Band 9 model answer
The traditional printed newspaper, once an indispensable fixture of daily life, is steadily yielding ground to digital news consumed on screens of every size. Although this migration sacrifices certain genuine virtues of the older medium, I regard the broad shift towards online news as overwhelmingly positive.
The advantages of digital news are both substantial and varied. It is essentially instantaneous, allowing readers to follow unfolding events minute by minute rather than waiting passively for the next morning's edition. It is also vastly more accessible: a single inexpensive device grants access to publications from across the entire world, frequently at no cost whatsoever, thereby broadening the range of perspectives available to ordinary readers. Furthermore, abandoning paper spares millions of trees and significantly reduces the energy expended on printing, packaging and physical distribution, an undeniable and increasingly urgent environmental gain.
The drawbacks, while real, strike me as considerably less decisive on balance. Critics rightly observe that online platforms can spread unverified rumours with alarming speed, and that the collapse of print revenue has weakened serious, resource-intensive investigative journalism. There is also a persistent digital divide, since elderly or poorer citizens may struggle to access online content reliably. These concerns plainly warrant attention, yet they are largely problems of implementation rather than inherent flaws of the medium, and most can be meaningfully mitigated through rigorous fact-checking, sustainable subscription models and improved connectivity.
In conclusion, despite entirely legitimate worries about reliability and equitable access, the speed, reach and environmental benefits of online news firmly render its rise a welcome development. Print may dwindle further, but the public is, on balance, better informed today than ever before.
Examiner’s notes
- Task Response: the writer answers the evaluation question directly with a clear thesis ('overwhelmingly positive') and supports it while fairly conceding the downsides.
- Coherence and Cohesion: paragraph one previews the stance, body paragraphs handle pros then cons, and the phrase 'problems of implementation rather than inherent flaws' neatly resolves the tension.
- Lexical Resource: well-chosen items such as 'instantaneous', 'digital divide' and 'investigative journalism' provide topic-specific precision and lexical range.