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.
When properly consumed, modern news media improve readers’ abilityModern news media properly consumed improves its readership’s ability to make well-informed decisionsquality 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 beganour environment they began to advocate, through the ballot box and general public sentiment, for reforms. This has led to changes to policiesthe election and overhaul of policies related to environmental conservation and is the direct result of information gleaned from experts featured in the newsexperts 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 is published immediatelynews goes up immediately and is therefore much more likely to contain mistakes than reportsnews 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 definitedecided consequence of the way people consume news today, but readerstoday but readers can avoid this by trusting only reputable sourcesonly 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.
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.