英検1級2次試験：Agree or disagree: The news media should be regulated by the government

Agree or disagree: The news media should be regulated by the government

(賛成か反対か：報道機関は政府によって規制されるべきである)

Although some may argue that it’s one of the invasions of human rights, I agree with the idea that news media should be regulated by the government.

To explain my opinion, I have two reasons.

First, many of news report by mass media is biased and some of them are totally wrong. For example, news reports have exaggerated the information about the side effects of vaccine for COVID-19 lately. Some of them even said “This is harmful because it damages genetic information.”. This kind of fake news discouraged a lot of people from getting vaccinated, contributing to further deaths from the disease in some areas.

Second, actions or remarks that directly harm other people by mass media companies should be regulated. For example, when one of the celebrities committed suicide, a lot of news reporters visited family member’s houses without appointment and asked them for comments. Because of this kind of action, some family members became mentally ill, and they can’t live daily lives without inconvenience for long periods of time.

From these two perspectives, I believe that the news media should be regulated by the government. (187 words)

【内容の要約】

結論：Agree

①偏った(あるいは全く嘘の)情報への規制が必要

②他人を傷つける言動への規制が必要

過去に執筆した「インターネットは検閲されるべきか？」に類似したトピックです。

bayashi-studyroom.hatenablog.com

質疑応答では、中国や北朝鮮のメディアなどの極端な例を用いて反論してくることが予想されますが、「全く(報道内容などに)制限をかけない状態ではメディアが暴走してしまい、逆に人々の人権が侵害される、という本末転倒な事態に陥る可能性が高い。したがって、ある程度の規制は必要」と捌く形になりそうですね。