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
At presentAt the present time, editors decide what kind of news should be broadcastshown on television and what kind of news should be printed in newspapers and magazines. It doesn’t matter for them what sort of news, bad or good, their sole wish to make sensation even from bad news. Therefore, there is a lot of bad news which became popular and they have an impact on people. Perhaps we shouldMaybe we have to reportannounce only good news and suppress bad newshide bad ones. If we look at today’s world, news sources like newspapers, magazines, television news, etc., playtelevision news etc. play very important role in our society. These sources give us information about the world. Firstly, it isFirstly it's noticeable that you can see all types of information on TV or in newspaperson TV or newspaper, ranging from the opening of new car factories to disastersbeginning with the opening of new car factories and culminating with disasters. But you can’t decide what kind of news you want to read on your morning routine, it is decided by the news editors. They choose which newswill choose which news to publish. Secondly, editors need to attract your attentionneed your attention so they publish the most interesting news, like Death of Laden or a flood in Japanor flood in Japan. Thus, people becomemade familiar with that kind of news. In addition, news has a significant influencenews has the big influence on people, one piece of bad newsone bad news can affect thousands of people and the same applies to a good news storythe same if it would be a good one. To sum up, although some people believe that only good news should be shown or published, in my view, everybody has to know what’s going on in the world and must face the reality of lifefeel the reality of the life.
Why this response received Band 5.0
The response identifies audience attention and sensational value as influences on editorial choices and reaches a discernible view about reporting reality. However, the three questions are covered unevenly: habituation to bad news is barely explained, and the case for or against reporting more good news remains unclear. The highest priority is to organise the response around each question and develop a direct, supported answer to all three.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response addresses editorial influence most clearly, but gives only minimal treatment to habituation and an ambiguous answer about reporting more good news.
Give each question a direct answer followed by a distinct explanation or example, especially the two questions about bad and good news.
Coherence and Cohesion
A basic line of thought is visible, but the single-paragraph presentation, abrupt shifts, and weak sentence connections limit progression.
Divide the essay into purposeful paragraphs and use each paragraph to develop one question before moving to the next.
Lexical Resource
There is some topic-appropriate vocabulary and an attempt at less common wording, but frequent inaccurate collocations and word choices reduce clarity.
Practise natural combinations such as attract attention, sensational news, become accustomed to, and influence public attitudes.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses both simple and complex forms, but frequent errors in articles, agreement, clause structure, and sentence boundaries weaken control.
Revise run-on sentences into complete units and check articles, countability, and verb forms systematically.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
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?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.