IELTS Task 2 Essay: More and more people no longer read news

This is a high-scoring sample answer for the following IELTS Task 2 essay question: More and more people no longer read newspapers or watch TV programs to get news. They get news about the world through the internet. Is this a positive or negative development? Below is a list of less common vocabulary with definitions. Other collocations for task 2 essays on media can be found here. Read the sample answer, then send me your essay in the comments. I will give you a quick score and also some comments if I have time. Why not start today?

IELT Writing Task 2 Quiz

IELTS Task 2 Essay Sample Answer

More and more people no longer read newspapers or watch TV programs to get news. They get news about the world through the internet.

Is this a positive or negative development?

An increasing number of people get their news from the internet instead of by reading newspapers or watching the news on television. This should be considered to detrimental to opinion forming and a danger to the truth.

Traditional news outlets are trusted more by most older adults for two main reasons. Firstly, different newspapers are aimed at demographic groups of the populace, while TV new can be seen by a vast range of people on several channels. As a result, most of these people can attempt to form a balanced opinion by aggregating the information they have been given. Furthermore, they have usually received their news from these channels or papers for most of their lives, so even if they don’t blindly follow their preferred news media, they have probably had the opportunity to test the media’s trustworthiness and so know whether to believe them or not.

On the other hand, many younger people believe the traditional news media has become obsolete. They counter this by going online for their news, whether it is to news websites or on social media, such as Twitter or Instagram. However, while much of the news on these apps is targeted so they only receive the news that suits their algorithm or even fake, the websites of traditional media have more exaggerated headlines to attract the users to click and read. Both of these methods frequently have the disturbing effect of making these youngsters more worried about what is going on in the world and adds to their everyday pressure.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that the current trend of finding out about current affairs online instead of in the traditional media will gradually lead the public being unable to form a balanced opinion about the news and that is true or not.

Remember to post your essay in the comments at the bottom of this page so I can give you a score!


Less Common Vocabulary for this Essay

detrimental – tending to cause harm, harmful, dangerous

outlets – a point from which goods are sold or distributed

demographic – of or relating to the study of changes that occur in large groups of people over a period of time

populace – the people living in a particular country or area

a balanced opinion – an opinion that has considered both sides of an argument

aggregating – forming or grouping into a class or cluster

to blindly follow – to follow without thinking of the consequences

trustworthiness – how much something can be trusted

obsolete – no longer used, out of date

algorithm – a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer

fake – not genuine

exaggerated – regarded or represented as larger, better, or worse than in reality

everyday – day-to-day

Even more vocabulary on education is available here.

Remember to post your essay in the comments at the bottom of this page so I can give you a score!


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