LeilaKazerouni

ZackDePiero
Writing2
6December,2015
IAmGoingToIncludeTrumpsNameinThisTitletoGrabYourAttention

Asweapproachthe2016UnitedStatesPresidentialElection,anabundanceofnews
sourcesarereportingaboutthepotentialcandidates,withaseeminglystrongfocusonthe
Republicancandidate,DonaldTrump,probablyduetothepublicshighlevelofcuriosityabout
hisunconventionalcampaign.Manyofthearticleshavesimilaritiesconnectingthem,butthe
perspectivesandviewpointstheyrepresentvaryfromsourcetosource.Thestrongcontrasting
viewpointspresentwithinthepoliticaldebatecreateawidelineupofcontextualconventions,
althoughtherearemanysimilaritiesintextualfeatures.CommonnewsprogramssuchasCNN,
FoxNews,andPBSdiscusssimilartopicswithmatchingstructureswhileusingtheirown
distincttonestospeaktotheirdifferingaudienceswithvaryingintentions.Anewschannel's
limitedfocusonacertainpartyandtheirtoneregardingdifferentcandidatescreatesitspolitical
reputationsforexampleFoxNewsisknowntocatertomoreRepublicanideals.Ontheother
handCNNismostfrequentlyviewedbyDemocratswhoagreewiththeirpresenterspositions.
ThecommentaryonCNNoftentendstoleantowardstheleft,althoughthenetworkclaimsto
havenopoliticalbias.PBSaimstohaveamorebalancedapproach,deliveringalessslanted
newsreporttoanindependentaudiencewhoseeminglywantsbothsidesofthestory.When
comparingthethreesources,IexaminedarticlesaboutDonaldTrumpaspoliticalcandidate.
Chancesare,peopletendtolookforinformationontheupcomingelectionandTrumps

campaignthatpresentssimilarperspectivestotheirown,ratherthanopposingideas,thereforeto
attracttheirlikemindedaudience,authorscommonlyuseasimilarstructuredpresentationof
factualeventsandtextualfeaturesintheirarticles,forexampletheuseofastrong,engagingtitle.
WhensearchingDonaldTrumpsnameonCNNswebsite,oneofthefirstarticlesthat
popsupistitled
DonaldTrump:I'd'getalongverywellwithVladimirPutin
.Thislarge,bolded
titleshowstheauthorsdisapprovalandjudgmentoftheinformationreleasedregardingrelations
betweenTrumpandthePresidentofRussia,VladimirPutin.Atitleisthefirstpieceof
informationtheauthorcanusetoswaythereader.Here,theauthorEricBradnerpairsTrump
andPutininthesametitletocreateanimmediatenegativereaction.Laterinthearticle,Bradner
quotesTrumpsayinghethinksthetwoareverydifferent,buthavesomesimilarities(Bradner).
Thisshowsthatthetitlemaynotbeentirelyaccurate,buttakenoutofcontext,givesthereader
theinitialdistrusttheauthordesires.Anothercommonfeaturetopoliticalnewsarticlesistheuse
ofquotestoaddcredibility.Loweexplainsethosinhispieceas,Accuracyoftheinformationor
thevisualrepresentationoftherhetoric,(Lowe).Withethos,theauthorusesconfirmed
informationtoaidthepersuasionoftheargument.Politicsisaverydebatabletopic,sowhen
writinganarticle,anauthormustuseethostoensuretheirreadersbelievetheirargumentismore
thanjusttheirthoughts.BecauseofBradnersoverallunfavorabletonetowardsTrump,onecan
assumethatheisaDemocratwritingtopersuadereadersagainstvotingforthecandidate,but
dependingontheirpoliticalaffiliations,peoplesviewtowardsthearticlewillvary.The
informationisalsospacedoutintosmallparagraphstoimprovesyntaxandmakereadingeasier.
ThisandothertextualfeaturesoftheCNNarticlearesimilartomostothernewswebsitearticles,
thoughthearticlesvaryincontextandopinion.

TherearesomenegativeandsomeunbiasedarticletitleswhensearchingTrumponCNN
ontheotherhand,FoxNewshasmorepositivearticlesandinformationonDonaldTrump.A
recentarticletitled
Trumpreachesouttoreligiousleaders,triestoconvincevotershehasfaith
discussesthecandidateseffortstobroadenhisspanofvoterstoareligiousaudience(Snyder).
Muchliketheuseofethosasarhetoricalfeatureabove,thiscouldbeSnyderusingpathos,an
appealtoemotion(Lowe).Thisgoesbacktothetheimportanceofthetitletoattractreaders.
Althoughwhatissaidinthetitlemaynotbecompletelytrue,itdrawsthereaderenoughfor
themtofurtherexplainthroughoutthearticle.
Acandidate'sreligiousconnectioncanbethedecidingfactorforavoter.Snyder
understandsthisemotionalconnectionandutilizesittoswaythereadersinhisandDonald
Trumpsfavor.Thatbeingsaid,usingpathosaloneasatacticofpersuasioncanseem
emotionallymanipulative,(Lowe).FoxNewsisknowntoattractaRepublicanaudience,
displayedbythelackofnegativityinthetitle.Thepubliclikestoseewhenacandidateputsin
efforttoreachouttoalargeraudience.Inthiscase,Trumpsintentionsareviewedfavorablyby
Republicansbecauseoftheirhighlyreligiouspopulationastudyshowsthatoverfortyseven
percentofRepublicansarehighlyreligiouscomparedtoDemocratsatnineteenpercent
(Newport).Inthearticle,theauthorChristopherSnyderusesquotesfromdifferentreligious
leaderstorationalizehisstatements.Forexample,ReverendDr.DarrellScott
said,Idontknow
whattypeoflegislatorhewouldbe...butIknowonething,heisahellofachiefexecutive.He's
aheckofaguy,(Snyder).Snyderusesthesequoteswisely,knowingthatfollowersofthe
churchmaybemoreinclinedtovotefororfurtherresearchTrumpbecauseofhisacceptanceby
thesesreligiousleaders.ThepurposeofusingthequotesastheethosissimilartoCNN,but

SnydermanipulatesthecredibilitybyonlyquotingpeoplewhospeakinfavorofMr.Trump.The
ethosusedbalancesouttheoverlysentimentalpathos,creatingasubstantialargumentwith
credibilityandsentiment(Lowe).ThelengthandtheinclusionofavideomatchtheCNNarticle
anditspurpose.Theinformationisalsowellspacedtomakereadinglessdauntingand
approachable.
WhatdoesDonaldTrumpbelieve?Wherethecandidatestandson10issues
isthetitleof
thearticlepublishedbyPBSauthors,LisaDesjardinsandNathalieBoyd.
UnliketheCNNand
FoxNewsarticles,PBSarticlesseemtohavelittletonobias.Thetitledoesnotseemtosway
towardseitherparty'sviews,foreshadowingtheimpartialityofinformationtocome.Byutilizing
twoauthorstocreatethepiece,abalanceiscreatedeliminatingmuchoftheusualbiaspresented
inmostothernewsarticles.PBSisanindependentlyoperated,nonprofitorganization,and
thereforemorecommittedtoreachingawider,morediverseaudience.Readerstendtorelyon
PBSforstraightforwardinformationandstorieswithoutprejudice.CNNandFoxareownedand
fundedbydifferentprofitingbroadcastingsystems,sotheyhavemorefreedomtocompresstheir
audienceandexpresstheiropinions.ThePBSarticlegivestendifferentstances

bothpositive
andnegative

Trumptakesonpopularlydiscussedissues,demonstratingtheauthorseffortto
limitthebias(DesjardinsandBoyd).Becauseofthemanydifferentviewpointsgiven,thisarticle
islongerthantheFoxandCNNarticlesandwouldrequiremorededicationfromthereader.
Eachtopicissplitintodifferentsections,makingiteasiertofindaspecificboldedsubsectionin
caseonewasnotplanningtoreadtheentirearticle.Unliketheotherwebsiteswhichdisplay
videosatthetopofthearticlesrestatingallthesameinformation,PBShasapictureofTrump
givingaspeechtocreateavisual.Thearticlecontainshyperlinksthroughoutthetexttohelpthe

readerbygivingmoreinformationoncertainwordsandphrases.Thehyperlinksalsocontribute
totheethos,addingmorecredibilitytothepiecebecauseevenifthereadersdontclickonthem,
itisobviousotherpeoplehavewrittensimilarpiecesandagreewithhisideas(Lowe).Knowing
thereisaccesstomoreinformationonasubjectgivesthereaderasenseofcertaintybecausethey
canauthenticateanyquestionablefacts.Overall,PBSpurposevariesfromthatofCNNandFox
becauseoftheirdedicationtoreducingobviouspreferences,althoughtheirarrangementsare
relatable.
Fromlookingcloselyatthepresidentialcampaignnewsarticlegenre,Iassessedthe
importanceofgenrefornotonlywriters,butreadersaswell.Whenunderstandingandusing
genres,writershavemoreguidancewhenutilizingthepropertoneinaddressingtheiraudience.
Withpoliticalarticles,theauthorsknowitisimportanttospaceouttheinformationinorderto
keepthereadersattention.Theyalsousequotes,fancywords,aninfluentialtitle,andanofficial
formattoinfluencethereadersintrustingtheinformationgiven.Authorsmustusegenresto
guidetheirwritinginorderfortheiraudiencetoreadthematerialwitheasewhilepaying
attentiontotheactualknowledgebeingshared.Thestructureofthepoliticalarticlesmakesthe
big

sometimecomplicated
topicsmoretangibleandrelatable.Oncepeoplebecome
acquaintedwiththisgeneralstructureofspacedout,organizedinformationwithquotesand
convincingtitles,theyareabletocomprehendthepurposeofthearticlecomfortablyand
effectively.Withmoreknowledgeofparticulargenres,writerscanbecomemoreproductive,and
persuasiveinutilizingandcreatingtheirarguments,whilereaderswillbecomemoreinformed
andresourcefulinanalyzinginformation.

WorksCited
Bradner,Eric."DonaldTrump:I'd'getalongVeryWellWith'PutinCNNPolitics.com."
CNN
.
CableNewsNetwork,11Oct.2015.Web.12Oct.2015.
Desjardins,Lisa,andNathalieBoyd."WhatDoesDonaldTrumpBelieve?WheretheCandidate
Standson10Issues."
PBS
.PBS,16June2015.Web.12Oct.2015.
Lowe,Charles,andLauraCarroll.
WritingSpaces:ReadingsonWriting.
Vol.1.WestLafayette,
Ind.:Parlor,2010.4558.Print.
Newport,Frank."RepublicansRemainDisproportionatelyWhiteandReligious."
Gallup.com
.1
Sept.2010.Web.12Oct.2015.
Snyder,Christopher."TrumpReachesouttoReligiousLeaders,TriestoConvinceVotersHe
HasFaith."
FoxNews
.FOXNewsNetwork,10Oct.2015.Web.12Oct.2015.