Factors influence what on TV and in newspapers ?? Bad news or good news ??

Topic 1 – THE MEDIA

New editors decide what to broadcast on TV and what to print in newspapers. What factors do you think influence these decisions? Do we become used to bad news? would it be better if more good news was reported? Discuss

Editors decide the content of newspaper and television. Some people think that political factor plays a crucial role in their decision while others claim that cutural influence should be considered. My essay will discuss factors affecting the decision of editors and show the value of good and bad news on media.

It is, first, believed that political situation has a big say over the content of newspaper and televison. For example, if your country follows one party ideology and the content of newspaper embraces democracy, editors will be harshly punished or even imprisoned for being anti-government. Second, the argument is that culture has impact on the content of broadcast media. No sooner do governments and citizens see sex-arousing pictures in newspaper in Islamic countries than editors will be severely condemned and boycotted. Furthermore, when newspapers aim at young generation, they should present hot news about fashion, drinks and sports which attract such population, instead of showing serious news about politics.

Good and bad news are equally crucial in the formation of content on media. Good news, despite sometimes leading people to believe in an over optimistic future, can inspire, motivate and encourage people to have a healthy life and good actions. News about heroic actions arouses in children the desire to have a meaningful life helping others in difficulties. Nevertheless, bad news, though making feel somehow pessimistic, warns people against danger. Only after getting heard of news about natural disasters are people awakened to the understanding to protect environment and take actions. In addition, bad news portrays the truth of life which might be painful, but makes people aware of potential risks like being cheated or stolen by harmful people. By spreading news about terrorism actions or dangerous criminals, people can stay away from social evils and secure their lives against bad people.

In brief, newspapers and media are constantly edited by responsible people, depending various factors. Though good or bad news is shown, people should equip themselves with good critical thinking and see the value of each type of news to better their lives.

-             Boycott (n) (v) tẩy chay

-         Condemn (v) kết tội, xử phạt

-         Ideology (n) tư tưởng

-         Embrace (n) (v) ôm /  đi theo (đảng, đường lối..)

-         Democracy (n) nền dân chủ

-         Islamic (adj) thuộc đạo Hồi  - (n) Islam

the important qualities of a journalist

Topic 6 – THE MEDIA

We can get knowledge from news, but some people think that we can’t trust the journalist. Dicuss, what do you think is the important qualities that a journalist should have? 

-         Object and trust-worthy

-         Bravery

-         Good writing skill and update knowledge

To become a journalist demands a variety of qualities. Some people think that he or she should be honest and objective to depict the truth to people while others claim that good writing skill is crucial. My essay will discuss several important qualities of being a journalist. 

First, a good journalist should be object and trust-worthy. For sake of money, there have been reporters and journalists distorting the truth, which badly affects thinking of readers and even arouses sense of prejudge against others. No sooner have a person read an article telling bad things about Jewish due to personal judgement of journalists than he might be biased against this community. Several journalists, in order to receive big briberies from politician, bend their pens, followed by the misunderstanding of readers and their loss of belief in the long term.

Second, bravery is another essential quality. If they are nervous and less willing to get into difficulties to capture pictures and real stories, readers will never have chance to know what is happening in the world. By dint of taking the photo of a little girl who ran against the bullet in Vietnam America war, people around the world got to know how painful the situation was in my country and protested against the conflict strongly. Or in earthquakes, only after seeing pictures of people dying out there and houses collapsing do people take actions and raise campaigns to help these little desperate individuals in far-away places.

Third, the possession of good writing skill and need to update knowledge are indispensable to the life of being a journalist.  Because of lack of knowledge in grammar and word choice, their articles hardly make readers understand the message they want to convey. Such inappropriate language in titles and main body of the articles disappoints and misleads readers as well. In addition, by equipping them with updated news and knowledge, journalists can provide readers the most fresh information and inspire them to discover the world. Boring and repetitive news hardly gains attention from readers who desire to know something different as everyday passed by, which results in an amazing number of readers and bigger profit of media organization.

-           Bribery (n) sự đút lót, hối lộ

-         Bend (v) bẻ cong, bóp méo = distort

-         Desperate (adj) liều lĩnh / tuyệt vọng / dữ dội / cần thiết

-         Indispensable + to/for (adj) không thể thiếu được

-         Protest + against (v): phản đối

Watching TV and reading newspapers are waste of time

The news has no part in daily life. Therefore, time is wasted when watching the news on TV or reading newspapers. Agree or disagree?

AGREE

-         So much news

-         Lack critical thinking

DISAGREE

-         Enrich knowledge

-         Widen vision

-         Critical thinking

How humans spend time wisely remains a question. It is claimed that since the appearance of television and newspapers, people are well informed while others believe that they actually waste time on the absorption of such news. I totally agree with the latter idea for the following reasons.

First, it is believed that news is a source of joys for human. No sooner have they finished their tedious work than they bury themselves in newspapers for sensational news to feel refreshed. However, there exist other more useful activities instead of sticking themselves to boring screens. Why not taking part in physical activities that are conducive to their health improvement or volunteer activities to help the needy out there? Harmful effects are, as well, seen in people’s addiction to watching news on television and in newspapers, from eye sight problems, passive thinking to obesity. Surveys have shown that there have been a greater number of people, especially children, experiencing overweight, as a result of so-called “coach potato” syndrome.

Another argument in favor of the former idea is that through updated news, people can make sense of things around them and enrich their knowledge. It is a real world if we only rely on news on media to feed our mind? For sake of profit, media is sometimes distorted to the advantage of a few while human only expect the real truth, not lies. Some children whose critical thinking is not mature enough are more likely to be led to believe in news, which results in their personal bias against others and aggressive behavior. Human already undergo high pressure from their current work, but are now misled and spare their specious time on this occasional lying machine. Is it worth, after all? Let’s make use of such little time with our dear family’s gatherings to cement relationship, friends to share ups and downs, book-reading habit exercising our imagination, and wonderful journeys to the outside world where we can dicover the genuine truth and enrich our vision.

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           Informed (adj) am hiểu

-         Absorption (n) sự hấp thu, hút, sự miệt mài  - (v) absorb

-         Tedious (adj) nhạt nhẽo, buồn tẻ, chán ngắt

-         Sensational news : thông tin giật gân

-         Syndrome /’sindroum/ (n) (y học) hội chứng

-         Bias + towards/ in favor of/ against (v) có xu hướng, thiên về, nghiêng về

readers have developed imaginations and gained better language skills than watchers TV

ĐỀ 6/1/2012

It has been that people who read for pleasure have developed imaginations and gained better language skills than people who prefer watching TV. Do you agree or disagree?

Reading

Pros

- Patience

- Knowledge deepened and widened

- Critical thinking

- Exercise brain, a kind of exercise

Watching television

Pros

- Receive quick news

- Good at illustration through images

Cons

- Obesity

People take different hobbies and learn greatly from them. Some prefer watching television to reading books for its provision of quick news and images while others love reading where they can exercise their intellectual thinking. In my view, I strongly agree with the latter idea for the following reasons.

First, it is believed that by watching television, people can access news faster. For instance, no sooner has an earthquake happened than people can realize its degree of damage through instant images on television with people crying, houses collapse and victims buried. Nevertheless, being bombarded with constant images on television, people feel tired and hardly distinguish between rights or wrongs. Sometimes politically speaking, because of knowing that images can manipulate others, several people use television as a way to control the mind of others and mislead them greatly. Watchers, on the other hand, could avoid such negative influence if they are into the habit of reading at the same time. By reading, they have their own space to be critical of what they see with deeper analysis. Without images, they are supposed to exercise their brain to develop their own approach to news, and thinking will be diverse instead of being influenced. That is why surveys have shown that those people who often read are more active in thinking and have original ideas.

Secondly, television watching is a recreational hobby. By dint of watching game shows and movies, children stay away from stress at school and feel inspired as well. Yet, so obsessed with violent images on television are some children that they can imitate such behavior and even worse kill others. One little kid in America recently pointed his gun at a series of people after watching a heroic violent movie. In addition, can children truly feel relaxed when they gain weight by being a couch potato? Because of sticking their eyes to big screen, they see their eyes grow strenuous and bodies inactive. Some children, as a result of being isolated from the real world too much and burying themselves in the illusionary images on television, grow uncommunicative. However, as for those who often read, their linguistic ability is continuously enhanced and knowledge is widened in all fields. Most of successful people like Bill Gates and Obama are avid readers in their early childhood and claim that their management skill is accumulated through thousands of pages of books.