The Rhetorical Triangle & Heffernan’s“Comment is King”IDS 3309 B-51A Readings – January 16, 2013

Political Rhetoric TodayThe Partisan Corners of the News (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/business/media/09drill.html)Almost as many Americans today get their political news from the Internet as from newspapersOnline news is partisan55% say they believe the Internet increases the influence of those with extreme viewsCable news is also very partisan

Fox News: audience is 46% Republican, 15% DemocratMSNBC: “Fox’s Liberal Evil Twin” (NYT, 8/31/2012)

What is rhetoric?Rhetoric: “The art of using language to communicate effectively and persuasively.”A Western tradition with roots in Greek society; for centuries served as a central tenet of political discourse and an advanced education (along with Grammar & Logic)With the growth of media outlets and infinite expanse of information brought on by the digital age of communication, rhetoric and the use of language to present information and arguments has become more relevant than ever.

The Rhetorical Triangle

The Rhetorical TriangleLogos (Rational appeal)

Pathos (Emotional appeal)

Ethos (Ethical appeal)

•facts•case studies •statistics•experiments•logical reasoning•analogies•anecdotes•authority voices

higher emotions•belief in fairness•love•pity•justice•etc.lower emotions•greed•lust•revenge•avarice

•trustworthiness•credibility•reliability•expert testimony•reliable sources•fairness

Clicker PollThink back on a recent argument or debate you may have engaged in. On which of the three elements of the Rhetorical Triangle did you rely most heavily?

A.Logos (rational appeal)B.Pathos (emotional appeal)C.Ethos (ethical appeal)

A few examples of rhetorical arguments being made on the

cable news networks

First, what is Obamacare?Some of the rhetoric on Fox News And on MSNBC

“Comment is King”Virginia Heffernan, NYT, April

26, 2009Presents an analysis of comments made on the Op-Ed pieces of Anne Applebaum, columnist for the Washington PostApplebaum is pretty middle of the road, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, but you wouldn’t know that from the comments made on her articles:

“liberal fool”; “a lapsed neo-con addict”; “Zionist stooge liar”; anti-Semitic

Comments are not refereed; no “sustained or inventive analysis of Applebaum’s work” emerges from the commentary

“Comment is King”Virginia Heffernan, NYT, April

26, 2009Heffernan argues that online commentary should become a “cogent part of online journalism”It is instead the “bête noire for journalists and readers alike”; journalists find it “stinging and distracting” while readers won’t take the time to dig through the comments unless they plan on making a comment themselves

“Comment is King”Virginia Heffernan, NYT, April

26, 2009What’s the problem?

Rhythms of the web: early assent, then dissent, early morning weirdness; then fact checkingNever reaches the level of true analysis; instead, an echo-chamber develops

Echo-chamber is “unpleasant, and it makes it hard to keep listening for the clearer, brighter, rarer voices nearly drowned out in the din.”Something should be done, but Heffernan seems at a loss as to what that “something” might be

And what about YouTube?

YouTube comments section: “an infamously troll-ridden Wild West of abuse, ignorance and spam.”In November, 2013, they decided to try and fix it: “YouTube comments will become conversations that matter to you". Channel owners allowed to moderate, block and filter comments; further integration with Google+Efforts at a civil conversation undermined by first comment under blog post announcing changes, with a prominent, ahem, emoticon.

WHOA, hold everything.The Internet was against this move.YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim, the Google+ site's biggest star PewDiePie and 200,000 petition-signers aren't happy "Google is forcing us to make google+ accounts and invading our social life to comment on a youtube video and trying to take away our anonymous profile. They are also trying to censor us unless we share the same worldview as they do

Google Backs Off.“Many of you have told us that you use your YouTube Inbox to manage comments. With the new commenting system moving comment notices to alerts, removing this feature was, well, a bummer.”

Back to “Comment is King” by Virginia Heffernan

Since this article was published, the Times has come up with their own “troll solution”: Comment ranking by readers and Editors at the Times

David Brooks, “Weed: Been There, Done That”

First blogging assignment