Some people think that the news media has become much more influential in people’s lives today and it is a negative development. Do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
It is commonly held that the news has become an invasive force in people’s everyday lives. In my opinion, I completely disagree with this viewpoint because the news contributes greatly to the decision making process of discerning citizens.
Modern news media properly consumed improves its readership’s ability to make quality decisions regarding their own interests. One standout example of this is the way that people follow political issues. In democratic countries, it is difficult to argue that there is anything more important than staying informed of political developments. When Americans learned about the harmful effects of global warming on our environment they began to advocate, through the ballot box and general public sentiment, for reforms. This has led to the election and overhaul of policies related to environmental conservation and is the direct result of information gleaned from experts on the news.
Some rightly argue that the news is not always trustworthy. Individuals and organisations are always attempting to twist the news to their advantage. A good example of this would be the recent rise of online news. Online news goes up immediately and is therefore much more likely to contain mistakes than news verified and published in newspapers. Retractions in newspapers are rarely read and they are almost unheard of for online news, despite their increasing frequency. This is a decided consequence of the way people consume news today but readers can avoid this by only trusting reputable sources like The New York Times or the BBC and not naively believing every article they happen across.
In conclusion, I believe that the merits of staying informed far outweigh any perceived drawbacks. People should take the time to find reliable news sources and vet the articles most pertinent to them.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Fix agreement and clarity Original: Modern news media properly consumed improves its readership’s ability Suggested revision: When properly consumed, modern news media improve readers’ ability Why it matters: The revision clarifies what is consumed and aligns the plural subject with its verb.
- 2. Use precise collocation Original: quality decisions Suggested revision: well-informed decisions Why it matters: Well-informed more precisely describes decisions based on reliable news.
- 3. Add clause comma Original: our environment they began Suggested revision: our environment, they began Why it matters: A comma is required after the introductory dependent clause.
- 4. Clarify coordinated nouns Original: the election and overhaul of policies Suggested revision: changes to policies Why it matters: The original coordination incorrectly treats election and overhaul as parallel actions on policies.
- 5. Use natural phrasing Original: experts on the news Suggested revision: experts featured in the news Why it matters: Featured in clearly describes experts whose views are presented by news outlets.
- 6. Use formal wording Original: news goes up immediately Suggested revision: news is published immediately Why it matters: Published is a more precise verb for making online reports available.
- 7. Avoid repeated news Original: news Suggested revision: reports Why it matters: Reports avoids repetition and provides a clearer comparison between individual items.
- 8. Fix word choice Original: decided Suggested revision: definite Why it matters: Decided does not naturally mean clear or certain in this phrase.
- 9. Separate main clauses Original: today but readers Suggested revision: today, but readers Why it matters: A comma is required before but when it joins two independent clauses.
- 10. Place only precisely Original: only trusting reputable sources Suggested revision: trusting only reputable sources Why it matters: Placing only beside reputable sources makes the intended restriction unambiguous.
- 11. Sentence rewrite Original: Retractions in newspapers are rarely read and they are almost unheard of for online news, despite their increasing frequency. Suggested revision: Retractions in newspapers are rarely read, and online corrections are almost unheard of, despite errors becoming more frequent. Why it matters: The rewrite removes the unclear pronoun references and makes the contrast between print and online news explicit.
Suggested Rewrites
- Modern news media properly consumed improves its readership’s ability When properly consumed, modern news media improve readers’ ability
- quality decisions well-informed decisions
- our environment they began our environment, they began
- the election and overhaul of policies changes to policies
- experts on the news experts featured in the news
- news goes up immediately news is published immediately
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response is strongest in its direct, well-supported position: it explains how informed news consumption improves civic decision-making and addresses unreliability with a practical qualification. The main limitation is that a few claims, particularly the environmental-policy example, compress complex causal relationships and slightly weaken precision. The highest-priority improvement is to qualify these claims and make the connection between evidence and the central argument more exact.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The position is explicit throughout, and both the principal argument and counterargument are fully and relevantly developed.
Qualify the political example so that it demonstrates media influence without overstating a direct causal result.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay is logically organised, with clear paragraph purposes and cohesive progression from claim to concession and response.
Make the transition from the counterargument to the proposed solution slightly more explicit for maximum clarity.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is wide, precise, and naturally adapted to civic participation, media reliability, and information consumption.
Refine the few less natural collocations, such as 'quality decisions' and 'a decided consequence,' to increase idiomatic precision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide variety of complex structures is handled accurately, with only minor punctuation or phrasing slips.
Use commas to frame compressed modifiers such as 'properly consumed' and review parallel structures in longer sentences.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people think that the news media has become much more influential in people’s lives today and it is a negative development. Do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.