One of the students who appeared in the IELTS Speaking Exam recently reported the following questions:

How do the newspapers market themselves for increasing sales?

Newspapers use different strategies to boost up marketing. They publish advertisements on television and display their banners on hoardings. Apart from this, they also advertise themselves on websites. They have catchy slogans to attract mass number of people. Those newspapers which are quite new in the market try to give discount offers to the public on purchase of the newspaper packages, while those which are already established keep on retaining their customers through various plans and offers.

What kind of marketing practices do these newspapers use?

One of the effective marketing practices is to visit the people in their homes. Sales team goes door to door for selling and marketing their newspapers. This works great for a newly launched newspaper. Many newspapers such as Amar Ujala and Dainik Bhaskar used these practices when they started and now, they have become quite popular newspapers across the country. Another successful strategy used by newspapers is to offer gifts along with monthly subscription of their newspapers. They usually offer utensils, appliances etc. to attract more and more people.

Do you think newspapers manipulate real stores for increasing their sales?

Yes, it is possible that some newspapers may be altering real stories to make them look attractive and pleasing to the readers. Some local newspapers may be publishing fake stories also. For example, it is seen many a times that some editors publish rumours about celebrities or famous personalities just to boost up their sales. When celebrities are then asked about such published stories, they completely deny them. Just for the sake of publicity of their papers, they spread false news or rumours and this is quite prevalent these days.

Do the TV programs and radio channels talk about the same news?

Yes, TV news channels as well as radio channels broadcast the same news but difference lies in the details of the news. On TV, people are able to get more in-depth information about the news along with videos or visuals. Sometimes, the TV channel reporters broadcast news live, being present in the place where incident is taking place. On the other hand, radio channels do not go so much in deep while telling news.

Do you think people will use the internet to read news online?

Absolutely, people would prefer to use the internet for reading news online especially through their mobile applications. They are already using the internet to a much larger extent that they check for weather updates, news updates and watch talk shows online on their computers or mobiles. In the future also, this trend is likely to get widen.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the internet?

Internet has a number of advantages in the way it can be used for obtaining information about just anything. The biggest thing that benefits the people is that people are able to connect to each other very easily. News can be accessed sitting anywhere and anytime. Other than this, one can shop online without visiting the store and students can study from the comfort of their homes. However, there are disadvantages of the internet as well since a number of internet hackers are being involved in fraudulent activities. They are found to commit cyber crimes which are difficult to track.