Question
Advertising which can be seen everywhere in daily life influences what people think is important and has negative effects.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Sample answer
Today people are fed up with the volume of news reports generated by the various media sources such as newspaper, TV, and the Internet. In rare cases, headlines fail to attract our attention or to arouse wide concern among the public, which clearly shows the media power in the audience. I personally think that such influence can be either constructive or destructive.
In the following cases, media influence makes a positive difference. Media reports sometimes focus on some major events calling for a national determination to achieve a common goal or go through a hard time. In China, the 2008 Olympic Games was a hot topic in media coverage, encouraging the public to make their contribution and meantime to enhance the national identity. The tragic Sichuan earthquake in 2008 was another example of the influence of the media which ignite the whole nation’s sympathy and passion for helping the survivals. It is also positive when media highlight the environment deterioration at the attempt to increase the public awareness of the environmental reservation.
On the other hand, the media power can be negative. In some countries where the media agencies are run by the government, media is used to manipulate the public in order to achieve a hidden goal for a few. Under some circumstances, a bombing campaign can provoke public hatred, which is very dangerous and unfair to the naïve ordinary people. Media is influencing our lifestyle by constantly exposing the luxury life of pop stars and celebrities, with the assist of tempting advertisements. This is actually encouraging the public to be materialistic and destroying our already fragile environment as well in spite of its contribution to the domestic consumption and economic growth.
In conclusion, media can easily attract the public attention in our information era and I hold that this influence can be either positive or negative depending on which direction the media intend to lead the public to.
