Essay: Media use of pathos

In the current news-world of today, every author would tend to have their own opinions or personal bias when writing an article or engaging with any facts. Recently, former CIA director John Brennan had his security clearance revoked by President Trump after he spoke out against him on television and Twitter. Retired Special Ops Commander, William McRaven wrote to Trump, defining Brennan, and asking to be revoked too. Both articles from Fox News and The New York Times mention the same event, but offer different information. Fox News focuses on McRaven and his defense for Brennan, while The New York Times tends to have McRaven as one voice of many, and would suggest that Trump is overusing his power. Both articles of The New York Times and Fox News were effective due to their use of pathos to provoke emotions from readers.
Fox News use of pathos was effective because they focused on using certain terms to provoke the audience. The article would use certain phrases like “Suppressing the voices” or “McCarthy-era” to strike accord with people. They also mention that he had hope for the president to prove that he’s not just someone who always hated him. Fox News infers what McRaven said, but did not actually say it. One example of this is when the article uses quotes like “good leadership” and “embarrass” to make it seem that it was said by McRaven, but was actually from The New York Republican.
The New York Times was able to use pathos was effectively because they focused on using McRaven as a supplemental voice of many to suggest the audience that Trump is overusing his power. The article would quote some of Trump’s tweets to convince the audience that he is out of control and do the rhetorical work for them. They would use his own words like “ rigged witch hunt” or “The Sham Russia investigation” to show that he clearly is against the investigation. The article would also hint that he is overusing his power by when one line stated that “Mr. Trump had used security clearances as a tool, and that he clearly intended to send a signal to former and current intelligence officials.”
Some may also argue Fox News use of pathos was unintentional. While The New York Times brought up both perspectives in their article, Fox News did not. They could have stated in their article that Trump had every right to revoke Brennan’s clearance but focused on McRaven and his letter. The New York Times mentioned in their article that in a letter by the White House press secretary, she would bring up that Brennan’s “erratic behavior” and “angry denunciations” to imply that he was a threat and needed to have his security clearance revoked. They also mentioned that the President stated that revoking his clearance was essential and “had to be done.”
Fox News and The New York Times were able to effectively use pathos to persuade the audience by using quotes and certain words to suggest that someone said that word, when they actually did not. Fox News could had stated that McRaven was the commander who oversaw the Navy SEAL raid that killed Usama bin Laden earlier, but he would have been seen as a hero from the beginning of the article. The New York Times also brought in Democrats and Republicans, showing that both sides voiced their disapproval of Trump’s current actions. Both articles were able to use pathos to successfully trigger the audience to react to the news by their own intention.