News Media IELTS Writing Task 2 requires the candidates to provide a tentative and argumentative answer to the question. This article consists of three sample answers provided below. The sample answers comprise two parts Introduction and body. The introduction is a brief description of the topic. The body contains argumentative statements and tentative answers to support the test-taker's perspective. IELTS writing task 2 evaluates candidates based on the knowledge and views they have expressed. The areas that candidates are assessed on are grammar, vocabulary, and style. IELTS writing score is marked based on band scores. The band scores range from 0 to 9. Since the topics are very diverse, candidates must go through IELTS Writing practice papers to become familiar with a lot of topics. Check Get 10 Free IELTS Sample Papers Check Register for IELTS Coaching - Join for Free Trial Class Now TopicSome people think that there is a great influence of news media on people’s lives and this is a negative development. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Give your opinion and relevant examples. OR Some people think that the news media nowadays have influenced people’s lives in negative ways. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Band IELTS Essay Some people feel that today's newspapers and television stations that report current events have a negative impact on society. I absolutely disagree with the remark that has been made. News channels have had a good impact on society in a variety of ways. To begin with, the value of media, which gives information practically instantly, cannot be overstated. This makes us feel like we're part of a little global village. Second, it serves as a link between the government and the general public. Most of us will never meet a prime minister or president in our lifetimes, but anyone who watches the news or reads newspapers on a daily basis is well aware of them. Furthermore, the media is critical in disseminating many cultures and lifestyles throughout the modern globe. The global appeal of Indian culture and heritage is the finest conceivable evidence of the media's huge influence nowadays. Finally, news outlets aid in the delivery of justice to the ordinary man when his rights are violated. Every rose has thorns, and the media is no exception. The paparazzi may intrude on celebrities' privacy. Violence and obscenity are occasionally displayed, and this can have a detrimental impact on us. My counter-argument is that once someone gets famous, their private lives become public, and they have no right to complain about the paparazzi. People may also pick what they want to see, and technology now allows them to block stations they don't want to watch. Finally, I'd like to emphasize that the media has a mostly good impact on our lives. Band 7 IELTS Essay Although there are allegations that the news media deliberately reports on topics and occurrences, it supplies individuals with most of the information they require in a timely manner only selecting those events that interest the audience. People from all walks of life, according to anecdotal evidence, have the practice of gathering information from the news media on a daily basis, including print, broadcast, and Internet-based media. People can use their knowledge to make better decisions. The Free Trade Agreement between the Chinese government and its equivalent in New Zealand, for example, may provide various prospects for both nations. Failure to recognize and capitalize on opportunities, whether in New Zealand or China, is a recipe for disaster. China would incur a significant loss if it failed to recognize and capitalize on this approaching transformation. Meanwhile, it must be acknowledged that the news media may save lives and decrease deaths on occasion. There is a great deal of ambiguity about the environment, and individuals are vulnerable to the effects of accidents, crimes, and natural disasters. Concerned audiences receive direct knowledge from the news media, allowing them to take immediate action. When required, the authorities can proclaim a state of emergency, organize evacuations, and provide help to those in need. All of these activities rely on the news media to spread the word. The news media, despite their important and continuous contributions to society, may be detrimental at times. The news media has a habit of exaggerating the scale of an actual threat for example, the threat of a terrorist attack in order to attract the attention of the targeted audiences and achieve high ratings. It has the effect of generating panic among the general public. Meanwhile, the news media tends to focus on topics or events that have nothing to do with people's daily lives, such as the rare multiple car accident, a celebrity affair, and so on. It diverts attention away from issues that are far more important, such as poverty and environmental issues, to mention a few. Band IELTS Essay True, the popularity of news media has had a huge impact on our lives. However, I disagree with the notion that news media development is a bad thing. To begin with, modern media outlets have made significant contributions to information dissemination. The Arab Spring, for example, was made possible and continues to be made possible by the Internet. It's likely that if these photos hadn't been made available to a worldwide audience, the entire incident would have claimed many more lives than it did. As this example demonstrates, contemporary news media enables the human family to keep an eye on one another and give assistance when necessary. Furthermore, news media outlets throughout the world have improved simplicity and accountability, which has aided in the fight against corruption. Take, for example, the fatal high-speed train disaster in China. Despite its best efforts to bury the carriages as fast as possible, the Chinese government was obliged to concede that major corruption issues had dogged the project from the start. The positive conversations initiated by the media's coverage of this tragic occurrence will hopefully continue to inspire Chinese government honesty. For reasons like these, the news media should be seen as a beneficial force in the world. Finally, it appears to me that the news media is a beneficial phenomenon, and it is hoped that the free press will continue to expand with the aid of technology and contemporary instruments. Check- IELTS Writing Samples Some people think that Politicians have the Greatest Influence on the World IELTS Writing Task 2 Many Countries Invest money to Prepare Competitors to Join Top Competitions IELTS Writing Task 2 It is a Natural Process for Animal Species to become Extinct IELTS Writing Task 2 The Government Should Give Money To Homeless People IELTS Writing Task 2 Technology Is Responsible For Unemployment IELTS Writing Task 2 Increased Use of Computers And Smartphones Affect’s People’s Writing Skills IELTS Writing Task 2 In Some Countries Children Take Up Paid Jobs During The Summer Vacation IELTS Writing Task 2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Communication IELTS Writing Task 2 It is Better to Educate Boys and Girls in Separate Schools IELTS Writing Task 2 Capital Punishment Prevents People from Committing Gruesome Crimes IELTS Writing Task 2 People should lift their heads from their computer and phone screens and start living life IELTS Writing Task 2 Nowadays Many People Complain That They Have Difficulty Getting Enough Sleep IELTS Writing Task 2 Some People Think Young People Are Not Suitable For Important Positions In The Government IELTS Writing Task 2 Governments Should Not Spend Money On International Aids IELTS Writing Task 2 People Should Follow The Customs And Traditions IELTS Writing Task 2 Universities Should Accept Equal Numbers of Male and Female Students in Every Subject IELTS Writing Task 2 Leaders and Directors in an Organisation are Often Older People IELTS Writing Task 2 International Sporting Events Can Contribute To World Peace IELTS Writing Task 2 In spite of the Advances Made in Agriculture Many People Around the World still go Hungry IELTS Writing Task 2 Many Governments Think that Economic Progress is Their Most Important Goal IELTS Writing Task 2

In this section we’ve gathered the most common questions for task 2 in IELTS Writing. You can improve your writing skills by answering these questions. They are often used by IELTS, though sometimes with a little variation. So the key points in your practice are Remember the ideal answer structure; Overcome your writing weaknesses such as grammar mistakes; Remember some key ideas and vocabulary for each topic, so you don’t get confused on the exam. Questions are divided by themes. Task 2 questions by theme Art 3 questions Education 8 questions Environment 10 questions Friends and family 7 questions Government and society 7 questions Health 6 questions Jobs and Employment 7 questions Relationships 5 questions Science and technology 5 questions Sport 4 questions Travel and tourism 5 questions TV, music and media 6 questions

So the IELTS exam consists of four skills, one of which is writing task 2, which is very important and contains a variety of questions. We wanted to talk about a recent exam question that we can better explain, and you can use it as a model for writing other topics. Let’s see what the topic is and how one can write the writing task 2 question so that they can get a band 8. Follow the instructions given below thoroughly. Recent IELTS Writing Task 2 Questions about School 2021 Because many children are not able to learn foreign languages, schools should not force them to learn foreign languages. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Some believe children should be taught to give speeches and presentations in school. Why is this? Should this be taught in schools? Many students find it difficult to focus or pay attention at school nowadays. What are the reasons for this? What can be done to solve this problem? Sample Answer One for Writing Task 2 Topic 2021 Children should not be forced to learn a foreign language in school, according to some. Although I believe that learning a foreign language is important, I completely agree that children should be encouraged to do so rather than forced to do so. Body To begin with, encouraging children to learn a foreign language during their school years will benefit their education. For starters, they will learn about that country’s culture by studying the language, and some schools even arrange exchange visits for students to immerse themselves in the culture of the foreign country whose language they are learning. Second, children have the ability to access information in a different language. Forcing schoolchildren to learn a foreign language, on the other hand, would be counterproductive. One reason for this is that children will not learn effectively if they are forced to learn. They must be inspired to do so, which can only be done by enthusiastic teachers who choose engaging language-learning activities. Another reason is that students will be hesitant to learn a foreign language if they cannot see how it will benefit them now or in the future. Wrap-up To summarise, while many students struggle to learn foreign languages, it is always beneficial to teach them languages that are expected to play critical roles in the global communication sector, just as science and math are taught in schools. Also Read Recent IELTS Writing Task 2 Question A Complete List of June to September 2021 Questions Model Answer Two for Writing Task 2 Topic According to one viewpoint, teaching children how to present is the responsibility of the entire school. Including these skills in the curriculum, in my opinion, not only boosts children’s confidence but also helps them develop social skills. For starters, the presentation would help a child’s self-esteem. Body The primary goal of incorporating presentations into schools is to improve future skills. Throughout their academic careers and in most work settings, children will be expected to present individually and in groups. To give a competent presentation, children must first gain confidence speaking in front of others, followed by repeated practise, careful preparation, research, and, in many cases, teamwork skills. Each of these characteristics will come in handy later, and the earlier students start, the more likely they are to excel in areas where many adults still struggle. You must present yourself in every workplace. You’ll be pushed into a corner if you don’t speak up. You will always come across situations where you either explain it in a minute or don’t get what you want, regardless of whether you work in editorials, marketing, PR, or own a startup. You will be given opportunities to speak from time to time, whether for presentations or pitches and if you don’t use them effectively, you risk losing what you already have. Wrap-Up Every child’s future is in the hands of the institution to which he or she belongs. They learn to form habits that can make or break their lives through their culture, environment, and examples. Finally, educators frequently teach public speaking to help students prepare for the future, and this multidisciplinary approach is beneficial. Presentations and speeches are also useful for combining and reviewing previous material. Also Read Some Claim That Men are Naturally More Competitive Than Women To What Extent Do You Agree or Disagree? Model Answer Three for Writing Task 2 Topic for 2021 Teachers’ behaviour, school administration, and a lack of interest in studying are some of the main reasons why children find it difficult to concentrate in the classroom and school environment in today’s world. In the following paragraphs, I will briefly discuss the main causes of this problem and offer some recommendations for dealing with this sensitive issue. Body Due to a natural predisposition and the pervasive impact of screen time, students struggle to stay engaged. Students have always wanted to get away from their schoolwork throughout history. This is due to the fact that learning is difficult and provides little pleasure in comparison to passive and active activities such as socialising with friends, listening to music, watching TV, or participating in sports. Furthermore, the ubiquitous internet era, as well as portable devices such as smartphones, has had a massive impact on attention spans and diversionary priorities. Children nowadays pay less attention to school activities than they did previously. There are a variety of reasons for this, including a demanding curriculum, a demanding schedule, and mischievous behaviour. Solution For all of the aforementioned reasons, however, there are a variety of options. To begin, a change in the school schedule is required. The entire term should be made up of games and art classes, as well as any other scientific or mathematical approaches. This would at the very least provide some effective and efficient interest activities, breaking up a monotonous routine of theory-based practices. Second, the school and parents can organise small tours to museums, zoos, and science centres to pique the interest of young children in history, living species, and scientific procedures. This would also pique and satisfy their desire to have fun while learning. Wrap-Up To summarise, despite certain causes for children’s lack of attention in class, parents and teachers can effectively address the problem if proper precautions are taken. As a result, I hope that the relevant authorities will consider these methods while students are experiencing such difficulties. Also Read How much Time is Required to Prepare for IELTS? Here’s a Guide for IELTS Test Preparation IELTS Preparation Tips to Score Band 8 Answer All Parts of the Question You must write an essay in response to a statement or premise in IELTS Writing Task 2. You must read the question carefully and respond to all parts. For example, to get a higher band on the question below, you must do three things, demonstrating to the examiner that you have addressed all aspects of the task. Give one point of view. Present the opposing viewpoint. Give your viewpoint. Present Your Views Properly You must present a clear position in your essay, despite the fact that you are presenting various points of view. This simply means that you must express your thoughts on the question to the examiner. For the duration of the essay, your position must be clear. In the end, don’t change your mind. Examples Both points of view are valid, but I am convinced that… Many people, however, believe that… I believe that wild animals should not be kept in zoos… Structure Your Essay Writing an essay does not have to be a difficult task. Use paragraphs to present and develop each of your ideas in a structured manner. To assist you in structuring your essay, consider the following points. With an introduction paragraph, show the reader where to begin. Present the most important ideas first, then expand on them. Finish the essay by expressing your thoughts on the topic. Within each paragraph, develop a clear idea. Allow space between each paragraph to make the examiner’s job easier. Use Transition Words Linking devices, also known as transition words, are connecting words and phrases that help to tie your response together. It’s the substance that holds your sentences and thoughts together. The table below lists some of the most commonly used linkers in essays. On one hand On the other hand Firstly Another However Despite Although Regardless For example Therefore Whereas Because Similarly Finally Nevertheless Consequently In conclusion In addition As a result Undoubtedly Use a Wide-Range of Vocabulary Writing allows you to share your thoughts and ideas with the reader. As a result, use vocabulary that is simple to comprehend. Also, only use words that you are confident in your ability to spell. Use collocation words that naturally go together and idiomatic language/phrasal verbs in your essay. This demonstrates to the examiner that you have a diverse vocabulary. Finally, after you’ve completed your writing task, double-check for spelling mistakes and typos. Also Read Some People Think that Newspaper is the Best Way to Learn about Current Events IELTS Exam Preparation Examples of Collocation Tourist attraction Alternate ways Rare species Natural habitat Examples of phrasal verbs To be cared for Close down Make money Chance to see Looked after Use Grammatical Structures Correctly If you want to get a band 7, you’ll need to be able to understand both simple and complex sentences. Also, keep in mind that you must write a lot of sentences that are free of errors. So, how do you think you’ll go about accomplishing that? Yes, with a little practise. Examine sample test papers to see what errors you commonly make. We are confident that if you continue to practise different sentence structures, you will be able to write a better essay on any topic. IELTS 2021 Writing Questions for Preparation Given below are some handpicked topics from the entire year 2021. Economic growth has recently aided many people in both developed and developing countries to become wealthier. Those in developed countries, on the other hand, are not as content as they once were. What is the reason for this? What lessons can be drawn from this? Some argue that governments should invest in minority language preservation, while others argue that this is a waste of money. Many people believe that living in a city has more advantages than living in the country. Employees’ working hours have been limited in some countries by legislation. Why have these laws been enacted? Part Two Because it is impossible to help everyone in need all over the world, governments should concentrate on their own citizens. Instead of displaying work from other countries, museums and art galleries should focus on local history and culture. Nowadays, an increasing number of older people seeking work must compete with younger people for the same positions. What issues does this bring up? What are the alternatives? Some people believe that sports have a significant social impact. Others consider them to be nothing more than a recreational activity. People nowadays are more likely to have children later in life. Do the benefits of this outweigh the drawbacks? Also Read Recent IELTS Speaking Topic TV Programme Sample Answer Understand Speaking with an Example Part Three Some people believe that today’s people are more reliant on one another. Others believe that people are becoming more self-sufficient. Some people believe that all forms of advertising should be prohibited. Some believe that medical services should be managed by governments rather than private companies. Sporting events are used by large corporations to promote their products. Some believe that this will have a negative effect on sports. People nowadays prefer to watch TV, movies, and other programmes alone rather than with others. Are the benefits of this development greater than the drawbacks? Re-check Your Essay Thoroughly Even if you write a flawless essay, you may make careless grammatical and spelling errors. If you thoroughly check your essay, you can easily eliminate these. After you’ve finished your writing assignment, ask yourself the following questions. Is it true that I answered all of the questions? Is it true that I used paragraphs? Is it true that I used linkers? Is it true that I used punctuation? Have I double-checked my work? Is my spelling correct, and did I use a variety of words? Is it possible that I used complex sentence structures? Conclusion The IELTS Writing Task 2 is a critical component of your overall IELTS score. I hope these responses have clarified the pattern for you. Visit IELTS Ninja for more such responses. IELTS Ninja is a website dedicated to helping people prepare for a variety of English language exams. Hopefully, you found this article useful, and if you want to find more similar blogs and articles, click here. Also, feel free to ask if you have any doubts or questions. Also Read Recent IELTS Exam Questions with Answers 2021 August and September Question for Upcoming Slots

Nor did leaking the Pentagon Papers, by itself, do anything to shorten the war, which was his intention, Ellsberg admits. What did happen is that Nixon erupted in outrage over the leak and created the “Plumbers” unit to discredit Ellsberg. The Plumbers’ first break-in was to the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist, but that led later to the Watergate burglary, Nixon’s resignation and the dismissal of all charges against Ellsberg on grounds of “improper government conduct.” Thus, indirectly, Watergate may well have prevented further escalation and shortened the war because it “undermined Nixon’s authority,” as Nixon’s secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, wrote in the first volume of his memoirs, White House Years. Congress cut off aid to South Vietnam in 1975, and the war ended in April of that year with total victory by North Vietnam. So Ellsberg has some parting advice to future whistleblowers “Don’t do it under any delusion that you’ll have a high chance of ending up like Daniel Ellsberg.” This is especially true, he says, now the government is zealously prosecuting under the Espionage Act, which was first used in Ellsberg’s case. Barack Obama later deployed it eight times, more than any other president, despite pledging to run “the most transparent administration in history.” Even if they escape prosecution, whistleblowers in high places face long odds against success in changing government policy — and yet at the same time Ellsberg says they are more necessary than ever. “I would caution people against thinking that any revelation by itself, no matter how spectacular — how amazing, how shocking, and extraordinary it is — would necessarily evoke a reaction, from the media or Congress, or that people will react to it,” Ellsberg tells me. “But it can work. My case shows that probably more than any other case.” Ellsberg, snowy-haired but energetic despite the cancer — renowned for his eloquence, he still speaks in perfect paragraphs — was calm, even jovial, during what his son, Robert Ellsberg, said would be his last interview. Based on his experience in the covert world, Ellsberg sees a direct line between the deceptions and lies that led to the Vietnam War — and 58,000 American deaths — and the deceptions and lies that justified the Iraq war. This high-level deceit, Ellsberg says, extends to America’s current drone war policy around the world, in which the government has allegedly covered up the number of civilian deaths it causes. “The need for whistleblowing in my area of so-called national security is that we have a secret foreign policy, which has been very successfully kept secret and essentially mythical,” he says. “I’m saying there’s never been more need for whistleblowers … There’s always been a need for many more than we have. At the same time, it’s become more and more dangerous to be a whistleblower. There’s little doubt about that.” For many whistleblowers and their legal defenders, Ellsberg remains an inspiration, not just because of the Pentagon Papers but for his later actions revealing how nuclear strategy during the Cold War had been secretly based on war plans that would have left hundreds of millions of civilians dead, and how dangerous the nuclear threat remains today. “For me and my generation, Daniel Ellsberg was the defining whistleblower,” says Scott Horton, a prominent human rights attorney who has defended whistleblowers going back to Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov in the 1970s. “The striking thing about him was that his position within the national security establishment was a prominent one. He realized there was something wrong with the whole way the Vietnam War was being justified, that this process was corrupting the way decisions were being made about national security affairs, and the system was so self-sealing that really the only way you could puncture that was presenting the public with the truth.” At the same time, Horton believes that Ellsberg, like other whistleblowers, occasionally sees conspiracy and government perfidy when the evidence is scant. During the course of our hour- and-20-minute interview, Ellsberg contended America still runs a “covert empire” around the world, embodied in the domination of NATO. He believes Washington deliberately provoked Vladimir Putin into invading Ukraine by pushing its seat of power eastward toward Russia’s borders; that the mainstream media is “complicit” in allowing the government to keep secrets it has no right to withhold; and that any notion Americans are ever the “good guys” abroad “has always been false.” “I think very few Americans are aware of what our actual influence in the former colonial world has been, and that is to keep it colonial,” Ellsberg says. “King Charles III [of Britain] is no longer an emperor, as I understand it, but for all practical purposes Joe Biden is … Here’s a point I haven’t made to anyone but would like to in my last days here. Very simply, how many Americans would know any one of the following cases, let alone three or four of them?” Ellsberg then rattles off a series of orchestrated coups, most of them fairly well documented, starting with Iran in 1953, and then in Guatemala, Indonesia, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Brazil and Chile. I respond by saying those were all Cold War policies, if covert ones, and ask him whether he thinks anything has changed since. In announcing the complete withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, for example — as the Taliban effectively chased American troops out of the country — Biden declared that the United States was “ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries.” Ellsberg doesn’t believe it. “Democrats in this area are as shameless as Republicans,” he says. “Our elections in the realm of foreign policy and defense policy and arms sales, I have come to understand, are essentially between people vying to be manager of the empire.” Even his most fervent admirers say that sometimes Ellsberg, haunted by his experience in the covert world, occasionally goes too far in seeing dark designs in policy. “He’s really serious about conspiracy theories,” Horton says. “I would contrast what he did during the Vietnam era to some of the more recent things where he’s really not on the inside anymore and doesn’t have that access to information.” Christian Appy, a University of Massachusetts historian who is currently working on a book about Ellsberg based largely on his papers, says he doesn’t believe Ellsberg is a conspiracy theorist but adds “I do think he sometimes speculates on things that I myself think are improbable.” Even so, Appy says, Ellsberg is not entirely wrong in asserting that since World War II the has been effectively running an empire. “I think he is more careful than some people. In the last 10 years he has placed more stock on the military-industrial complex underpinnings of power, that they really do have huge influence on sustaining this huge imperial footprint around the world. And after all, we still have 800 military bases on foreign soil, and we conduct exercises in 25 countries.” The current number of bases abroad is closer to 750. Louis Clark, the CEO of the Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower legal advocacy organization inspired by Ellsberg, says his influence has been titanic over the decades. “There’s been a tremendous sort of cultural change from the time he came forward, an acceptance of whistleblowing.” Unfortunately, that in turn has incited use of the Espionage Act against whistleblowers, a 1917 law that was intended for use against spies for foreign governments. “People need to know what they’re getting into, especially with the abuse of the Espionage Act. These people are obviously not spies. There needs to be at a minimum a public interest kind of defense, which you can’t do under the Espionage Act,” says Clark. In the interview, Ellsberg agrees not all leaks are created equal, and that it’s sometimes difficult to tell a real whistleblower from a fantasist, like the mysterious Q of the QAnon conspiracy, or someone who seems mainly interested in self-promotion. He believes Jack Teixeira, the National Guardsman who recently leaked a raft of classified documents by posting them on a gaming site, fits into the latter category. “He’s invented a new form of leaking. It is not easy to understand why he thought he would get away with it,” Ellsberg says. “But there’s a big difference between whistleblowing and just leaking. Leaking is part of the way the system works. It has nothing to do with revealing wrongdoing. It’s much more about how great our weapons system is compared to the other one.” No one ever sets out to become a whistleblower. Most whistleblowers start out as patriots or devoted company people, often passionate ones. And there is a pattern to their behavior Most of them try at first to address wrongdoing within the system; going to the media is a last resort. Ellsberg describes himself as a Harvard-educated Marine who in the beginning completely bought into the Cold War struggle against communism, including the Domino Theory. When he went to work for the Defense Department and Rand Corp., he says, “I very much accepted the idea that we were a force for democracy in the Third World, as in Korea, and the former colonial world, and for self-determination, for sovereignty, for peace. We were the good guys.” Initially, he wanted to divulge the Pentagon Papers to Congress, but few people in Congress seemed interested, he says. Ellsberg only reluctantly agreed to go to the media when he began “hearing from contacts in the Nixon administration that Nixon was planning to escalate the war,” says Robert Ellsberg, who as a 13-year-old helped his father secretly copy the Papers. In a later era, a number of people who turned into whistleblowers were inspired by 9/11 to help their country. Among them Ian Fishback, the dedicated Army captain who revealed that the torture practices at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were systemic, not isolated incidents, only to suffer criticism, mental illness and die years later in a charity hospital; and Reality Winner, who was sentenced to five years in prison for leaking details of Russian infiltration in the 2016 election. Other whistleblowers who have served time include Chelsea Manning, the former Army soldier who disclosed military and diplomatic documents to Wikileaks, and Daniel Hale, who is currently imprisoned in Illinois after being convicted of giving classified material about drone operations to the media. Edward Snowden, who leaked massive amounts of information about surveillance by the National Security Agency, is in permanent exile in Russia. Whistleblowers often end up bitter and incurably self-righteous. Like Ellsberg and Snowden, they are variously called “hero” or “traitor” for the rest of their lives. Or in the case of Frank Serpico, the famous cop, a “rat.” Not long before Ellsberg exposed the Pentagon Papers, Serpico was testifying to the Knapp Commission in 1970 about endemic graft in the New York City Police Department, which later became the subject of a book and a classic film. Like Ellsberg, Serpico tried for years to register his complaints inside the system — in his case the police department and the city government — before finally going to the New York Times in frustration. To this day, Serpico says, he is viewed as an outcast by the NYPD. “It’s pretty lonely out there,” says Serpico, who is 87 and lives in a wooded tract outside Albany, “It doesn’t end. Dan is the unforgiven and I’m the unforgiven.” Still, in a phone interview in May, Serpico adds “Whatever you do, no matter how small, it makes a difference … And you have to keep struggling. That’s what whistleblowers are doing They’re struggling to keep the system from going under.” Whistleblowers, it must be said, often do seem to be a different breed of human — and more alike than different, no matter what they are exposing. They are motivated by a moral outrage that often leads them to take on an entire system they were once part of and even loved with little hope of changing that system. Nor are they welcomed back into their organizations or industries, much less promoted. Certainly, they get no reward — with the exception of some financial whistleblowers who revealed illegal corporate gains. “It’s not just a question of awarding an act which from almost every point of view, social and personal, is irrational, in the sense that it’s likely to be extremely personally risky and I think there will be no change to that,” Ellsberg says. “You can’t change the fact that when you tell secrets that your boss or your old area of industry is anxious for you to keep, you can’t escape retribution for that. I was very much an outlier on that. You might almost say Frank Serpico is the other absolute end of that. He got shot in the face.” In the last half century, Ellsberg amassed a huge amount of hate mail calling him treasonous, Appy said. As Kerry Howley describes it in Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs A Journey through the Deep State, her new book about Reality Winner and other whistleblowers, they often just don’t understand why others fail to see the world the way they do, why most people just go along even with what they think is a bad or unjust system. “Most of us are good at not looking,” she writes. “People who feel they must confront the nature of reality, whom we call whistleblowers’ or traitors,’ tend to feel that the rest of us should do the same, which makes those people annoying, because not looking is a skill, and after a while you too might lose the ability not to look.” As a result, whistleblowers often find each other, forming a loose band of exiled brothers and sisters — or, at the very least, a support group. After hearing about Ellsberg’s diagnosis, Serpico and Ellsberg recently spoke on FaceTime and “reminisced about old times,” as Serpico puts it, “what was going on back then and how both our situations were happening pretty much at the same time.” Serpico refuses most requests to have video conversations though he occasionally makes public appearances to support whistleblowing causes, but he says “I couldn’t deny Dan. He wanted to see my face.” And in the end, that is the legacy Ellsberg hopes to impart — the idea that whistleblowers are not alone. They are a team, and they need to become more effective by learning from each other. “Here’s a very good piece of practical advice, which is don’t go through channels. Don’t go to the Whistleblower Protection Act. Don’t go to the inspector general as Tom Drake did, for example. That only serves to identify you as a troublemaker and someone who’s not with the system, somebody who whines about the fact that we’re killing people,” he says. In 2005, Thomas Drake was working as a career intelligence official and employee of the National Security Agency when he grew worried that an NSA program code-named Trailblazer had turned into a boondoggle that cost more than a billion dollars and violated citizens’ privacy rights. Internally, Drake pushed for a more effective alternative program but when he was ignored, first by his superior, then by the NSA and Defense Department inspector generals, and even testified to Congress with no effect, Drake finally leaked to a Baltimore Sun reporter. He became the first official since Ellsberg charged under the Espionage Act and barely managed to avoid prison when he pled guilty to a misdemeanor. But his career was ruined. Ellsberg also believes whistleblowers should try to remain anonymous if they can. “If you possibly can avoid exposing yourself, do that, don’t reveal yourself as I did, although I felt I had to do it and would do it again under other circumstances. Like Snowden and Chelsea Manning, we always felt we didn’t want other people blamed for what we had done. But if you’re not worried about that, the first thing would be to do it as anonymously as possible. In that respect there has been some improvement a cipher system so whistleblowers can speak with the press. “My biggest advice is, don’t do this unless you’re ready to accept the high risk of having your career destroyed and actually going to prison,” Ellsberg says. “Going to prison is a new one, starting under Obama, but it’s there now, very much so. Obviously, that really narrows the number of things worthy of whistleblowing considerably. I wouldn’t do it, for example, just for bribery or cost overruns. That’s not important enough to go to prison.” “But the final thing I would say is there are lots of things having to do with preserving the Constitution, as in Snowden’s case, or shortening a war, or in stopping a massive assassination program, the drone program, as in Daniel Hale’s case, that do make it indeed quite worthwhile to sacrifice yourself in order to save the lives of lot of people,” Ellsberg says. “I would like to encourage people to ask themselves the question Am I willing to sacrifice my career, my life, to save these other lives?’ And most people will say no. That’s humanity. That’s the way it is. But definitely, if they ask that question as I was led to ask myself the question, you can very well look at it that way and you can say yes.” When I asked whether whistleblowing has made government or corporate America any more honest, however, Ellsberg waxes gloomier. “That’s easy to answer No. The short answer is no. The long answer is no. It hasn’t changed the desire to keep secrets. People in all governments in all of history have been willing to take all actions necessary…to keep people from knowing what will lead to their being blamed for a mistake, for a lie, or a crime or for their incompetence. Talking about national security Who exactly has had their career hurt by incompetence? Maybe some Russians have. They have fired some Russians. Walt Rostow [Lyndon Johnson’s hawkish national security advisor] had to go to the University of Texas, instead of back to MIT, for example. So that’s the level of accountability.” Those aren’t very encouraging words, I reply. “Despite all those odds there is a chance and that can make it worthwhile,” Ellsberg says. “When everything is at stake — I’m talking about nuclear war implicitly here but climate is the same. When we’re facing a pretty ultimate catastrophe. When we’re on the edge of blowing up the world over Crimea or Taiwan or Bakhmut. … From the point of view of a civilization and the survival of eight or nine billion people, when everything is at stake, can it be worth even a small chance of having a small effect? And the answer is Of course. Of course, it can be worth that. You can even say it’s obligatory.”

task 2 write and ask questions about the news