The Daily Show
The Message:
The message Jon Stewart attempts to convey to his viewers during his opening monologue is that the events surrounding Ferguson are as complicated as they seem and that the death of Michael Brown is in fact part of a larger patttern emerging of black men being shot by white police officers. Stewart largely tries to convey to his audience that race is a very prevalent issue and that the death of Brown is not an isolated incident but rather a byproduct of a flawed political system which results in unfair treatment of minorities by police. Stewart goes on to analyze certain details of the shooting while also largely making his point through the use of satire. Stewart uses multiple clips from Fox News in which he then goes on to try and disprove through humor and even stronger counter-points. The speech Stewart gives covering the tragic events in Ferguson fits in with the times because it was another instance of an unarmed-black male being killed which led to even more public outrage as this event occured within a year of the Trayvon Martin shooting as well as only a few weeks after the death of Eric Garner. In recent times, more light is being shed on the continued unfair treatment of African Americans and other minorities because of insitutionalized policies which, purposefully intended to do so or not, result in continued oppression of minorities. Therefore, this topic of news is completely relevant to the current times. The intended demographic is largely younger audiences, between the ages of 18-30 who largely use Stewart's program as the main way to get their political news, as well as those leaning more towards the liberal end of the political spectrum. Stewart clearly makes fun of conservative news outlets and in turn provides his more progressive political views.
The Rhetoric:
The use of pathos is clearly evident throughout the video. The story itself of an unarmed teenager being shot and killed is tragic enough to elicit an emotional response. Stewart also uses humor to disprove the points of his counterparts. By providing anecdotal evidence, does Stewart seems to back up his claims. Anecdotal evidence is important in rhetoric because it not only provides a contrast to evidence through the use of data, but brings a more personable and humanistic element to the news coverage, which the audience can therefore better connect with the story being presented. Ethos is also presented in this story as Stewart attempts to challenge how Americans view the police and racism in the country. Challenging the ethics of people's personal viewpoints is risky, but Stewart provides strong evidence to his opposing view. Finally, an appeal to logos is also another rhetorical device used by The Daily Show's coverage surrounding Ferguson. Stewart presents strong statistics which suggest unfair treatment of blacks by the Ferguson police department. The way in which the story is presented to viewers is carefully crafted and organized so as to having a lasting impact and promote thought on this complicated and sad situation. By beginning with Stewart using humor to attack the differing viewpoints, he establishes an emotional connection with the audience through humor. Next, he moves into further explaing his views and why his potrayal of the Ferguson events is correct through the use of data. By finishing with a more serious tone and presenting the anecdotal story does Stewart again establish an emotion connection with the audience, albeit, more somber and thoughtful.
Final Thoughts:
To me, the way in which this version of the Ferguson news was presented was very effective. While watching this video, I laughed, I learned, and I came away thinking critically. Although, it can be argued that Stewart is more so spinning the coverage to just be funny, he clearly gets his point across in the end. Also, as this media outlet is much more liberal than others, not all viewers might like watching this program to receive their news. Those who are more conservative might see this form of delivering the news as not funny, informative, as well as being offensive to those who were made fun of. In the end though, personally I believe that if someone comes away from this video angry because of how it was presented, than Stewart succeeed in his job, which ultimately makes the way The Daily Showpresented the news surrounding Ferguson, MO effective anyway it is looked at.
The message Jon Stewart attempts to convey to his viewers during his opening monologue is that the events surrounding Ferguson are as complicated as they seem and that the death of Michael Brown is in fact part of a larger patttern emerging of black men being shot by white police officers. Stewart largely tries to convey to his audience that race is a very prevalent issue and that the death of Brown is not an isolated incident but rather a byproduct of a flawed political system which results in unfair treatment of minorities by police. Stewart goes on to analyze certain details of the shooting while also largely making his point through the use of satire. Stewart uses multiple clips from Fox News in which he then goes on to try and disprove through humor and even stronger counter-points. The speech Stewart gives covering the tragic events in Ferguson fits in with the times because it was another instance of an unarmed-black male being killed which led to even more public outrage as this event occured within a year of the Trayvon Martin shooting as well as only a few weeks after the death of Eric Garner. In recent times, more light is being shed on the continued unfair treatment of African Americans and other minorities because of insitutionalized policies which, purposefully intended to do so or not, result in continued oppression of minorities. Therefore, this topic of news is completely relevant to the current times. The intended demographic is largely younger audiences, between the ages of 18-30 who largely use Stewart's program as the main way to get their political news, as well as those leaning more towards the liberal end of the political spectrum. Stewart clearly makes fun of conservative news outlets and in turn provides his more progressive political views.
The Rhetoric:
The use of pathos is clearly evident throughout the video. The story itself of an unarmed teenager being shot and killed is tragic enough to elicit an emotional response. Stewart also uses humor to disprove the points of his counterparts. By providing anecdotal evidence, does Stewart seems to back up his claims. Anecdotal evidence is important in rhetoric because it not only provides a contrast to evidence through the use of data, but brings a more personable and humanistic element to the news coverage, which the audience can therefore better connect with the story being presented. Ethos is also presented in this story as Stewart attempts to challenge how Americans view the police and racism in the country. Challenging the ethics of people's personal viewpoints is risky, but Stewart provides strong evidence to his opposing view. Finally, an appeal to logos is also another rhetorical device used by The Daily Show's coverage surrounding Ferguson. Stewart presents strong statistics which suggest unfair treatment of blacks by the Ferguson police department. The way in which the story is presented to viewers is carefully crafted and organized so as to having a lasting impact and promote thought on this complicated and sad situation. By beginning with Stewart using humor to attack the differing viewpoints, he establishes an emotional connection with the audience through humor. Next, he moves into further explaing his views and why his potrayal of the Ferguson events is correct through the use of data. By finishing with a more serious tone and presenting the anecdotal story does Stewart again establish an emotion connection with the audience, albeit, more somber and thoughtful.
Final Thoughts:
To me, the way in which this version of the Ferguson news was presented was very effective. While watching this video, I laughed, I learned, and I came away thinking critically. Although, it can be argued that Stewart is more so spinning the coverage to just be funny, he clearly gets his point across in the end. Also, as this media outlet is much more liberal than others, not all viewers might like watching this program to receive their news. Those who are more conservative might see this form of delivering the news as not funny, informative, as well as being offensive to those who were made fun of. In the end though, personally I believe that if someone comes away from this video angry because of how it was presented, than Stewart succeeed in his job, which ultimately makes the way The Daily Showpresented the news surrounding Ferguson, MO effective anyway it is looked at.