READING
Professors are normally found in university classrooms, offices, and libraries doing research
and lecturing to their students. More and more, however, they also appear as guests on
television news programs, giving expert commentary on the latest events in the world. These
television appearances are of great benefit to the professors themselves as well as to their
universities and the general public.
Professors benefit from appearing on television because by doing so acquire reputations as
authorities in their academic fields among a much wider audience than they have on
campus. If a professor publishes views in an academic journal, only other scholars will learn
about and appreciate those views. But when a professor appears on TV, thousands of
people outside the narrow academic community become aware of the professorās ideas. So
when professors share their ideas with a television audience, the professorsā importance as
scholars is enhanced.
Universities also benefit from such appearances. The universities receive positive publicity
when their professors appear on TV. When people see a knowledgeable faculty member of a
university on television, they think more highly of that university. That then leads to an
improved reputation for the university. And that improved reputation in turn leads to more
donations for the university and more applications from potential students.
Finally, the public gains from professorsā appearing on television. Most television viewers
normally have no contact with university professors. When professors appear on television,
viewers have a chance to learn from experts and to be exposed to views they might
otherwise never hear about. Television is generally a medium for commentary that tends to
be superficial, not deep or thoughtful. From professors on television, by contrast, viewers get
a taste of real expertise and insight.
LISTENING SCRIPT
Lately, weāve been seeing some professors on television. Though itās sometimes claimed to be a good thing, we should question whether anybody really benefits from it. First of all, itās not good for the professors themselvesānot from a professional standpoint. Rightly or wrongly, a professor who appears on TV tends to get the reputation among fellow professors of being someone who is not a serious scholarā someone who chooses to entertain rather than to educate. And for that reason, TV professors may not be invited to important conferencesāimportant meetings to discuss their academic work. They may even have difficulty getting money to do research. So for professors, being a TV celebrity has important disadvantages. A second point is that being on TV can take a lot of a professorās timeānot just the time on TV but also time figuring out what to present and time spent rehearsing, travel time, even time getting made up to look good for the cameras. And all this time comes out of the time the professor can spend doing research, meeting with students, and attending to university business. So you can certainly see there are problems for the university and its students when professors are in the TV studio and not on campus. So who does benefit? The public? Thatās not so clear either. Look, professors do have a lot of knowledge to offer, but TV networks donāt want really serious in-depth academic lectures for after-dinner viewing. What the networks want is the academic title, not the intellectual substance. The material that professors usually present on TVāsuch as background on current events, or some brief historical introduction to a new movie version of a great literary workāthis material is not much different from what viewers would get from a TV reporter who had done a little homework.
MY ESSAY:
The passage state that, when a professor appears on TV as a guest to talk about the latest events in the world, it benefits the professor, University and also general public. The passage provides three reasons in order to support the claim. However, the professor questions this claim and refutes each way in which it benefits professor, university and general public.
First, the reading states that, when a professor appears on the TV they can reach a wider audience and by doing this they acquire reputation in their respective fields. The professor refutes this point and says that, if the professor appear on TV oftenly, then it is not good for the professorsā reputation as other scholars think the professor as an entertainer and do not take him seriously. These professors are also not invited to different conferences and even do not get fundings for research.
Second, the lecture posits that, the universities benefit from this as university receive good publicity when the professors appear on the TV. The people think highly about the university if its faculty appear on the TV. The professor opposes this point and says that, if the professor spend more time on TV he has to give time for preparations, rehearsals, travel and even looks. But if the professor spends so much time on these activites then the professor would not get time for meeting with students or doing research and university business.
Third, the passage says that the general public benefit from this as they donāt have any contact with the professors at any other time so when they have a chance they can learn from the experts and also are exposed to different views. The professor oppose this point. The professor says that the TV network donāt want people to watch in depth academic viewing at the night time. The TV networks want more of entertainment and less content and in this way even the general public do not get in depth knowledge from the experts.