ChristopherMell

Prof.Efstathion
ENC213532
21September2015
TheNews
ThispaperwillanalysetwoarticlesfromthemainstreammediaintheUnitedStates
aboutthe2015Europeanmigrantcrisis.ThefirstisapiecebyJohnBoltonpublishedbyFox
News.TheotherpieceisbyBillFrelickforCNN.Bothofthesepieceswerefoundonthe
websitesoftheirrespectivecompaniesandcanbefoundusingthelinksontheworkscitedpage.
CNNandFOXbothpublishedinternetarticlesforsomegoodreasons.Thefirstisthemass
exposuretheinternethastooffer.Theywereprintedasjournalisticarticlesbecausepeople
wouldbemorelikelytotakethemseriouslythiswaytheniftheywerewrittenaspoems,for
example.Thearticlealsoallowsthepublishertonotspendasmuchmoneyonpublishingthanif
thegenrewerechangedtoabook.
The2015Europeanmigrationcrisisisbasicallyamassmigrationofpeoplefromthe
middleeasttoEurope.Mostpeopleandorganizationsbelievethatthiswastriggeredbycivil
warsincountrieslikeSyriaandtheriseofgroupslikeISIS.

TheCNNarticlewaswrittenbyBillFrelick,thecurrentdirectorofHumanRights
Watch.Thearticlebeginswithabriefrecapofthenewsstoriesabouttheboatof800that
capsizedintheMediterraneanSea.Theauthorthenattemptstousepathosbyimplyingthatthe
EuropeanCommissionisapathetictothelossoflifebyusingtheirdescriptionoftheevent,
whichistragicdevelopments.Thisismeanttogenerateafeelingofrevulsionandpossibly
angerfromthereaders.Hefollowsbyusinglogostoundermineatalkingpointusedby
supportersofOperationTriton.ThetalkingpointinquestionisthatItalysMareNostrumwas
attractingimmigrantstoEuropebypromisingtotrytosavethemfromdrowningandthat
removingthissafetynetwoulddecreasethenumberofpeoplewhotrytocrossand,therefore,
dieintheMediterranean.Thearticledemonstratesthatthisideaisfalsebecausetherateof
migrationdoubledinaperiodofoneyear.Theauthoralsonoteshowthemediasblame
immediatelyshiftedfromtheItalianGovernmenttothehumantraffickerswhoarrangedthe
dangerous,overcrowdedboattrips.Theauthorrepeatedlyusesthephrase,Weweretold,
wheneverhediscussestheofficialstoryfromtheestablishmentandhowitchangedovertime.
Hedoesthisasaformofethos.Thepronounweimpliesthathewantsthereadertoseehimas
beingoneofthecommonmandespitethefactthat,asacontributortoCNNandasthedirector
ofHumanRightsWatch,heclearlyisnotacommoner.

CNNhasanaudienceitistryingtoattractandsatiatewithitsreporting.CNNhasthe
largestviewingaudienceofanyotherenglishlanguagenewsserviceintheworldandCNN.com
isthemostvisitednewswebsite.MostofCNN'saudienceisbetweentheagesof18and49.
TheyarealsomorelikelytoidentifyaseitheraDemocratoranIndependentandtheyalsohavea
roughlyequalnumberofselfidentifyingconservatives,moderates,andliberals.Thismeansthat
theauthorhasalarger,morediverseaudiencetowritetoand,therefore,mustbecarefultonot
alienateanyoftheaudience.Theauthorhasmorepeoplewithdifferingviewsandopinionsin
hisaudience,sohemustkeepanyblametoaminimum.Noticethatwhenitseemslikehes
pointingoutanywrongdoing,healwaysusesthevaguest,mostgeneraltermhecan.For
example,herepeatedlysays,Weweretold,butheneverexplicitlystateswhoitwasthatdid
thetelling,therebyleavingituptothereadertointerpretwhoitwasthatsaidwhattheauthor
claimswassaid.Thisresultsinanarticlethatdoesnotmakeasmanygrandiosestatements
typicalofanarticlepublishedbyFoxNews.TheFoxarticleputstheblameoncertainpolicies
andpeople.Itisalsothereasonwhytheauthortriestohumanizehimselftothelevelofthe
readers.
TheconceitofthearticleisthatEuropeangovernmentsaretryinghardtokeep
immigrantsoutofEuropeandthattheyshouldinsteadallowthementry,oratleastputsearch
andrescueoperationsbacktotheleveltheywereatunderMareNostrum.Intheauthorsview,

whatEuropeisdoingisdoneincompletedisregardforthemanywhoalreadyhaveand
eventuallywilldietryingtocrosstheMediterranean.Theauthorthinksthatthestrict
immigrationquotasaremakingtheproblemevenworsethanithastobe.Frelick,astheheadof
HumanRightsWatch,hasavestedinterestinpresentinghisviewofthecrisisandexposingwhat
hethinksamountstohumanrightsviolations.
FoxNewsalsohasanarticlewrittenbyformerAmbassadorJohnBoltonaboutthesame
crisishowever,ithassomeverynoticeabledifferencesfromtheCNNarticle.Forstarters,it
beginsbydescribingtherefugeecrisisasacrisisofillegalimmigration.TomanyAmericans,
illegalimmigrationisatermreferringtopeoplewhocrosstheUSMexicoborderwithoutproper
documentationfromanycountrytothesouth.Itsuseasaracialepithetisoftenusedtoreinforce
negativestereotypesaboutlatinos.Anevenworseepithetisillegalalienswhichisalsousedin
thearticle.Thereasonheusedthatlanguageistocausetheaudiencetothinkoftherefugeecrisis
asthesameas,orcomparableto,theimmigrationprobleminAmericaeventhoughthereare
distinctionsthatmakethemincomparable.Anothertechniqueusedbytheauthorisarefusalto
saythatmanyofthemigrantsidentifyasMuslims.HefocusesonChristianmigrantsescaping
fromreligiouspersecution,probablyatthehandsofMuslims.
Alargeportionofthearticleisspentblamingthe2015Europeanmigrationcrisison
PresidentObama.Itclaimsthattheturbulent,geopoliticalunrestintheMiddleEastwasadirect

resultofObamapullingtroopsoutofthearea.Thearticle,naturally,supportscontinued,and
likelypermanent,Americaninterventionaroundtheworldviaphrasessuchas,WhenAmericas
presencediminishesanywhereintheworld,whateverminimalorderandstabilityexistedthere
canrapidlyevaporate.Theauthorthenusespathosintheformofattemptingtoscarethereader
withclaimsthatsomeoftheimmigrantsmaybeterrorists.Hebacksthisupusingthehistorical
exampleoftheMarielboatliftin1980.TheargumentsarecontrarytoanarticlebyFairnessand
AccuracyinReportingwhichdemonstratesthatanAmericanpresenceviamilitaryinvolvement
intheregionhasactuallyincreasedoverthepastfewmonths.
What'simportanttounderstandisthatFoxNewshasaspecificaudiencethatitswriters
andcontributorscaterto.TheaudienceisAmericanswhotypicallyidentifyassocially
conservativeandeconomicallyrightwing.ThemedianageoftheviewersofFoxNewsChannel
is68yearsold,whichmeansthattheywereborninthe'40saspartofthebabyboomer
generationandwereconsequentlyabletowitnesstheeventsoftheColdWarfromthe
perspectiveofAmericanmainstreammedia.ThisunderstandingoftheaudienceiswhyBoltonis
abletoconvincinglyusesuchthingsastheMarielBoatliftasahistoricalexampletobackuphis
argument.FoxNewsalsohasamajoritywhiteaudiencewithxenophobicviewsandregularly
publishesinternetarticlesandrunsprogrammingontheirtelevisionchannelwhichsupportthese
views.Theaudienceis,therefore,morelikelytoreacttothearticleifitcharacterisesthe

migrantsas"illegalimmigrants."ManytypicalreadersofFoxNewsalsohavestrong
EvangelicalChristianreligiousbeliefs,whichiswhattheauthorappealstowhenhetalksabout
Christiansfacingreligiouspersecution.Thisappealcanbeshownbyotheropinionpieceson
topicssuchastherecentObergefellv.HodgesSupremeCourtcase,whichlegalizedgay
marriageintheUnitedStates,bytheuseofphraseslike,"anassaultonyourreligiousliberty."
Themainargumentofthearticleisthatthemigrationproblemcanbesolvedusing
increasedAmericanmilitarypresenceintheMiddleEast.Accordingtothearticle,ifthe
Americanmilitaryhadastrongerpresenceinthemiddleeast,thentherecentincreaseinpolitical
instabilitybroughtonbytheSyrianCivilWarandgroupssuchastheIslamicStatewouldnot
havehappened.Boltonwrotethearticlethiswaybecauseheisinfavorofincreasedmilitary
operationsaroundtheworldandwantstopersuadeotherpeopletotakehisposition.Afterthe
endofthearticleisashortdescriptionoftheauthorscredentials,whichisacommonattemptat
ethosusedbyseveralmajorpublications.

WorksCited
FOXJohnBolton
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/09/01/migrantcrisisisntjusteuropesproblemitsourpr
oblemtoo.html
CNNBillFrelick

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/21/opinions/frelicktacklemigrantcrisis/
FAIRAdamJohnson

http://fair.org/home/thesyrianrefugeecrisisandthedosomethinglie/