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Tyler Makovicka Professor Eaker ENGL 1101 November 5th, 2013 Wikipedia Advertisement Rhetorical Analysis On January 18th, 2012 Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia, and hundreds of other websites censored their own content to protest two bills running through congress. These bills; SOPA and PIPA were created with the claimed intent of stopping the piracy of music, videos, and other digital products created by the entertainment industry in America. SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act, and PIPA stands for Protect Intellectual Property Act. They were opposed because opponents believed they could be used to give wide and powerful censoring powers to private entities and corporations, which would restrict the freedom of the internet. For the entire day of January 18th, Wikipedia the popular information website displayed the advertisement in protest of the two bills on their front page. In order to establish ethos or credibility they posted the iconic W of Wikipedia in shadow, to represent the blackout of information. They also were sure to mention in the text how theyve spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history which is no small feat. Being one of the largest sources of information on the web, Wikipedia intended to shock their users into taking action against the bills. If SOPA or PIPA posed a threat to them, a widely popular information giant, then it could affect anyone. It urges the viewer to help spread the word through social media as well as offers a link to gather more in depth information on the legislation.

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By all accounts, Wikipedias attempt to educate the public was a huge success. By educating the viewer, the notice fulfills its purpose of raising awareness and political opposition to the bills. The target audience of the ad was the children of the information age; college students and young tech savvy adults. They were most likely to care, since they had been born into a time where the internet provided free and infinite information. They take threats to that information seriously. These were people who viewed Wikipedia as a credible source, and used the service often, so they would take Wikipedias opinion seriously. As for the fairness of the ad, the ad is opinionated and presents its case. Its in opposition of the legislation but isnt misleading in its approach. It uses freedom of speech and information as the main basis for the argument against SOPA and PIPA. If information can be censored by random entities around the US, then its not safe or free. The ad itself explains its message through a paragraph placed to the iconic logo of Wikipedia. Use of language like fatally damage to describe the affect SOPA or PIPA would have on free information. Its clean organized look adds to the tone of seriousness of the wording; and helps keep the focus on the message. The advert does assume several things about the audience. It assumes they care about being able to access information, and that they genuinely believe that all data on the web deserves to be out their unhindered. Most Americans do agree with this, but not all cultures do. In some situations, presented with the same argument, other cultures might decide to implement the bills. Using the words free and open were not accidents. By using language like free and open when describing the internet, the advertisement appeals to pathos in its target audience, which values freedom of speech, and information. It sets up the free and open internet as what needs to be protected, and makes it seem threatened and at risk by the legislation.