Rhetorical Analysis Essay On Fake News

Great Essays
ISSUE: Why can't we fight fake news effectively ? The spread of misinformation has been a topic that many are talking about. One serendipitous irony was discussed by Adam H. Johnson in his article, “Everyone Wants to Stop ‘Fake News’ but No One Seems to Know What Exactly It Is”. During his article Johnson discusses an example of wishful thinking in the fight against fake news, “ As The Intercept was quick to point out, PropOrNot’s blacklist included “WikiLeaks and the Drudge Report, as well as Clinton-critical left-wing websites…[and] libertarian venue. … the speed and scope with which their absurd list was spread—and the complete lack of skepticism on display when this is done—shows how much of this story is a problem in search of evidence” …show more content…
They wrote an article, “Journalists have an even heavier task ahead” which chronicles their opinions on why the problem of fake news is not necessarily pertinent to a lack of understanding but instead because the liberal bias is perpetuated through most news outlets. As Will Jarvis explains during the article, “It’s less about word counts and more about how we tell these stories, how we share this information.”. Here the authors most likely meant to show that the way we fight fake news has to start at how the news is reported in the newsroom. A similar sentiment is shared by Ben Smith in his article, “How tech and media can fight fake news”. Here Smith explains that conservative viewers will most likely consume news that fits their bias, “There are deep conspiracy theorists who believe in false flags… And there are, perhaps most hallucinatory, Macedonian teenagers for whom feeding Trump supporters what they want to hear on sites like WorldPoliticus.com and TrumpVision365.com was a good way to make a few bucks.”. Smith means to convey that conservative viewers wont listen to news they perceive to be biased in the camp against them. Furthermore, Smith probably hoped to explain that fake news feeds into the conservative bias and thus reinforces their …show more content…
Pablo Boczkowski, in his article “Fake news and the future of journalism” explains this dilemma, “there is a crisis in the cultural authority of knowledge that affects not only journalism but other key institutions of modern life, including science, medicine, and education.”. Boczkowski may have been trying to infer the possibility fake news have longer tendrils than previously thought. In this way, Boczkowski explains that the societal issue of fake news goes far beyond contemporary journalism and instead is an issue with societies pusillanimity. A similar voice expressing the possible culprit may be society itself is David Uberti in his article, “The real history of fake news”. As Uberti exclaims, “A thumbnail history shows marked similarities to today’s fakery in editorial motive or public gullibility… It also suggests that the recent fixation on fake news has more to do with macro-level trends than any new brand of faux content.”. Here Uberti also conveys that the problem of fake news is more indicative of the public than it is to the journalism

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Bias And Synthesis Essay

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages

    People everyday watch the news to become informed on what is going on in the world, without realizing that the viewers are being misled. The news is supposed to provide viewers with current events without being deceiving but instead, news channels are beginning to input their own political views in reports. People who watch the news often try to get their views validated or justified rather than challenged. For example if someone is a conservative one will more likely than not watch a news channel that is of the conservative viewpoint to get the feeling that their views on the issue is right. A lot of people who are all conservative or are all liberal are becoming content with just watching the news broadcast that suits their views.…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his emotional appeal to the audience, he frequently repeats the idea of ‘left-wing fake news,’ to elicit a response, yet there is no explanation as to what he is referencing. This name-calling attempts to undermine the stories and media that supported the democratic party, but is meaningless, as it remains undefined. He also presents several bandwagon appeals, in which he suggests that if others have benefited from similar actions, why can’t the Republican Party? Specifically, Pollak’s fifth and eighth point argue that since the Obama administration has been accused of manipulating media for political gain, and for interfering in foreign politics, it is of no consequence that the Russian’s are doing the same now. This shift of blame offers no resolution, and leaves Pollak’s argument sounding…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Brooke Gladstone’s graphic novel entitled “The Influencing Machine”, journalistic media is evaluated throughout its evolution. Due to the complexity of the subject, many different qualities of the media are explored throughout the novel; however, four main, controversial themes are always evident, and those four are the purpose, necessity, honesty, and reliability of journalistic media. After reading Gladstone’s informative graphic novel, enough information can be acquired in order to form valid, cohesive opinions regarding different characteristics of journalistic media. Throughout history, all prosperous phenomena share one commonality: they’re purposeful.…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    On September fifth of 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that DACA will end in six months in order to give Congress time to find a solution for the 800,000 young immigrants that are part of the program. Sessions, the president and White House officials gave many reasons explaining the program’s removal, but these reasons were either false or one-sided. An article on Politifact written by Louis Jacobson, John Kruzel, Manuela Tobias and Miriam Valverde, points out all the flaws in Jeff Sessions’ announcement about ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. For example, in his announcement, Jeff Sessions said DACA ‘denied jobs to hundreds of thousands of Americans by allowing those same illegal aliens to take those…

    • 208 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Kellyanne Conway, Counselor to the President has coined the term ‘alternative facts’, effectively rebranding the lie or more precisely, propaganda. Now, the way a message is delivered is just as significant as the message itself. Shapiro’s mantra has been taken up by public office and media alike, now more important than ever it is crucial that journalists making up our media are vigilant, with institutions and outlets held to their word, so that truth and accountability are not lost in age in which perception and deception are at the forefront of media, news and…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In order to avoid the awkward “please pass the potato salad” at Thanksgiving between you and your conservative cousin Carl, most people will avoid discussing politics altogether. For example, Sean Spicer, the White House Press Secretary, held interviews with pool reporters—in other words, conservative news outlets that aligned with his political leanings. This coincides with the claims made by Joseph E. Uscinski in his article Fake News Freakout, where he said, “People tended to avoid news they disagreed with—and when they nonetheless did encounter a message that they rejected, they found ways to discount it or to interpret it in a manner that made it congruent with their pre-existing opinions” (Uscinski, Fake News Freakout). With the First…

    • 211 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Donna Woolfolk Cross, author of an article called Propaganda: How Not to Get Bamboozled, says “For good or evil, propaganda pervades our daily lives, helping to shape our attitudes on a thousand subjects.” No matter what the purpose is for an ad there is always some type of “tricky” language being used. Usually, this “tricky” language is being used in a way that would persuade an audience to do whatever the ad is wanting them to do. In a political ad the main purpose is usually to get the audience to believe what that political person believes and to do that they use different types of propaganda in order to sway the audience’s opinion. However, the same goes for product ads.…

    • 1265 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Donna Halper

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In “How to be a Skeptical News Consumer,” Donna Halper, a professor of media, describes the importance of fact checking when reading news, both online and in print. She explains how often pieces of information are inflated, whether it’s done to make a point or to make a profit. Many citizens spread stories around as a joke, but some rather gullible people believe them to be true. On occasion, a company advertises a false statement accidentally. The author supports her claims using examples of true events caused by untrue reports.…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Rhetoric Analysis Essay

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Editorial Analysis Essay Well on December 6, 2016 the New York Times Editorial Board had released a document about Racism in New York's Prisons. The author which is the Editorial Board has used some main point of bias and some just were neutral. Also when he was talks he uses a lot of rhetoric specifically logos when he talked he was stating a lot of facts and just telling the audience what was true so, turning into the bias side he was not bias at all because using facts and what you know is not bias. Also when he talked about connotation nothing really much what connotative in the article.…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The author observes that not only did the mainstream media get it wrong but it showed how the influence of the mainstream media has declined. With a lot of biased coverage, the media had put a lot effort at throwing the election at Hillary Clinton, by giving her unlimited and positive coverage, but surprisingly, she still lost in the elections. The author argues that there is only two steps the media can take after what happened in the U.S elections; the mainstream media would decide to match on with their biasness which would eventually make them irrelevant or the media should be honest, accept their flaws and change. The author said, he had no luck when it came to getting a person from the media ask them if they acknowledged their biasness in the elections. He claims that, most likely the media will never notice their biasness because they are very saturated in it.…

    • 1028 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    During ENG 1020, we completed many assignments focusing on the three main goals of this course, teach students about different styles of rhetorical situation, learn about the different genres of reading, research, and writing, and to teach students to develop analyses and arguments using research-based content, effective organizations, and appropriate expression and mechanics. Throughout this course, I have learned how to search and specifically find appropriate sources using the CRAAP test, identify proper characteristics of a rhetorical piece, and be able to reflect on my own writing by completing multiple drafts. These experiences allowed me to improve my persuasion techniques, my ability to find reliable information, and editing skills.…

    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Bias reporting in the main stream media has grown into a National phenomenon, especially after the most recent election cycle. There is no middle ground and there are never two sides to any story. The term “fake news” is voiced over and over again by politicians and I can’t help but to agree. Before you dismiss my essay in the assumptions that I am out on a mission to “Make America Great Again”, I believe all parties are equally guilty. Reporting now will have you believe you are either left or right, liberal or conservative.…

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Impact of Fake News on Society “Google, Democracy and the Truth About Internet Search” written by Carole Cadwalladr discusses how the quickly evolving internet is connected to the growth of fake news in our society. Articles such as this lead to a wide variety of questions about the world today. Now ask yourself, how has society been affected by the popularity of fake news on the internet? No matter where you happen to stumble upon the internet, there’s a chance you’ll come across a form of fake news. On that note, fake news can become a highly irritating thing.…

    • 2060 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    This means that journalists will get information from any source just to give their readers something to read and formulate their opinions. On the other hand, Ward’s article is intended for the writers whose focus is journalism. Ward begins his article by mentioning the different kinds of journalism including blogging and social media and the practices/norms that create ethical problems (Para. 1). Beginning his article in that way allows the readers to know that the article is intended for those who write…

    • 1410 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    There have been numerous counts on two of the biggest news stations in the United States, which are Fox news and CNN that have been discovered to use media bias by not covering other aspects of a story in order to confuse it’s viewers from learning the reality of what is being…

    • 2167 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays