News editors decide what to broadcast on television and what to print

IELTS Writing Task 2 with sample answer.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Present a written argument or case to an educated reader with no specialist knowledge of the following topic:

News editors decide what to broadcast on television and what to print in newspapers. What factors do you think influence these decisions? Do we become used to bad news? Would it be better if more good news was reported?

You should write at least 250 words.

Use your own ideas, knowledge and experience and support your arguments with examples and relevant evidence.


Idea Generation for this essay:

Essay Question:

News editors decide what to broadcast on television and what to print in newspapers. What factors do you think influence these decisions? Do we become used to bad news? Would it be better if more good news was reported?

Identifying the Task:

What factors influence news editors what to broadcast on television and what to print in newspapers? Do we become used to bad news? Would it be better if more good news was reported?

Main points to support your essay:

What factors do you think influence these decisions?

Factors that influence these decisions

  • The type of news that would attract more audiences and readers.
  • Business motivations.
  • The personal preferences of the news writer and editor.
  • Political influences and biasness.
  • The chance to present a news first among competitors.
  • Satisfying the majority of the readers and viewers.
  • Presenting authentic and helpful articles and editorials.
  • Commercial gains.

 

Do we become used to bad news?
Do we used to bad news

  • It depends on the type of preferences of individuals.
  • Bad news is all around us and naturally the newspapers and television channels have no alternatives than presenting those events.
  • Human has a general tendency of appreciating more good news. So in this context we are not becoming used to bad news.
  • The good news are also getting a huge attention.
  • Bad news are more demanding among mass people.
  • Media shapes the way perceive a news and that might affects the way we received a news.

Would it be better if more good news was reported?Why we should have more good news

  • Definitely. Good news creates a positive mindset among us.
  • Good news are motivational and inspires people.
  • Good news should be focused more in media.
  • There are always sources for more good news and the news editors and media should emphasize on our good side more than the bad side.
  • People should make their own choice about the type of news they would pick from a newspaper of from a TV channel.

 

 

Model answer:
It is often said that the media is the third pillar of democracy. But the question is whether they are really worthy of this high appraisal! Selecting news item is the prerogative of the news editors. They very often decide which news to present to mass people, which to hide from them and they determine the news value. There are certain things that they have to consider. In this respect, readers or viewers are helpless. Unfortunately, most of the cases, they present only saucy news with the view of commercial profit. As a result, we are used to bad news. I think that good news should be published for the sake of the betterment of the society.

Today media houses are being run mostly by the gigantic corporate organizations. A huge number of employees are working there. Furthermore, a quite big deal of budget is allocated for those media houses. Therefore, they are intended to return back their investment as early as possible. To do so, editors often consider news merely as a trade item and they are eager to sell it. Consequently, they are being haunted to the cheap popular news. Moreover, bad events like war, natural calamities and so on are taking place all around the world and naturally those events are making bad news headlines. For instance, after Nine/eleven, the war on terror are running against few countries and particularly, the whole Arab world is involved in war and people are also very much eager to know about this sort of news.

Again, media is so frequently used as a tool to manipulate people. Media houses are trying to build hegemony. Totalitarian dictators use it like propaganda machine. They blurred the people eyes and keep people in a hazy state. Even, they produce justification of war. A case in point is Iraq conflict which shows that how media can be used so shamelessly. Almost every media, whether it is print or electronic, propagated that Saddam Hossain had reserved chemical weapons and they showed this as a justification of war against Iraq. But after the war, no chemical weapon was found and there was no scope to remedy injustice against Iraqi people.

However, negative news affects the level of people’s optimism and happiness. That is to say that people who view the more negative news, the more their optimism level faded away and the more likely they are to feel despair, afraid and tense. In my case, I always manifest good things in my life and great moods through looking at good news and not dwelling on the negative news that are also going on in the world. I feel good every day. For example, TV news that contest with competitors need to broadcast dramatic news story and tell the story as quickly as possible. The medium is good enough at comparing to other media that are giving viewers an emotional attachment to the characters in those news stories. Emotional attachment is something which can be as much about making the viewers happy, making them laughs as it can be about people becoming anxious or pessimist or depressed. Therefore, if we use the strength of television news positively, we can build an optimistic ambiance.

In conclusion, I feel that good and authentic news should be presented. News editors should objectively publish news without manipulating it. But first of all, what we need is to be aware of what is happening around us. No one is here to think for us and it is our responsibility to justify the news and decide which news to perceive. We have to think, we have to judge every incident without any personal bias or prejudice. On the other hand, there are some ethical responsibilities for journalists that they are taught in the schools to disclose the truth, even if it is negative, therefore society can learn from the mistake and take measures toward development. To do so, what we need is to add good news in a good proportion. I see it as similar to a vitamin supplement. It gives us what our media diet does not give us to help balance the daily barrage of negative news. Only then, we can get relief from this worst situation and can go ahead towards a better world.

Essay Organisation:

Theme 1: What factors influence news editors what to broadcast on television and what to print in newspapers?

Point 1: In many cases they present only saucy news with the view of commercial profit.

Point 2: News editors and organizations that own them often consider news merely as a trade item and they are eager to sell it.

Point 3: Totalitarian dictators often use mass media as their propaganda machines.

Theme2: Do we become used to bad news?

Point 1: Dad events like war, natural calamities and so on are taking place all around the world and naturally those events are making bad news headlines.

Point 2: Bad news is more interesting to read and to discuss about among many people.

Theme 3: Would it be better if more good news was reported?

Point 1: Negative news affects the level of people’s optimism and happiness.

Point 2: Good news is like vitamin supplements in our society and inspires and motivates people.

Useful Vocabulary:

Choose, make a decision, show, put on air, publish, manipulate, persuade, information, rumor, news bulletin, authentic, biased, prejudice, disclose, editorial, columnist, credible, ethical, journalism, the press, breaking news, eyewitness report, political influence, rolling news, tabloids.