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?
Sample Response
Newspapers and TV channels often consider good news not so good for their business because it does not sell well. A radio station that relies on broadcasting positive news soon finds itself out of business for the lack of listeners. Newseditors' decision on the type of content to broadcast seems motivated by business goals or political biases rather than social and professional responsibilities. In this era of bad and fake news, most people are immune to bad news and it would definitely be better if the more good news was reported.
Though newspaper and TV stations report global events accurately, be they natural or human disasters, it is also true that their main objective is to sell newspapers and bring in more listeners and viewers to their stations and favour a particular political ideology. For that, they often use confusing news headlines and reports that have little or no value to society and are full of negativity. Since more viewers and readers are attracted to reading bad news or have political preferences, newspapers and other media often reflect the flavour of their stations by providing news and broadcasting tailor-made events to suit their listeners' and viewers' preferences.
Since we like to read negative news or events that have spices on them, both readers, viewers and editors have to change the way they consume or create content. The professional obligations of journalists and editors, as well as our mentality as viewers and readers, could be remarkably altered if more good and positive news, reports without political biases, and true global events without fabricating them are reported.
In conclusion, editors need to stick to their professionalism while readers and viewers need to be more aware to make media reports more useful and reflective of our society.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use precise wording Original: not so good for their business Suggested revision: unprofitable for their business Why it matters: The replacement states the intended commercial meaning more precisely.
- 2. Remove the article Original: for the lack of listeners Suggested revision: for lack of listeners Why it matters: The fixed expression ‘for lack of’ does not take ‘the’ here.
- 3. Separate the words Original: Newseditors' Suggested revision: News editors’ Why it matters: ‘News editors’ is written as two words, with the apostrophe after the plural noun.
- 4. Use plural agreement Original: decision on the type Suggested revision: decisions about the types Why it matters: The plural possessive subject refers to multiple editors making multiple content decisions.
- 5. Remove extra article Original: the more good news Suggested revision: more good news Why it matters: The comparative phrase does not take ‘the’ in this construction.
- 6. Use parallel nouns Original: newspaper and TV stations Suggested revision: newspapers and TV stations Why it matters: The plural noun ‘newspapers’ is needed to match the coordinated media outlets.
- 7. Clarify the purpose Original: For that Suggested revision: To achieve these aims Why it matters: The revised transition points clearly to the commercial and political aims in the previous sentence.
- 8. Use concise wording Original: confusing news headlines Suggested revision: confusing headlines Why it matters: ‘News’ is redundant because the context already concerns media headlines.
- 9. Fix verb pattern Original: attracted to reading bad news Suggested revision: attracted to bad news Why it matters: ‘Attracted to’ takes the noun phrase directly in this context.
- 10. Replace unclear metaphor Original: reflect the flavour of their stations Suggested revision: reflect the character of their outlets Why it matters: The revision removes an unclear metaphor and uses a term that fits all media types.
- 11. Correct the collocation Original: tailor-made events Suggested revision: tailored reports Why it matters: Media outlets tailor reports or coverage, not the events themselves.
- 12. Use formal wording Original: events that have spices on them Suggested revision: sensationalised events Why it matters: The original food metaphor is unnatural when describing provocative news coverage.
Suggested Rewrites
- not so good for their business unprofitable for their business
- for the lack of listeners for lack of listeners
- Newseditors' News editors’
- decision on the type decisions about the types
- the more good news more good news
- newspaper and TV stations newspapers and TV stations
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response presents a clear position and identifies commercial, political, and audience-related influences on editorial choices, with generally coherent progression. However, the claim that people become accustomed to bad news and the case for reporting more good news are asserted more than developed, while several awkward expressions weaken precision; fuller reasoning for those two questions and more natural collocations should be the priority.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Response
All three questions receive a relevant answer, but the discussion of habituation to bad news and the benefits of positive reporting remains limited.
Develop those two answers with distinct explanations or examples rather than relying mainly on brief assertions in the introduction and third paragraph.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay follows a clear overall direction and uses paragraphs logically, although some links within the third paragraph are loose.
Give each of the final two questions its own focused development so that the progression from claim to support is easier to follow.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary shows useful range for media and politics, but inaccurate spelling and several strained collocations reduce naturalness and precision.
Use conventional expressions such as sensational content, editorial bias, and fabricated stories instead of phrases like events that have spices.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures communicates the argument clearly, though recurring article, agreement, and clause-construction errors are noticeable.
Review article use and parallel structures, especially in phrases such as if more good news were reported and lists joining readers, viewers, and editors.