R u n n i n g h e a d : R H E T O R I C A L A N A LY S I S Page |1

Rhetorical Essay

Your Name

Subject and Section

December 5, 2018
R H E T O R I C A L A N A LY S I S Page |2

The article titled We’re all responsible for the state of social media by the Denver

Post Editorial Board is one that seeks to steer the conversation towards the apparent effects of

social media. The article is quite clear in its elucidation of the effects social media has had

today and what footprints social media leaves on mass media. The authors appear to claim

that social media has been used to degrade or worsen the political game today. While the

article does acknowledge that politics was already a dirty game before, it does paint the

picture that the rise of social media use has made it worse. It may not be evident to the

general public, but the article appears to imply that slowly but surely, social media is being

used to change the political game and at the moment, people appear to care less about the

credibility of the information they are getting. It is a dangerous game, and the article does

make this clear. The subsequent sections help to explain the message of the article further,

reveal the article’s audience, determine the styles used, and elucidate on the effective

rhetorical appeals used in the article.

From the onset, the article appears to communicate with anyone who has a social

media account(s) and is part of the electorate. The article is trying to sensitize the public and

make them aware of the danger of trusting the news sources of today. According to Schafer

(2016), the age of the internet made it possible for information to be easily accessed by

everyone; however, the over diluted knowledge that came from the internet confuses the facts

from biases. The message is that anyone today can become a journalist, but it is crucial to

determine the credibility of any news source.

R H E T O R I C A L A N A LY S I S Page |3

Every article is written with a specific aim or purpose in mind. This article’s purpose

is to inform the general public on the effects of social media on the status quo. The article

makes it clear that anyone can share the responsibilities of journalists. However, it cautions

that the credibility of these sources should also always be a factor. According to the Denver

Post Editorial Board (2017), “The powerful tool of mass communication, once closely held

by a few media outlets, is now in the hands of anyone who can build a following- a fairly low

barrier to entry to what was once a market held by millionaires” (para. 3). This is a clear

depiction of the current problem in the world. The article thus seeks to sensitize against the

ideas and news stories the readers get to encounter their social media timelines.

When it comes to the rhetorical appeals, the authors’ appears to have used ethos,

pathos, and logos to enhance the article’s goal or aim. Ethos can be described as the ethical

appeals of an individual or in this case the authors. The credibility of a team or a person

serves as what is considered as the appeal of ethos. The article under review is from the

Denver Post which has been a credible news outlet since the 19th century. The reliability of

an article is strictly dependent or relies on who wrote the article. In this case, one can

confidently say that the article satisfies the appeal of ethos mainly because of the organization

the authors are associated with. Additionally, having been published by the Denver Post

Editorial team means that the article was tended to by a team of qualified professionals which

increase the appeal of the article further.

The message from the editorial team is clear: people need to fight and try to

overpower the propagation of fake news. The team even goes ahead and calls for a united
R H E T O R I C A L A N A LY S I S Page |4

effort in the fight against fake news. Added by the Denver Post Editorial Board (2017), “We

call for everyone to exercise more care on this platform, to unfollow those who prove

disreputable, defriend those who waste your time with clickbait, and to instead reward the

truth and hard work that shines in other sources” (para. 13). These words would not have

been as impactful as they are for the audience if they came from an individual whose article

was featured in the opinion pieces. However, because a team of editors wrote the article, its

impact appears more pronounced for its readers, and all this lies in its ethos appeal.

Logos, on the other hand, is all about what appeals to reason and what authors use to

appeal to their audience’s reason or logic. Using logos or seeking to get the appeal to logos is

done through the use of several things, some of which have been used in the article under

review. For example, the authors made use of credible sources in their article. In one

instance, the Denver Post Editorial Board (2017) noted that, “according to a recent study by

the American Press Institute and the Associated Press Center for Public Affairs Research at

the University of Chicago, it matters less who created the content than who shared it on social

media” (para. 5). The use of credible sources always appeals to logos in that it furthers an

article’s credibility and reliability. Tying one’s argument with that of a reputable source

always helps to further one’s argument, and the authors did manage to help their readers trust

the article by referencing another credible source.

Aside from the use of credible sources, there is also the idea of explaining and

arranging one’s thoughts in a logical manner, which the article has managed to do. The article

begins by noting the sin the general public have all committed and then proceeds to show
R H E T O R I C A L A N A LY S I S Page |5

how and why this happened. The arrangements of thoughts to the point where the authors

appear to ask the audience to share the responsibility of fighting the propagation of fake news

are quite incredible. This persuasiveness adds to the article’s appeal to logos and further

supplements its use of credible sources.

The third rhetorical appeal used by the author is pathos which is the author’s attempt

to appeal to emotions. Authors also make use of this technique to elicit the reaction they want

or expect. While the article does not seem to have any obvious use or appeals to pathos, the

title seems like something that would appeal to people’s emotions. The title we are all

responsible for the state of social media is one that points the finger at everyone. The goal of

the authors was to elicit specific emotions and, in the end, get the reaction they propose at the

end of the article. The title does the job of appealing to people’s emotions by letting them

know that they have played a part in the current situation. It is typical for humanity to get

defensive or seek to cover his tracks if and when it happens that they are accused of

something. So, the authors have excellently made use of pathos in pushing their audience to

action.

Aside from the rhetorical appeals, the author also made use of different styles of

writing. In the article, the authors employ a persuasive style of writing because they are

trying to influence or persuade their audience into action. Their goal is to make their audience

respond, and the main style they are using is persuasive.

Other literary devices that have been used include metaphors with an example given

by the Denver Post Editorial Board (2017) stated that “With all manner of posts, which are
R H E T O R I C A L A N A LY S I S Page |6

too frequently anonymous, easily misleading, and transmitted faster than a communicable

disease” (para. 1). Here, the authors are comparing news posts and the transmission of

communicable diseases. Also, what effect does this comparison to a communicable disease is

this likely to have on their audience?

Lastly, the authors did make use of one multimodal appeal. They used a single picture

to illustrate the idea that everyone is a journalist. Below is the picture The Uniter by Dale

(2017), adapted from The Denver Post website.:

From the picture, the authors appear to insinuate that every person can be a journalist. In our

modern society, campaigns make use of technology as its battleground (Schafer, 2016). It

only takes a phone and access to the internet, and the world is filled with billions of

journalists. Additionally, the image of President Donald Trump causes quite a range of

emotions from readers, from love to hate, and readers will want to see how and why this
R H E T O R I C A L A N A LY S I S Page |7

image related to the article by reading further. Unless readers look closely, they may assume

the tweet is real, illustrating how fake news is so easily digested and spread. However, if the

audience looks closely, they will see that the twitter handle is actually

“@unrealdonoldtrump.” The readers may easily be deceived by the fake twitter post since its

profile was patterned from the real twitter account of Donald Trump.

The authors successfully demonstrated the use of Aristotle’s rhetorical appeals: ethos, logos,

and pathos, to persuade their audience. The strategic placements of emotional connection or

pathos, supplemented with logical data or logos, and enhanced by an established personal

credibility or ethos, are more than enough to make a persuasive argument. However, these

rhetoric appeals may have work too well that even falsified information appears to be true.

Makers of this fake information make full use of the ignorance and biases of the readers who

do not take time to determine the accuracy and quality of the content that they are reading.

Furthermore, social media users can rapidly share these kinds of information that spans the

lengths of continents. Therefore, it is essential to be wary of fake news and be mindful of

how they can avoid believing it and spreading it, as it is one of our social responsibilities to

uphold truth in the freedom of information especially in the social media.

R H E T O R I C A L A N A LY S I S Page |8

References

Dale, B. (2017). The Uniter [online image]. Retrieved from

https://www.denverpost.com/2017/03/25/were-all-responsible-for-the-state-of-social-

media/

Denver Post Board of Editors. (2017). We’re all responsible for the state of social media.

Retrieved October 17, 2018, from https://www.denverpost.com/2017/03/25/were-all-

responsible-for-the-state-of-social-media/

Schafer, M. (2016). Social media, technology and dirty politics. Retreived December 5, 2018,

from https://businessesgrow.com/2016/11/03/dirty-politics/