modelanswer:
Ithasoften beensaidthat.Good newsis bad news. becauseitdoesnotsell
newspapers.Aradiostationthatonce
decidedto presentonlygood newssoonfoundthatithad goneoutofbusinessforlack
oflisteners.Bad newsontheother handissocommonthatin ordertocopewithit,we
oftensimplyignoreit.Wehave becomeimmuneto bad newsandthe newspapersand
radiostationsareawareofthis.
WhilenewspapersandTVstationsmayaimtoreportworldeventsaccurately, bethey
naturalorhuman disasters, politicaleventsorthehorrorsofwar,itisalsotruethat
theirmain objectiveistosell newspapersandattractlistenersand viewerstotheir
stations.ForthisreasonTVandradiostationsattempttoreflecttheflavouroftheir
station by providing newsbroadcaststailor-madetosuittheirlisteners. preferences.
Programmesspecialisingin popmusicorTVsoap
operasfocusmoreonlocalnews, homeissuesand up-to-datetrafficreports.Themore
seriousstationsand newspapersliketo provide.socalled. objectivenewsreportswith
editorialcommentaimedatanalysingthesituation.
Ifitistrue,then,thatnewspapersandTVstationsaretailoringtheirnewstotheir
readers.and viewers.requirements, howcanthey possibly bereportingrealworld
eventsinan honestand objectivelight?ManyradioandTVstationsdo,infact,report
itemsofgood newsbutthey nolongercallthisnews.Theyrefertotheseashuman
intereststoriesand packagethemin programmesspecialising,forinstance,in
consumeraffairsorlocalissues.Good newsnowcomesto usintheformof
documentariesthefightagainstchildren.scancerorAIDS, orthelatest
developmentsinthefighttosavethe planetfromenvironmentalpollution.
Sample 129
Manypeoplebelievethattelevisionprogramsareofno valueforchildren.Do you
agree? Why orwhynot?Providereasonsandexamplestosupportyourresponse.
Youshouldwriteatleast 250 words.Allowyourself 40 minutesforthistask.modelanswer:
Televisualmediahasbecomeapervasiveforceinthelivesoffamiliesaroundtheworld
today.Yet,acentralquestionremainsregardingwhetherwatchingtelevisionisharmful
orbeneficialforchildren.Ananalysisofthisquestionrevealsthattelevision programs
presentthreemajorconcernsinthecaseofchildren,including depictionsofviolence,
theuseofprofanelanguage,andtherepresentation ofpoormoralrolemodels.