SASA VUCINIC: WHY WE SHOULD INVEST IN A FREE PRESS (00:00 – 11:07)

 Sasa Vucinic

Sasa Vucinic, a journalist from Belgrade, talks about his new fund, which supports media by selling «free press bonds.»

PRE-VIEWING TASKS

  1. Discuss the following:

—        What do you know about the military conflict that took place in the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia?  (You may want to look for some details on the Internet).

—        What is the role of the mass media during military conflicts?

  1. Study the vocabulary notes before you watch the video:

royalties — a sum paid to a patentee for the use of a patent or to an author or composer for each copy of a book sold or for each public performance of a work

to strangle to prevent something from growing or developing

a return — a profit from an investment

WHILE-VIEWING TASKS

  1. Sasa Vucinic is telling a story about how his business started. Take notes about the details of three meetings related to its launch:
 participant(s) of the meetingagenda of the meetingoutcome
Meeting 1     
Meeting 2     
Meeting 3      
  1. Tell briefly what kind of business Sasha Vucinic runs.

POST-VIEWING TASK

  1. Give an extended answer to the question:

How does the video clip shown at the beginning of the presentation illustrate the power of the news media?

In you talk, use the following expressions:

an event seen from one / from another perspective

to get the whole picture

to twist information

to distort facts

to slant facts

to shape public opinion

to give a news event a particular spin

to provide accurate coverage

2. Discuss in pairs:

1. Do you think it is possible for a mass media agency to be a totally independent source of information? Why?

2. What do Sasha Vucinic’s independent media fund and “Independent Diplomat” founded by Carne Ross have in common?