(Model essay) August 2011 Academic exam in Abu Dhabi

The popularity of news media often has significant influence on people’s lives.  Some people believe this to be a negative development.  Do you agree or disagree?

Since the invention of modern media, news feeds have become an increasingly invasive force in the lives of all human beings.  However, it is disagreed that the development of news media is negative.  This will be shown by looking at how news media encourages both awareness and transparency within the world.

Firstly, modern media sources have made great inroads in the spreading of knowledge.  For example, the Internet allowed (and continues to allow) the world to witness the uprisings of the Arab Spring.  Had these images not been made available to a scrutinizing global audience, it is possible the entire phenomenon could have cost many more lives than it did.  As this example shows, modern news media allows the human family to keep watch of each other and provide aid if it is needed.

In addition to this, news media sources have developed transparency and accountability the world over, which has done a lot to tackle corruption.  Take the tragic high-speed train crash in China as an example.  Despite trying to quickly bury the carriages involved, the Chinese government was forced to admit that serious corruption problems had plagued the project from the beginning.  The healthy dialogues that the media coverage of this unfortunate event sparked will hopefully continue to encourage integrity within the Chinese government.  It is for reasons such as this that news media should be thought of as a positive entity in the world.

After looking at how news media helps to develop awareness and transparency, its benefits can clearly be seen.  It is hoped free press will continue to grow with the help of technology and modern tools.