The news is an important source of knowledge for all of us about the world, especially in this era of technology. Journalists are mainly responsible to bring this news to us but not all of them are true to their responsibilities and ethics. Why are some journalists not true to their responsibilities and ethics? How much can we trust the journalists?
Sample Response
Due to the emergence of technology, we have online news portals besides printed newspapers, and it seems like anybody can be a journalist with a dot com website which puts an already questionable profession under more scrutiny and doubts. There are several reasons why journalists can deviate from their morality and professional integrity. Moreover, while trusting journalists and their reports, we should always verify the authenticity of the news and use our common sense.
The field of journalism is known for its pivotal role in disseminating accurate and unbiased information, holding power accountable, and serving the public interest. However, regrettably, some journalists deviate from their responsibilities and ethics for various reasons. One factor could be the pressure to prioritize sensationalism and attract higher viewership or readership. In the pursuit of capturing attention and generating revenue, certain journalists may resort to sensationalizing stories or presenting information in a biased manner.
When trusting a news report or a journalist, we should always check the news source and the credibility of the reporter, especially in this era of modern technology where online news portals have grown and spread like mushrooms. Clickbait journalism and politically motivated news are constantly bombarding us with the help of social media, and they have primarily one goal in mind - making money by playing with our emotions and feelings. As informed readers, we must rely on authoritative newspapers and verify any news source before believing them. For example, I generally tend to believe the news I read on bbc.com, but sometimes I also check the news on other sources. Our common sense about news can be a big tool to filter out fabricated news.
To conclude, we have good journalists and bad journalists, and it is our responsibility to be wary of non-authoritative news and not-so-credible journalists. We should also use our common sense to read news which is based on facts and truth.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Improve ethical phrasing Original: deviate from their morality Suggested revision: compromise their moral principles Why it matters: This wording expresses a failure to uphold ethical standards more naturally.
- 2. Clarify the decision Original: while trusting journalists and their reports Suggested revision: when deciding whether to trust journalists and their reports Why it matters: The revised clause makes the act of evaluating trust explicit.
- 3. Avoid stacked linkers Original: However, regrettably, Suggested revision: Regrettably, Why it matters: One discourse marker is sufficient to introduce the negative qualification.
- 4. Use formal expression Original: grown and spread like mushrooms Suggested revision: proliferated rapidly Why it matters: The concise verb is more appropriate for an academic register than the informal comparison.
- 5. Fix pronoun reference Original: verify any news source before believing them Suggested revision: verify information before believing it Why it matters: The singular object needs a singular pronoun, and information rather than a source is believed.
- 6. Capitalize proper name Original: bbc Suggested revision: BBC Why it matters: The broadcaster's initialism should be capitalized.
- 7. Use comparison preposition Original: on Suggested revision: against Why it matters: Information is checked 'against' other sources for verification.
- 8. Use formal wording Original: big Suggested revision: valuable Why it matters: 'Valuable' states the usefulness more precisely in formal writing.
- 9. Avoid vague redundancy Original: facts and truth Suggested revision: verifiable facts Why it matters: The revised phrase is more precise and avoids overlapping meanings.
- 10. Sentence rewrite Original: Due to the emergence of technology, we have online news portals besides printed newspapers, and it seems like anybody can be a journalist with a dot com website which puts an already questionable profession under more scrutiny and doubts. Suggested revision: With the emergence of technology, online news portals now exist alongside printed newspapers, and anyone with a dot-com website can appear to be a journalist, placing an already questioned profession under greater scrutiny. Why it matters: The rewrite removes the ambiguous relative clause and improves the sentence's control and clarity.
- 11. Sentence rewrite Original: Clickbait journalism and politically motivated news are constantly bombarding us with the help of social media, and they have primarily one goal in mind - making money by playing with our emotions and feelings. Suggested revision: Through social media, clickbait and politically motivated reports constantly bombard us, primarily to make money by exploiting our emotions. Why it matters: The rewrite clarifies the agent, removes repetition, and streamlines the purpose phrase.
- 12. Group verification advice Suggested revision: Group the verification advice together and place the personal example directly after the advice it illustrates. Why it matters: The paragraph currently moves back and forth between media problems, practical advice, and the supporting example.
Suggested Rewrites
- deviate from their morality compromise their moral principles
- while trusting journalists and their reports when deciding whether to trust journalists and their reports
- However, regrettably, Regrettably,
- grown and spread like mushrooms proliferated rapidly
- verify any news source before believing them verify information before believing it
- bbc BBC
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response answers both questions clearly, progresses logically, and uses a strong range of topic-specific language to explain commercial and political pressures and the need to verify news. The main limitation is that the causes of unethical journalism could be developed more broadly and a few expressions are awkward; the highest priority is to distinguish and substantiate multiple causes before refining collocations for greater precision.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both questions are answered with a clear qualified position and relevant support, although the explanation of why journalists act unethically relies heavily on commercial sensationalism.
Develop a second clearly distinct cause, such as political pressure or weak editorial oversight, with its own explanation.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through a clear introduction, focused body paragraphs, and conclusion, with generally effective cohesive control despite some repetition.
Reduce repeated references to verification and common sense by using tighter internal paragraph progression.
Lexical Resource
A wide and generally precise range of vocabulary supports the argument, with only occasional awkward collocations and imprecise phrasing.
Refine collocations such as scrutiny and doubts and common sense as a big tool into more natural academic expressions.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied complex structures with strong overall control, while occasional agreement, reference, and phrasing problems remain.
Proofread long sentences for pronoun reference, subject-verb agreement, and cleaner clause boundaries.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
The news is an important source of knowledge for all of us about the world, especially in this era of technology. Journalists are mainly responsible to bring this news to us but not all of them are true to their responsibilities and ethics. Why are some journalists not true to their responsibilities and ethics? How much can we trust the journalists?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.