. Much of
              Positive                             negative                   that promise came true, but lately it has receded again. The Russian
                                                                              press, for example, forcefully criticizes the government in ways un-
                                                                              dreamed of a few years ago. Russian television has made Chechnya a
                                                                              living-room war. As a result there has been a vehement backlash. All
      EXERCISE 2. Choose your side in the Columbus contro-
                                                                              camps – bureaucrats, politicians, the military, entrepreneurs, and crimi-
versy, and using information from the article express your feeling
                                                                              nals – seem to have declared open season on the press. Within the past
about the holiday.
                                                                              seven months an investigative reporter and a prominent TV personality
      ARTICLE # 3 Who Cares About a Free Press?                               were assassinated. Reformers believe that the press is the last hope for
      Background notes:                                                       democracy in Russia.
      The essay was published in the TIME-magazine. It is a commen-                   The situation is similar in some of the old Soviet republics and
tary on the decision of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and        satellites. Both former communists and former dissidents are fighting

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