Are you interested in one week's work placement in The Irish Times? Transition Year students can learn first-hand about the workings of this newspaper if their submission is published in Media Scope's weekly Over to You column. Just send us a 200-word piece on a media-related topic.
Diarmaid Ruth, St Andrew's College, Booterstown, Co Dublin
When I had a French exchange student staying with me this summer, he couldn't believe that there are ads during programmes on Irish television.
He got me thinking. I came to realise how much more pleasant it is to watch the BBC, with its uninterrupted programmes, than any other channel.
RTE is the worst of them. Right in the middle of a film, just as something crucial is being said, there's a commercial break. But what makes them the most irritating is that RTE doesn't simply cut to commercials the way other stations do. RTE fades to commercial, and so a vital piece of dialogue is often missed.
Also, the station chooses to do this at the most inopportune moments - supposedly meant to build suspense, but really only infuriating the audience, thanks to poor timing of the breaks.
I understand that RTE needs to advertise in order to make money, but please, would it really cost that much to show us films in one piece? Even if only premieres were ad-free, I would be content.
Deirdre Kelly, Loreto High School, Beaufort, Dublin
Methods of communication have improved considerably down through the ages. We rarely hear about Morse code or telegrams nowadays; instead we hear about SMS text messages and cyber cafes. Considering that most of this has happened in the last 25 years, would it be fair to say we are experiencing a revolution in communications?
Some of the earliest forms of communication included sending messages by either carrier-pigeons or by people. But nowadays short notes can be sent within minutes from mobile phones, costing as little as 10p. Obviously things can be done at a faster pace these days, therefore more can be done. We see prime examples of this in our day-to-day activities. A quarter-century ago, making a simple telephone call might involve ringing through an operator; today calls are made at ease to anywhere in the world "just for a chat" - it would almost make you feel lazy.
A large percentage of the Irish population use mobile phones, which can be bought and set up in minutes. Twenty-five years ago some people had to wait years to get a phone installed in their homes. Although this represents an obvious breakthrough, there is a downside for us teens who have mobile phones: because we can now be easily contacted when we are out and about, our parents can keep track of our every move!
Write to media scope by posting your comments to Newspaper in the Classroom, The Irish Times, 11-16 D'Olier Street, Dublin 2, or faxing them to (01) 679 2789. Be sure to include your name, address and school, plus phone numbers for home and school. Or you can use the Internet and email us at mediapage@irishtimes.ie
media scope is a weekly media studies page for use in schools. Group rates and a special worksheet service (see `faxback', right) are available: FREEPHONE 1-800-798884. media scope is edited by Harry Browne.
