Tattoos in the Workplace

Tattoos in the Workplace

Diana Vielma
University of Texas at El Paso
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Introduction

In the 21st century, the number of Americans with tattoos have sky rocketed over

the past decade. Tattoos can be perceived as self-expression, a piece of art, taboo or is

a religious practice. Almost half of the United States population has at least one tattoo,

and the debate of tattoos in the workplace has sprung. Depending upon perception, to

some, the regulations placed forth on tattoos are a violation of freedom of speech, and

to others, its unprofessional and unacceptable. CNN (Cable News Network) and

Discovery Channel are both news networks both contributed to the issue of tattoo taboo

in the work place in the United States.

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Audience and Purpose

CNN is a commonly-known news station, so their targeted audience is the

general public. Discovery Channel is a television channel that primarily entertains their

audience with educational-shows about the environment, foreign cultures, animals and

sometimes, politics. The targeted audience is more general than the audience of

Discover Channel because not all people of the general public may have access to the

cable-only channel, or do not have access to the internet. The audiences also differ in

age; Discovery Channel takes an entertainment approach whereas CNN is accessible

to all those with basic cable an interested in daily news. CNN presents local and foreign

issues to general public of the United States and includes interviews, which makes it

more relatable to the general public and more interactive than Discovery Channel.

Ethos

Both audiences are not presented with much of an ethos approach. Discover

Channel has a large amount of air time spent on paid commercial, which all attain a

goal of swaying the general public to purchase, donate and so forth. Other than the

commercials, the entertainment Discovery Channel provides to their audience all exist

to simply entertain and to keep their audience watching. CNN primary goal is to simply

inform the public on daily local and international news, not to sway the public to pay

forth a contribution to their presentation, only their attention. At times, when CNN

presents news that endangers the public, they use ethos to inform the audience on the

suggested solutions to the presented issue.

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Pathos

Both the news station and television channel approach their audiences with

pathos differently. The news station is able to sway the general public based on the

reporters opinion by using their controlled interviews to regain information needed, but

present only the favored information when its time to present. The reporters are able to

conduct the interviews and decide what would be the selected information to present

before presenting to the public. This system of biased presentation is also practiced by

the Discovery Channel, but with a different audience. Discovery Channel utilize their

best entertainment shows, which includes heavily emotionally driven television shows,

that are pro-nature. All the shows Discovery Channel put forth television shows that

support environmental awareness and tattoos, and many other categories.

Logos

Although CNN is more heavily driven with a pathological drive, Discovery

Channel is, at times, more factual when it comes to its education towards the public.

Both stations have logical approaches, but limit their information presented to the

audience. CNN presents all their stories in a structured way where they present the

issue at hand, information gathered and a, possibly biased, conclusion. Depending on

the reporter, their presenting of an argument can be limited to four inches of text in the

newspaper or, to three minutes on live broadcast, their information can be vague or

missing.

Structure and Delivery

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In the two minutes of live broadcast, the CNN reporter presented the issue of tattoos in

the work place and her information gathered when she researched the issue at hand.

She begins her presentation by presenting the rise of popularity of tattoos, then leads

the to the rise of regulations of tattoos in the workplace. After presenting her issues, she

then presented her interviewees which included a tattoo artist, tattooed employee and

two general managers of different companies. The CNN reporter uses their interview

with the tattoos artist to give perspective to the audience of the growing popularity of

tattoos and that tattoos are not discrete. The reporter then presents her second

interview, her case study, the tattooed employee and the general managers. CNN used

both general managers to present to the audience both the opposing and supporting

sides of the argument. She presents her case study then goes between her interviews

with both general managers, to remain objective in the argument. The host of the three-

minute video on Discovery Chanel News, begins by presenting the issues at hand, then

informs the audience of his support towards tattoos in the workplace due to his

hometown environment. He then follows up with a series of tattoo-related statistics.

When presenting the facts, he presents in a friendly, casual tone and remains objective

on the subject for the remainder of the video.

Style/Language

Both sources present their information to their audiences in similar fashions,

informing their audience on the issue, or subject of the future presentation. Though, the

Discovery Chanel host uses a much more causal tone with the audience, rather than a
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professional tone, such as the CNN reporter. The approach the Discovery Channel host

takes is more approachable to a younger crowd because of the speed of the

presentation of facts. Unlike the CNN reporter who presented an argument rather than a

list of statistics.

Conclusion

In conclusion, tattoos in the work place is an issue that remains to cause uproar

today because many residents of the United States are limited on opportunities due to

their tattoos. With over 21,000 tattoo parlors in the United States, the issue of tattoos

will remain at hand until regulations to oppose or support tattoos in the workplace are

put forth.
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References

D. (2013, September 05). What Tattoos Really Say About You. Retrieved May 05,

2017, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcAGYxyYSm0

C. (2011, February 21). CNN: Tattoos taboo in the workplace? Retrieved May 05,

2017, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ_9Z8gaFHo

S. (2016, August 25). Tattoo Statistics. Retrieved May 05, 2017, from

http://www.statisticbrain.com/tattoo-statistics/

Tattoos in the Workplace: 5 Research Examples. (2016, February 05). Retrieved

March 26, 2017, from http://www.anniesinger.me/tattoos-workplace-research-

studies/?utm_source=HuffPost&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=Tattoo

Research 02-25-16

Mierjeski, A. (2015, August 23). Can Tattoos Lead to Job Discrimination? Retrieved

March 31, 2017, from http://www.attn.com/stories/2845/tattoos-workplace-

discrimination