IELTS Writing Task 2 – Topic: THE MEDIA

In our daily life, we always communicate information through the media, such as television, radio, film. These media have different advantages and disadvantages for us. Now, I am going to compare the advantages and disadvantages of books, television and film.

Books bring us different knowledge. It bases on what Book we read. A famous Chinese traditional verse which described books is a treasure. We can find a golden house in there. Moreover, when we want to read it, we can find it easily, such as bookstore, library. We can also learn a lot of words from books. And it can improve our reading and writing skills.

However, books always are not attractive for children or youngster. It is because books are quite boring. A lot of words and less pictures inside the books, compare to television, television has pictures and sound, we don’t have to read a lot of words in television. But some artist in television programme or film, bring a bad image to us. Then some children or youngers will imitate their behaviour. Some film also bring a wrong message to us, For example, they are always smoking in films. It seems that smoking is good and smart. It caused many youngers imitate them smoking.

In conclusion, books, television and film have many advantages and disadvantages. I cannot write all in here. And we have chosen the media carefully.

 (231 words)

The invention of television is undoubtedly one of humankind’s greatest inventions. It is a way of communication among people of one country and different countries and nations. People watch TV to find out about the latest news, weather, sports, etc. It is a great way to learn new and extend one’s range of interests. Scientists say that children spend the same amount of hours in front of TV as they do in school. I think that this can be said about many grown people too. Also, television is a great means of eliminating stress and tension. One can relax and leave one’s troubles behind lying on one’s favorite sofa and watching a comedy. However, some people believe that television has destroyed communication among friends and family.

Personally, I do not agree with this statement. A couple centuries ago people spent their time gambling, reading, gossiping or playing chess. I do not think that television is a cause of destroyed communication among family members and friends. First of all, if members of a family have common interests and they want to make each other happy they will always find many ways to spend their time together and be close. Otherwise, if people avoid each other and they do not have anything to share with each other they will find television a great way to escape from this miserable existence. I believe that many people chose family and their friends over some soap operas or a movie.

Second of all, I think that television can be a great resource of subjects to discuss. Many people watch different educational programs to find out more about their environment, nature, wild life animals, economic situations, etc. So, when they gather with their friends they discuss important issues and arque with each other in looking for the truth.

My husband and I often watch the news channel to keep abreast of the latest news. After that we always discuss some issues we concerned about. Also, we like to watch a TV show “the funniest animals”. We like this program because it makes us laugh. I can not imagine how these programs can prevent our communication and be harmful to our relations.

To summarize, I would like to add that if people want to communicate with each other they will find a way to do it. Otherwise, if television were not existent, people would find other escapes and reasons not to be with each other such as drugs, gambling, etc.

 (413 words)

News editors decide what to broadcast on television and what to print in newspapers. There are two factors that influence their decisions. The first is the kind of customers they tend on. Because each kind of readers and watchers has its own features. For example, if your customers are almost teenagers, you have to concentrate on something attracting them such as stories, photographs about singer stars, film stars, funny tales, and young fashion. It will be very silly if you try to provide teenagers with economic, politic news. On the contrary, business men and politicians may never read news about James Blunt or Keira Knightley. Therefore, what influence news editors’ decisions the most is the taste of their customers.

The second is the hot, the attraction of news. Who will reads or watches your news if it was one year, one month ago even last week? The answer is nobody absolutely. In the energetic and competitive world nowadays, people always ask for really new news. So that to satisfy customers, there is a pressure on all editors to find continually what has already happened not only yesterday but even an hour ago. Or else, they will lose their customers. None of editors wants that bad future.

On television or in newspaper, we seem to become used to bad news. It is a little of difficult for us to meet a piece of good news. We can’t deny that bad things occur on the earth day by day. However, news editors try to gain more and more customer, which means more and more money, by bad news. Because bad news makes us curious. We want to know why it is bad, what it is about, whether it influences us or not. As a result, we will buy newspapers or watch television to find out. And the happiest people are, of course, news editors.

I think it would be better if more good news was reported. Bad news makes us worry and sad. Whereas good news makes us happy. How much bad news is, there should be the same amount of good news. So, we can give something bad a lot of thought while still be joyful with good news. Any inequalities between good news and bad news should be avoided. That is the best solution.

Now, we can’t live without news. Thereby, the role of news editors is very important. We should support them. And what they have to do is try their best to provide us useful news, both good and bad.

 (422 words)

Televisual media has become a pervasive force in the lives of families around the world today. Yet, a central question remains regarding whether watching television is harmful or beneficial for children. An analysis of this question reveals that television programs present three major concerns in the case of children, including depictions of violence, the use of profane language, and the representation of poor moral role models.

Television programs that portray violence are a paramount concern for parents nowadays. Recent research has shown that children may commit acts of violence because they wish to emulate the behavior that they see on television. This is especially true when violent acts are committed by well-known action “heroes.” In addition, television programs show cartoon figures, as well as actors, committing violent acts. Using comic situations to depict violent themes causes further problems with the way in which young people view violence.

Television programs that contain profane or disrespectful language also worry parents with young children. Because censorship laws have relaxed over the past few decades, it has become very common for television programs of each and every kind to show characters expressing impolite, rude, and insulting utterances to one another. Bearing resemblance to the case of portrayals of violence, children unfortunately often try to imitate these actions they watch on their television screens.

Finally, some parents are upset about the moral behavior depicted on television. As they struggle to teach their children moral and ethical values, parents might despair about the lack of morals and ethics represented in some of the so-called role models on television. For instance, certain characters not only have no remorse for their immoral actions, but also frequently go unpunished by larger society.

Because of these factors, many parents believe that television programs send their youth the wrong kinds of messages. The emulation of this poor behavior by their children is something they wish to avoid at all costs, and they have accordingly decided to ban television in their households for these reasons.

 (333 words)

It has been around forty years since television was first introduced into Australian households and people today still have mixed views on whether it has a positive or a negative influence on the society.

Many people believe that television damages culture. It promotes the stronger cultures of countries such as Britain and North America and weakens the cultures of less wealthy countries. This is because the stronger, wealthier countries are able to assert their own culture by producing more programs that are shown widely around the world. These programs then influence people, particularly young people, in the countries where they are shown.

Also, because television networks need to attract large audiences to secure their financial survival, they must produce programs which are interesting to a broad range of people. In Australia this range is very broad because we are a multicultural society and people of all ages like to watch television. To interest all these different people, most television programs are short in length, full of action and excitement, do not require much intelligence or knowledge to understand, and follow universal themes common to all cultures, such as love and crime. Television programs which concentrate on or develop themes pertinent to one particular culture are not so successful because they interest a smaller audience.

Nevertheless we much acknowledge that television does have some positive effects on the cultures within a society as well. People who do not live within their own culture can, in a limited way, access it through the multicultural station on the television. For example, Aboriginal children who have grown up in white families, or migrants and international students living in Australia, can watch programs from their own culture on the television.

In conclusion, I hold the view that television promotes and strengthens those cultures that are wealthy and influential while it weakens the cultures that are already in a weakened position.

 (315 words)

The mass media have a powerful influence in shaping our lives. We have come to depend on them for information and entertainment, and in doing so we let them affect important aspects of our lives.

The undeniable usefulness of the media in almost instantly providing information about events around the world is largely taken for granted. But in our dependence on the media we have allowed them to mould our notions and opinions of events, places and people. Though few of us probably think about it, our conceptions of, say, our elected officials spring from television images and newspaper stories. Most of us will never meet prime ministers or presidents, but anyone who is regularly exposed to the media will have an opinion of them. When it is time to cast our vote, we will make our decision based on how the media portray the candidates. We are similarly swayed by coverage of wars. The media, representing the values of their owners, societies and governments, tend to report wars with a bias; which is the ‘good’ side and which the ‘bad’ is determined for us by reporters, editors and commentators, and sure enough the public begins to form opinions that reflect the coverage they see, hear and read in the major media.

The media are also influential in the way they facilitate the spread of culture and lifestyle. The so-called ‘global youth culture’, in which one finds young people around the world displaying a common interest in music, clothing styles and films, is an example of the media’s enormous sway in this regard. A popular figure such as Michael Jackson would never be so well known were it not for the media’s extensive reach into every society on the globe.

Thus I would argue that the mass media’s influence is certainly great. Indeed, with technological advancements such as the Internet bringing even more forms of electronic media to our homes and workplaces, it is likely the media’s influence will grow even stronger.

 (332 words)