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Fiona Conway

Ms. Whitney

AP Lang and Comp

2 March 2019

Mr. Know-It-All

If you want to learn from someone who “knows all,” then Jason Riley is the perfect

person for you. Riley, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, a business news publication with

a conservative editorial page, focuses on current events in the US, with a strong focus on the

2020 election. Through these topics, Riley voices his own predictions and opinions, carefully

selecting and omitting certain pieces of evidence to sway his reader towards his views. Riley

holds views that go against the majority within the black community, so his audience of white

conservatives who fear accusations of racism can find solace in a black man who shares their

same views.

Riley’s style is simple; he presents topics as he sees them, deliberately selecting evidence

that fits with his claim, no matter how inaccurate this paints the picture of the situation to

readers. In “The Democrats Could Re-Elect Trump in 2020” Riley discusses the way Democrats

mishandled the impeachment, but he fails to state the true reason for Trump’s impeachment (his

attempt to withhold military aid in Ukraine) and instead makes it appear as though Democrats

moved to impeach because they were still upset about the Mueller Report. And in “Immigrants

Come to America to Work” Riley uses imprecise language such as “more than a quarter” when

discussing statistics in order to prove his claim that immigrants are now more commonly coming

from countries with higher education rates. This “cherry picking” strategy causes the reader to
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blindly agree with Riley, as s/he doesn't know the evidence that blatantly contradicts Riley’s

claims.

Through assertions that are supported by selectively sorting, Riley presents himself as a

pundit. You won’t find yourself impressed with his scintillating syntax or witty word choice but

instead will feel he’s lecturing at you so you comprehend his profound and unique thoughts. One

of the ways Riley asserts his thoughts is by juxtaposing past events with current events in the

world. In “The Second Coming of Eugene V. Debs” Riley discusses the percentage of the votes

received for socialist candidates in the election years around WWII and the Great Depression

when discussing the candidacy of socialist Bernie Sanders and in “Michelle Obama Is Racially

Insensitive?” Riley uses data from the 1940s and 50s surrounding black poverty rates

plummeting and black income rates rising to explain how white racism is not what holds blacks

back in society, it is black behavior. The usage of historical data helps Riley to establish his

image as a pundit; he uses data from the past to explain that situations similar to now have

already happened and, according to Riley, all we have to do is look to the past to see what the

results will be for the future.

Since the majority of Riley’s audience is white, this controversial strategy does not bother

them, as they are seeking comfort in the fact that Riley has opinions similar to theirs, which are

uncommon for a black man. This audience is reading in order to stay up to date on the election

and other current events from a conservative’s perspective. However, one of Riley’s most

frequent topics is criticizing Democrats, and these articles are aimed to elicit anger from a

smaller portion of his audience which is composed of Democrats. Riley paints the Democratic

Party as unorganized and unable to please its members, stating in “The Second Coming of

Eugene V. Debs” that “The left’s current flirtation with socialism reflects in part the failure of
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Democrats to address the economic concerns of their voters” and saying that Democrats are

“panicking” over the possible nomination of Bernie Sanders in “The Democratic Establishment

Will Rally Around Bernie.” These descriptions are sometimes meant as a warning to Democrats,

as once again, Riley believes that he alone knows all.

Riley uses these strategies when discussing his favorite topic: how the 2020 election will

play out, discussing obstacles facing both Trump and Democrats. While Riley does support

Trump, he isn’t overly favorable and points out the president’s flaws, describing Trump’s

abysmal performance with black voters, saying “Mr. Trump won only 8%, which is the worst

performance of any Republican presidential candidate since 1976, except for Mr. McCain and

Mr. Romney” in “Trump’s Smart Play for African Americans.” In addition to the discussion of

candidates, Riley also discusses issues that are pertinent in debates, such as immigration and

criminal justice reform. Once again, Riley voices a controversial opinion on these topics,

declaring in “Empty Prisons Mean Dangerous Streets” that the goal of prisons isn’t to

rehabilitate people but instead “to keep society safe from dangerous people.” These topics, and

Riley’s subsequent reflection of his own opinion, appeal to Riley’s audience who feel as though

their views are not represented by minorities.

When reading Riley’s articles, you have to take it with a grain of salt, knowing you aren’t

getting the full picture presented to you. However, if you’re looking for a one sided version of

the news that is composed of carefully crafted evidence to satisfy far reaching claims, Riley gets

the job done