News Consumption - How to Be a Skeptical News Consumer

Coleman 1

Coleman, Skylar

Jones, J.

Eng. 102 Sec. 0662

8 February 2016​

Word Count: 1071

Fishy News

In Donna Halper’s, “How to Be a Skeptical News Consumer”, she educated readers of the faux information they will hear in articles, newspapers, and other forms of literate media. The intended audience for this piece of writing would be those who take information at face value or do not do any research to prove that the information is correct. Halper uses examples, such as people receiving emails regarding Obama’s religion and citizenship and that if Obama become President, the U.S. would turn into a Muslim nation; she brings forth these barbaric accusations to inform us that not everything we read is going to be true. The main argument is that most information is skewed in studies, so readers must learn how to be critical. This compliments her style of writing and allow the reader to take hold of what she is trying to convey. The author lays out a perfect article on how to be doubtful when reading information by using rhetorical appeals to back up her ideas. Ethos, logos, and pathos are cohesive, making her argument convincing.

She uses the rhetoric appeals ethos in her article to establish creditability throughout the paper. She shows her use of ethos in her paper by telling the audience how resourceful she is: “I am a professor of media, and I focus on critical thinking in every class that I teach,” which establishes creditability because she is proving her academic success (36). Without this, the reader could assume that she only has high school diploma and not a lot of creditability backing behind her, however knowing what kind of education she has allows the reader to more easily accept the information at hand instead of questioning it. Her references to credible sources contribute to her effectiveness of her argument.

She uses logos effectively by presenting the opposition and concession. A clear and concise example of the use of logos follows when she talks about Wikipedia, “In fairness to Wikipedia, although I much prefer encyclopedias where the articles are signed, some of their articles are quite thorough and informative. But others contain well-traveled myths and rely on volunteers to correct them. It’s often a losing battle” (36). Someone who uses deductive reasoning can easily know that Wikipedia is full of myths and incorrect information, so telling the reader that it is an inappropriate source of information clearly aids the usage of logos in the article.

She also uses logos on a logical standpoint, such as stating that everyone should know this. For example, she states that every student of philosophy knows that x was an example of Argumentum ad Populum, which is supporting her idea of logos because it aids the idea of reasoning: deducting that every philosophy student would know this (36). By being relatable to the audience’s knowledge, she clearly reiterates the idea of logos.

Halper uses pathos by relating to the audience’s sense of empathy. From the front of the article with a picture of a smelly fish wrapped up in newspaper and weighing in low on the true date meter to emotion evicting phrases, the author has some strong points when using the rhetorical appeal pathos. She comments,” After 9/11, Congress quickly passed the PATRIOT Act, which evoked emotions of standing up to terrorists and showing pride in being an American (38). One can assume that most readers would be of age to remember the shocking events that happened on September 11th,