Newspapers have become an enormous influence on people’s opinions and ideas. Why is this the case? Is it a desirable or undesirable situation?

For about three hundred years’ newsprint has been the the biggest source of information for the general public. Not only do they report on current events but also inform and shape the public discourse. In my opinion, newspapers can have both a positive and negative influence on society.

Most people who read a newspaper will be aware of that publications political, social and cultural slant. Reader tend to prefer to read ideas and opinions that parallel their own views. This gives a newspaper editor tremendous power to influence how people think, vote and even live their lives. However, most of the newspapers around today are owned by high profile millionaires who try to use them to set the public agenda.

Once, newspapers were important for the success of a democracy. They made sure that politicians remained accountable to the people who sent them to the parliament. However, nowadays many newspapers seemed to be more fixated on celebrity and pop-culture than what is happening in the seats of government.

Firstly, this could be because journalism has become a business. Consequently, they misuse the power of newspapers to form public opinion in their favour to make a profit.  Secondly, the impact of sensationalism is another problem. Of course, to survive newspapers need readers. For this purpose, they often sensationalise news stories, glamorizing the lives of the rich and the famous at the expense of real news stories such as war and famine.

To conclude, newspapers certainly influence people but by focusing upon celebrity gossip to the detriment of real news, we can surmise that this in the end is an undesirable situation for society at large.

274 words

By Dr Rob Burton 

Vocabulary

public discourse. Big discussions that include or influence the general public are referred to as public discourse.

seat of government (noun) The location that is the centre of authority to govern; usually the capital city of an area. The Hague is the seat of government of the Netherlands, whereas Amsterdam is the capital.

sensationalism (noun) Sensationalism is the act of foregoing accuracy or dignity in order to capture headlines or public attention. An example of sensationalism is a magazine that follows celebrities around and often exaggerates or makes up stories about those celebrities to sell papers.

at the expense of (Idiom) To the detriment or disadvantage of (someone). I was furious when I heard the other kids telling jokes at the expense of my little brother.

detriment (noun) Something that can cause damage, injury or harm. An example of a detriment to your health is not eating healthy foods.

范文解析：

这是一篇媒体类的two-part question型大作文。顾名思义，two-part question类型的大作文的题干中会有两个不同类型的问题提出。写这类大作文时，开头段与结尾段的结构与其他类型大作文相似，在主体段部分时只需要依次用1-2段回答问题即可。如本篇范文，作者在开头段介绍背景，引出话题，然后表达自己的观点；在主体段部分作者分别用三段详细解答了第一个问题，逻辑关系层层递进，在最后的结尾段作者作者总结上文由此得出了第二个问题的答案。文中这样的写作结构，对于two- part question这类型的题目来说，是比较有难度的写作结构，对于英语程度比较好的考生来说可以仔细研读学习。其中文章中使用的discourse markers（语标词）可以供广大考生学习，例如，firstly，secondly，once，however等。在文章中使用这样的语标词可以使考生们的文章逻辑更加清晰，是各位考生获得高分的技能之一。媒体类文章的写作技巧也会在标准化教材中有详细地讲解，如果想要学习更多的关于two- part question型大作文的写作技巧和结构，欢迎大家来启德上课。