How Do The English Watch the News? | Easy English 96

Hello, welcome to Easy English. So today, I want to know how Brits consume news, 

Where they go to for news and how  much of the news actually trust. 

Here we go. 

How do you consume news? Main... well, various ways. But mainly  

through apps, at the moment. So like, ''The Guardian''  

app, so I just look at that daily. Also, just a lazy way of looking is ''Google''.  

''Google'' app news. If I can, if it's on,  

I'd watch the news, mainly like ''BBC News'' or the sort of, the morning telly programmes if... 

if I'm around home at that time, sort of, ''Good Morning Britain'' and that kind of,  

thing. - Oh right, I see. But my other sources are  

really, mainly, talking to family members. And having discussions about what's going on, 

what's... what's happening  and their opinions about it. 

So, I try not to watch too much  news, because it can be all consuming 

and very monopola... mono...  see, I've got confused now. 

Monopolise your mind, in a way. It can take over, so I try not to watch too much.

How do you consume it? - Yeah,  we watch and listen, yeah. 

Watch and listen. And erm...  what sources do you go to? 

We normally watch ''BBC One''. -  And the news channel on ''BBC Two''. 

Yeah, ''BBC Two''. - And ''Sky''.  - And ''Sky News'' sometimes, yeah. 

And ''Sky News''. First of all, first off, 

we would listen to ''(BBC) Radio 4'' of a morning, catch the news there for a couple of hours. 

I will also go on the web,  that will again be ''BBC''. 

We have lived and worked overseas, so I'm also a great fan  

of ''(BBC) World Service''. I think that's very informative, 

high quality and diverse  attitudes and perspectives. 

How do you consume news? Okay, so the main way I consume  

news is via my mobile phone. Okay. - Via an app.  

''The Guardian'' really is... is... is the main one I use and I guess,  

I try and go to there once a day. I sort of, try and make a habit of it,  

going there. Oh, on their  

website? - On... on to the app. - Oh, okay. TV and newspaper. - Okay and how often? 

Every day. - Every day? -  Sometimes I watch the news on TV; 

two, three times a day. - Oh right, okay. 

And what er... which company,  specifically, if you know what I mean? 

''Sky''. - ''Sky''? Oh yeah, they have  this rolling news channel, on the TV. 

That’s right, yes. And then,  what papers do you go to? 

I read ''The Times'', but  only because I get it free.

Because my next door neighb...  neighbour gives me the copy, 

from the day before. - Oh I see, that’s nice. Why do you go to ''BBC'' and ''Sky''? Is it,  

just because of the ease; because they’re so available  

or is there a certain reason that you... No, sometimes it's not... the news isn’t on  

''BBC One'' and we wanna... if we wanna watch,  

you can go to ''Sky'' and they have it on, pretty much, all day long. - That’s right. 

And you can get the latest, can’t you? You watch or listen to a lot of  

the ''BBC''. - Yes. With the ''(BBC) World  

Service'' and (BBC) Radio 4''. - Correct. Is that... is there a reason for that? Is it ease? 

We have no television, haven't done for decades. Therefore.... and this is  

something I believe, as well. If you have a moving image in front of you, 

you don't often give it a lot of  attention from the audio perspective. 

So half the time, people  say an awful lot of rubbish, 

whilst people are looking at them. And if you listen to it,  

with your eyes closed, you say: that’s a load of bo***cks. - Cutting  

through the BS. Yeah. - Interesting. 

So specifically, why d’you  choose, or that just ea... 

from ease, is there a reason  why you choose ''Sky News'' 

as opposed to ''BBc News'', maybe? - Yes. - Okay. I dislike the ''BBC'' and all they stand for 

and the licence fees that they are  getting off other channels’ backs,

if you understand what I mean? - Yeah, yeah. I think I do. But maybe, go... go into it,  

just in case I don’t. I mean... I mean, I can’t... I can't watch... 

I'm not allowed, by the licence rules to... to watch any live TV, at all,  

if I don't have a licence fee. So, the licence fee goes solely to the ''BBC'' 

and that is totally unfair. And it's called ''Freeview'',  

but it's not free, you have to pay a licence for it. 

Alright, the licence is a  very small amount. - Yeah. 

It doesn't bother me, but  it's the principle of it. 

And I object to it. In terms of  

trust, ‘cos this seems to be a big thing where, especially with big media, like news medias. 

How do you sort of, decipher through  what you can and can’t trust? 

I think, where it's coming from. Like, I trust ''The Guardian'',  

when it's not an opinion kind of, piece. 

Yeah. - I don’t, so much, buy into  their bits that are obviously biased. 

You know like... well, it’s all biased but, if it’s just something factual,  

then I think I would trust that. I trust the ''BBC'' as well. But,  

there’s definitely bias, in all of them. And then, to go back to the... the BBC thing, 

do you trust the ''BBC'' as a  whole? - No, not necessarily. 

I... when I'm interested in a subject, I will use the internet  

to investigate further. - Nice. And there's an awful lot of information out there,

at the moment, you have to be careful. Admittedly, you will  

accept what you are happy to hear and you'll say; well I'm not sure about that. You know; 

he’s off the deep end or what have you. But no, on subject matters that I enjoy,  

feel is important etc... I go much, much farther than  

straight journalism, from the news perspective. 

Why "The Guardian"? - Well  I've been lead to to believe 

that it is fairly well trustworthy,  in terms of its er... you know, 

it's... it's news that it's putting out there. Also, the fact that it's been sort of, 

built up on a model of it allowing  journalists and content providers 

to sort of, quite easily contribute  to... to that sort of, you know, 

media/publisher, if you like,  publisher of media ''The Guardian''. 

How much do you trust the news; this is a big thing about how  

much can you believe in what you’re told? Ah well, that is a difficult question isn't it. 

You've got to... you’ve got to  use your own judgement, I think. 

Yeah. - And I mean, how do you  judge politicians, you know?  

No, no, no. Yeah, I don't trust a lot of it, 

because I feel like we're  told, what we need to be told. 

And, there's lots of influences  behind media. - Yeah. 

To tell us what we... what they  want us to hear. - Yeah, yeah. 

That's how I feel about it,  anyway. - You're probably right, 

I think, especially with ''Sky'',  they probably have some sponsors. 

Yeah, exactly. - That they  have to adhere to and...

And, a lot of the... 

the people that run these companies  have shares in certain things. 

Okay, so you're very aware of this,  when you're watching the news. 

Yeah, and say for instance, the  erm... the whole petrol situation. 

Yeah. - I think, you know, if erm... the... the news kind of, the newspapers  

dictated that a lot and scaremongered people into  

going to the petrol station. Yeah. - And, had they not  

done that, people wouldn't have known, To do that. - Can you give us like,  

a really, just like, brief.... like... like, you're a newscaster.  

What was like, what.... what was that kind of,  

situation that happened? - Yeah. Can you explain, what happened with this,  

the petrol shortage? Well, I think that  

erm... I think that in the morning, the newspapers (were) sending out a message that, 

you should go to the petrol  station and fill out your tanks, 

before it all runs out. (It)  basically made people scared, 

especially in a certain  generation of people maybe, 

that read the newspaper all the time  and listen to that sort of, news. 

And, they... they ran to the  petrol station and... and now... 

and then the petrol, diesel prices went up. And so, people that maybe,  

were in charge of those newspapers, have shares in those sort of,  

things and up the price of things. And it was all done for a reason, 

because had it not been for that reason, people wouldn't have gone out and... and done it.

And, maybe those newspapers would have got fines, 

because they shouldn't have  scared people like that. 

That's (a) really nice topic  you bring up, actually. 

Because, that's a perfect reason  why I'm kind of, asking about news. 

Because, they kind of created, almost  like a self-fulfilling news story. 

Yeah. - ''We've run out of petrol''. And then, they actually did  

run out. - Yeah yeah, exactly, exactly! They instigated it, they started the ball rolling 

and they made the problem, that  wasn't the problem in the first place. 

Thanks for watching this week's episode. Let us know in the comments below;  

your thoughts about the news. And we'll see you next week, bye.