Newspapers and Online news

Question

Although more and more people read the news on Internet, newspapers will remain the most important source of news for the majority of people. Do you agree or disagree?
(IELTS Writing Task 2 – Actual Test, 23th January)

Model answer

In the modern world, obtaining news on the Internet has become an accelerating trend. I have faith in the likelihood of this trend overshadowing the traditional way of reading newspapers to become the most crucial source of news.

The most obvious proof supporting my viewpoint is the decline in popularity of traditional newspapers. Conventional newspapers’ nature which is characterised by a thorough and time-consuming process of editing, printing, and distributing turns to be a weakness that causes newspapers fail to meet the instant quest for news of modern news readers. In addition, due to the fact that printed newspapers are geographically limited, their reach and exposure levels are be becoming substantially lower than those of online news. Apparently, it is online press, not the traditional one, which helps news seekers all over the globe access local news as well as global news published by a variety of internationally prestigious newspapers including BBC, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. Such availability of online news far outweighs that of printed news, steadily dominating the news industry.

Moreover, the advantages of online news significantly surpass those of printed newspaper. In this era of advanced technology and communication, the omnipresence of the Internet and the availability of Internet devices have boosted the popularity of online news to an extent that the concept of buying and reading a printed newspaper would become obsolete and inconvenient. Online platforms which facilitate fast-moving and immediate news updates will certainly become the utmost solution to satisfy increasing demand and busy news seekers. Thanks to Internet-based platforms, news about an incident happening half world away could be retrieved within a few seconds after its commencement, which renders news updates one day later on conventional newspapers out of date. 

In conclusion, despite the fact that printed newspapers still hold an important role, I firmly support the tendency that they will be eclipsed by online news.

(314 words – written by Minh Nguyen, 8.5 IELTS)

Model Essay Note

Type: Strong Opinion Essay

Brainstorming:
Point of view: Conventional newspapers can’t remain the most popular source of information and can be replaced by online news.
Idea 1: the decline in popularity of traditional newspapers
Idea 2: the advantages of online news significantly surpass those of printed newspaper

Useful Vocabulary:
Vocabulary relates to Theme (Information – Press): traditional newspaper – printed news – conventional news; process of editing, printing and distributing; reach and exposure levels; online press – online news; the news industry; retrieve news, out of date, news update, news readers – new seekers – new followers; immediate news updates
Academic Vocabulary: overshadow – eclipse – outweigh; facilitate; the nature of sth; characterise; obsolete; commencement