Newspapers have an enormous influence on people’s opinions and ideas. Do you think it is a positive or negative situation?
Sample Response
Newspapers are one of the oldest sourcesone the oldest source of information regarding current events and predatebefore the invention of the radio, television and the internet. They have a huge influenceIt has a huge influence onin people's opinions and ideas. But without the ability of the people to cross-reference what is written in the news, we tend to believe that everything reported is factualbelieve that all are facts. Newspapers have a positive and negative effects on their readerseffect on its readers. If we study historyIf we will study history, we will find out that newspapers were once used for propagandapropagandas during World War II. As a result, many people were brainwashed and believed that what they read in the news was accuratebelieved what they were reading in the news were accurate. Some of the newspapers also come with inappropriate articles and images that might harm the children who read themchildren that will read it without their parents’ consent. While there are negativenegatives effects, I believe that there are more significant positive effectsmore effects on the positive side as there are lots of credible newspapers that are circulating worldwide. Aside from the regular local and world current events, readers can check the newspaper for the weathercheck the newspaper the weather for the day. A businessman can also see current stock market rates while a sports enthusiast can checksports enthusiast can check the results of their favourite games be it basketball, baseball, football, etc. Job searchers can also look foron job openings and employers can easily advertise their job vacancies. And lastly, people will be up to date and entertained at the same time with the addition of entertainment sections. As the internet and social media have becomeWith the emergence of the internet and the age of social media is becoming more popular, the popularity of the newspapers has been affected by it. But nothing can beat the newspaper as one of the leading sourcessource of information and entertainment, especially, for the people who do not have access to computers.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response states that newspapers have more positive than negative effects and supplies a range of relevant functions, including news, markets, jobs, and entertainment. However, much of the discussion lists newspaper content rather than analysing influence on opinions, and frequent agreement, article, and sentence-structure errors reduce control. Focus each paragraph on how newspapers shape beliefs and develop fewer examples more deeply.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
A position is present and both sides are mentioned, but the positive case mainly describes usefulness rather than influence on opinions and ideas.
Explain how credible reporting can inform judgement and how bias or propaganda can distort it, then weigh those effects directly.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response has a recognisable progression, but it is one block, contains list-like development, and shifts late to declining newspaper popularity.
Use an introduction, one negative paragraph, one positive paragraph, and a conclusion that restates the evaluation.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is adequate for the topic, though word-form, collocation, and repetition problems occur regularly.
Build accurate topic phrases such as source of information, influence on opinions, propaganda, job vacancies, and access to computers.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning is generally clear, but subject-verb agreement, articles, conditionals, plurals, and clause boundaries are frequently inaccurate.
Proofread every noun phrase for number and every sentence for a complete subject-verb structure.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Newspapers have an enormous influence on people’s opinions and ideas. Do you think it is a positive or negative situation?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.