【关键词分析】
media
media来源于拉丁语，是medium的复数形式。因此这个词在英语中大多是用作复数形式，是各种媒体的总称。具体包括：print media(平面媒体)，如newspaper, magazine;broadcast media(电波媒体)，如radio, television, 以及new media(新媒体)，主要指the Internet. 以上这些媒体又可以称之为mass media(大众媒体)。
news media
本文应当围绕新闻媒体来展开，不要提到媒体的娱乐功能。
【话题分类与题型】
本题是老题新出，与2005年6月25日、2009年3月5日、2009年8月22日的话题基本一致。属于“媒体与广告”类话题的“新闻与媒体”分支。媒体类话题在2011年共出现6次，这次是2012年首次出现，上一次出现是在2011年11月17日。
该题属于混搭类题型(原因+利弊分析)，兼备说明文和议论文的写法(与09年3月5日的题型一致)。混搭题型是近期说明文考察的重点，2011年共出现7次，而标准的说明文(问题+原因+影响+解决方法)仅出现4次，因此在写作的时候应当特别留意混搭题型。
雅思写作范文
I think the news media mainly plays two important roles in modern society – providing information and influencing public opinion – and I think its influence is generally positive.
Obviously, the news media provides people with vast amounts of information in various forms. We can access it by listening to the radio, reading newspapers and magazines, watching television and by surfing the Internet. The ability to access news media is important for individuals and organizations because we make many decisions based on the news provided to us. Some of these decisions are mundane. We check the weather forecast to see whether we should take an umbrella to work. Other news, such as that about the business world, could influence whether we invest our savings in certain companies listed on the stock exchange.
The news is often presented to us in certain ways, using specific words to try to control our feelings and thoughts. This can be the main negative influence of the news media. Very often, the news media portrays people in simplistic ways, giving us some facts, but not the whole story. In the USA, some news media tends to support the Republicans whilst others tend towards the Democrats and the portrayal of individuals can reflect this. This is somewhat inevitable, because the editors, journalists and owners of the news media have opinions and biases. So, I think that it would be better if people checked news stories from different sources instead of only using one source.
Despite the fact that the news media can report events incorrectly or with bias, I think that the general influence on society is good. More factual information gives us the chance to make better decisions, both in our personal lives and in our working lives.
