Essay 1: News?
English 120: For this assignment, please read the following site:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10154611309251939&id=354522044588660
Then, choose three news stories and conduct research (using the above guide) to determine whether the story was truthful. If it was a fake story, please indicate the steps taken to reach that conclusion.  If real, then examine the article using logos, pathos, and ethos to determine a) if the author used all three of these methods, and b) whether the journalist made a sound argument.
Wednesday class: due 3/15
Monday class: due 3/22
Jezarai Navalta
English 120
Prof. Cardozo
3/15/17
Today in the world we live in, information is just at the touch of everyones fingertips. When there is an event on the opposite side of the world, it takes less than a minute for someone to look up what happened and share it to everyone else they interact with over the internet. Although the benefits for this new demand for instantaneous information are plentiful and help connect the rest of the world, there are some detrimental negatives. The most overwhelming negative is undoubtedly the spread of misinformation and âBad News.â Simply put, this means that as long as its easy to share and an exciting topic, news companies can make up stories as long as it sells.
The first website Iâll use demonstrates a credible and sound argument. The article is from bloomberg.com, under the politics section. It is a credible source of news because it has a contact list of the authors with their contact info and other recent articles they published. It is also a sound article because all the quotes and references are all able to be found online if googled. This article titled âTrump's Second Travel Ban Blocked as President Vows to Fightâ, uses ethos and logos when discussing Trumps contradicting statements regarding foreign affairs and his views on muslim immigrants. They show how logically what he is saying doesn't make sense, and discusses how Trump is lacking ethics. Pathos is used as well shown by their obvious bias against president Trump, but not too heavily to question their credibility.
The second article is titled âTrump: If ObamaCare Replacement Doesn't Meet Standards, I Won't Sign Itâ on the fox news insider website, and would be deemed as fake or bad news. I first came to this conclusion as soon as I saw that there was no author or contact list for whomever wrote this article. As I read on I found that quotes involving his medical plans were made up or inferred by the writer of this article. To make matters worse, the videos included in the article are outdated and are just used to appeal to the emotional aspects of the readers.
The last article I will use is titled âTrump Urges Supporters to Unite Behind G.O.P. Health Planâ and is deemed as a credible article that uses ethos and pathos but not logos. I decided that it was credible because of the source, New York Times, which is a highly referred to news source. It is also credible because the author that wrote that article can be found an contacted on that page. Pathos is found because of the siding they take against Trump, and the consistent battering of his name found within the article. Ethos is shown by contradicting Trumps seemingly moral-less claims and statements. However logos is not shown because it is not logical to discredit someones plans for the country, and not provide a solution to the problem.
With these discussed articles, you are able to see the distinguishing features that make the article either credible or not. The credible arguments are able to be seen with at least two of the rhetoric devices ethos, pathos, and logos. In conclusion, if you want to fact check an article or just check if its credible, check if the author has contact info on the page or check if the given quotes in the article were actually said.
