Long gone are the days of only the formally educated elite researching, spinning, and reporting the news. Because of technological advances and the advent of blogging, anyone with access to an internet connection can voice their opinions and report news relevant to their interests. Blogs provide different viewpoints and takes on the various issues weface each day. Aside from who writes them, blogs and online journals have many similarities and very few differences. So why shouldn't bloggers receive the same rights, privileges, and protection as journalists? Shield Laws protect journalists and give them the option of disclosing their sources in a court of law. Many states have a form of a shield law but Congress is still debating upon who and what to include in the federal law. Blogger Andrew Moshirnia addresses this hotly debated topic in his blog, Why Are Bloggers Still Sitting at the Kid's Table? The Popularity of Online News and the Federal Shield Law. Moshirnia effectively uses several key rhetorical elements, such as metaphor, appeal to ethics, and an informal writing style, to develop his argument.
Beginning with the incredibly long title, Why Are Bloggers Still Sitting at the Kid's Table? The Popularity of Online News and the Federal Shield Law, Moshirnia uses a metaphor to show the absurdity of withholding the Shield Law privileges from bloggers. In many traditional families, there are at least two tables that friends, family, and guests gather around to eat holiday feasts during Thanksgiving and Christmas, the adult table and the kiddy table. At the adult table, parents and mature, older children discuss “noteworthy” topics while at the kiddy table, the younger children discuss “trivial” matters. The idea of the kiddy table implies childish conduct as opposed to the adult table, reserved for maturity. In this scenario, blogging would be the child, print journalism would be the elder, and the Shield Law would be the adult table. Even though blogging is halfway through its sixteenth year and has grown into a prominent source for information, it still has not been afforded the honor and privilege of sitting at the adult table with journalism. Bloggers have not been granted the same deserved protection as journalists.
Moshinira’s appeals to ethics build credibility through the use of strong facts and statics throughout his blog. He uses details and direct quotations from the Pew Internet and American Life Project to show how important mediums other than print journalism are to the way the public gathers information. The Pew Report is one of seven divisions that make up The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. They are a non-profit, unbiased organization that finds, analyzes, and distributes facts and statics about the usage of a variety of factors shaping America.
This blog is informally written which helps put the reader at ease and connects him or her to the blogger, developing a kind of relationship. Usage of the word “we” conveys a sense of community and unity. This word choice makes the issue involve the readers so that they have a vested interest in the outcome.
The very last point in the blog is a command, “so tweet grace and pass legal protection”. This charge gives the reader the idea that the issue is important enough for them to do something and makes the readers seriously think about their rights as bloggers. It creates a sense of urgency makes the readers want to proactively work towards obtaining and using their rights.
Moshirnia points out and describes the opinion of the opposition. By doing this, he shows that he has critically thought about this topic from another perspective, adding to his credibility. Those opposed to Moshinira’s view believe that the Shield Laws should only apply to traditional journalists and columnists. Through diction, Moshirnia points out the fallacy of this opinion by calling their view “silly notions” and states that most people don’t receive their news solely from print newspapers. He calls his view of focusing on the function carried out by the individual “common sense”. Many people get their information from multiple mediums including blogs and online journals. So if bloggers and journalist perform the same exact tasks and only differ in the way they present their ideas, online versus print, why shouldn’t bloggers receive the same rights and protection as print journalists?
Although Andrew Moshirnia’s blog has some good points, there is a problem with his argument. A number of the links included in the text did not lead to reliable or scholarly sources. For example one link led to a Wikipedia article about Judith Miller. To strengthen his argument, Moshirnia should have linked to the biographical information on her website instead. Overall, Moshirnia effectively uses rhetorical tools to persuade others to agree with him. The use of the metaphorical table was a good hook to get the reader interested in hearing his claims. Including a command, telling the audience to do something, may persuade readers to really consider what he says and the importance of the issue.
0 comments:
Post a Comment