Fox News
The Message:
The message that is being conveyed from Fox News is one of a much more critical viewpoint of the riots resulting from the death of Michael Brown and the grand jury's decision not to indict Darren Wilson. The panelists are trying to show how that regardless of the results, the protestors are continuing to protest because they already made up the decision about what happened in between Brown and Wilson based solely on race rather than the facts of the case. The panelists argue that the resulting protests are not justified and that black leaders such as Al Sharpton and Barack Obama are not doing enough to calm down the protestors. The ultimate message being conveyed is that the continuing protests and outrage from Brown's death are unjustified because they are being instigated from black leaders who are speaking out against institutionalized racism. This news coverage fits the times accordingly because the coverage comes from just a few hours after the grand jury's decision. The intended demographic for Fox News tends to generally be older Americans who lean more towards the conservative side of the political spectrum.
The Rhetoric:
Logos is used in this news coverage of Ferguson so as to provide statistics and data which backs up the panelists varying claims in regards to the protests and other factors surrounding the situation in Missouri. By using data, an appeal is made to someone's logistical thinking. It is generally recognized that the use of data and numbers makes any arguement appear stronger. Another rhetorical device used by Fox is ethos. Although coming from a more conservative viewpoint, the panelists aim to challenge ones morals and views of what is ethical or not, especially in terms of the protests taking place. It did not appear that pathos was a rhetorical device used by the panel to better convey their message and opinon on the events in Ferguson. The panelists were passionate in their arguments of their viewpoints which can be argued is an emotional appeal although it doesn't fully give the viewers something to connect to unless they also share that viewpoint. One rhetorical device in which the panelists affectively use in their hope to show how the protests are unjustified is through allusion. By alluding to the Civil Rights Era protests and trying to explain the major differences between those protests and the current ones, are the panelists driving a symbolic wedge of what is right and wrong concerning the protests altogether and the reasons behind them. The media imagery used strongly links the views held by the panel - showing burning cars, broken buildings, and other destruction caused from protests that turned violent.
Final Thoughts:
I did not find this news coverage of the Ferguson events after the decision not indict Darren Wilson effective because I was never able to find a clear connection with the panelists. While this may partially be due to my opposing viewpoints, in general the panelists were facing each other and not the camera directly which made me feel like a good connection was ever established. Also, I feel the overall number of people (5) reporting on the news wasn't beneficial because at certain points they were talking over each other and it was hard to navigate where each view point or argument was coming from. Overall, while the panelists did bring up interesting points and backed up their arguments with varying rhetorical devices, the media coverage from Fox News was not as effective because the message being spoken on the screen was not able to translate over to the viewer.
The message that is being conveyed from Fox News is one of a much more critical viewpoint of the riots resulting from the death of Michael Brown and the grand jury's decision not to indict Darren Wilson. The panelists are trying to show how that regardless of the results, the protestors are continuing to protest because they already made up the decision about what happened in between Brown and Wilson based solely on race rather than the facts of the case. The panelists argue that the resulting protests are not justified and that black leaders such as Al Sharpton and Barack Obama are not doing enough to calm down the protestors. The ultimate message being conveyed is that the continuing protests and outrage from Brown's death are unjustified because they are being instigated from black leaders who are speaking out against institutionalized racism. This news coverage fits the times accordingly because the coverage comes from just a few hours after the grand jury's decision. The intended demographic for Fox News tends to generally be older Americans who lean more towards the conservative side of the political spectrum.
The Rhetoric:
Logos is used in this news coverage of Ferguson so as to provide statistics and data which backs up the panelists varying claims in regards to the protests and other factors surrounding the situation in Missouri. By using data, an appeal is made to someone's logistical thinking. It is generally recognized that the use of data and numbers makes any arguement appear stronger. Another rhetorical device used by Fox is ethos. Although coming from a more conservative viewpoint, the panelists aim to challenge ones morals and views of what is ethical or not, especially in terms of the protests taking place. It did not appear that pathos was a rhetorical device used by the panel to better convey their message and opinon on the events in Ferguson. The panelists were passionate in their arguments of their viewpoints which can be argued is an emotional appeal although it doesn't fully give the viewers something to connect to unless they also share that viewpoint. One rhetorical device in which the panelists affectively use in their hope to show how the protests are unjustified is through allusion. By alluding to the Civil Rights Era protests and trying to explain the major differences between those protests and the current ones, are the panelists driving a symbolic wedge of what is right and wrong concerning the protests altogether and the reasons behind them. The media imagery used strongly links the views held by the panel - showing burning cars, broken buildings, and other destruction caused from protests that turned violent.
Final Thoughts:
I did not find this news coverage of the Ferguson events after the decision not indict Darren Wilson effective because I was never able to find a clear connection with the panelists. While this may partially be due to my opposing viewpoints, in general the panelists were facing each other and not the camera directly which made me feel like a good connection was ever established. Also, I feel the overall number of people (5) reporting on the news wasn't beneficial because at certain points they were talking over each other and it was hard to navigate where each view point or argument was coming from. Overall, while the panelists did bring up interesting points and backed up their arguments with varying rhetorical devices, the media coverage from Fox News was not as effective because the message being spoken on the screen was not able to translate over to the viewer.