unit-6-where-is-the-news-leading-us

Unit6Whereisthenewsleadingus?Themanwhoreadsnothingatallisbettereducatedthanthemanwhoreadsnothingbutnewspapers.——ThomasJeffersonDiscussionWheredoyougeteverydaynewsfrom?Aremostofthemfromnewspaper,TV,radio,webpages,microblogs,mobilephoneportals,etc.?Why?1.Whatisyourmajorchannelforlearningthenews?Readingnewspapers,watchingTV,orsurfingtheInternet?Whatdoyouthinknewsshouldcover?2.WhatdoyouthinkisthejobofanewspaperreporteroraTVanchor?Isitjusttoreporttothepublicthenews,i.e.whatishappeningaroundtheworld?Arethey,knowinglyorunknowingly,influencingtheattitudeofthepublictowardswhattheyarereportinginparticularoreventheiroutlookonlifeingeneral?ArgumentCombinedwithOtherPatternsofDevelopmentDefinitionofArgumentArgumentisareasonorasetofreasonsgivenwiththeaimofconvincingothersthatanactionorideaisrightorwrongorpersuadingotherstobelieveinsomething.WhatisaGoodArgumentApersonisconvincedwhenheisinducedbylogicalreasoningtogiveuphisbeliefandacceptwhatissaidtoberight,andheispersuadedwhenheisledtoactinaccordwithwhatheisadvisedtodo.ExamplesfromTextNormanCousins'essayWhereIstheNewsLeadingUs?isagoodexampleofargument.Itaimstoargueforthepremisethattheresponsibilityofthenewsmediaistosearchoutandreportonimportantevents.Italsoaimsatpersuadingnewsmenandwomentotakeupthisresponsibility.Insomearguments,theauthor'spositionispresentedatthebeginningofhiswritingandthenhegoesontosupportitinvariousways.Ortheauthormaypresenthisargumentattheendofhiswritingastheresultoflogicalinference.ButneitheroftheseisthewayinwhichCousinsorganizeshisessay.ItissomewherenearthemiddleoftheessaythatwefindCousins'presentationofhisviewpoint.Cousins'argumentisfoundinPara.9:theresponsibilityofthenewsmediaistosearchoutandreportonimportantevent—whetherornottheycomeundertheheadingofconflict,confrontation,orcatastrophe.Inthefirst8paragraphs,Cousinshassuccessfullyledhisreaderstothisconclusion.Hebeginswithaquestionaddressedtotwojournalists:Whyarethenewspapersandthetelevisionnewsprogramssodisaster-prone(Para.3)?Thenhejudgestheiranswertobewrongbecausehedoesnotthinkthejournalistsarereallyresponsible.Ratherhethinksitisamatterofthedefinitionofnews(Paras.4-6).Ifnewsisdefinedexclusivelyaswhathashappenedinthepast24hours,itcanonlybetheeruptivehappenings,thusonlythedisasters.Humanprogressisnoteruptiveforithappensonlyinbitsandpieces.Butthesepositiveeventsarealsonewsandshouldbyallmeansbecoveredbythemedia(Paras.7&8),thushisargumentpresentedinPara.9.Inthelast4paragraphsCousinsstrengthenshisviewpointbycitingexamplesofwhatheconsiderspositivedevelopmentsoftheworld(Para.10),andcallingattentiontotheresponsibilityjournalistshaveforaffectingthewaypeoplethinkandtherolethemediaplayinshapingthemindofthepeople(Paras.11-13).OtherPatternsofDevelopmentinTextHowever,whatispresentedintheessayisnotmerelyanargumentfororagainstanissue.Asamatteroffact,theauthoremploysvariousotherpatternsofdevelopinganessaytomaketheargumentreasonable,convincing,andvalid.Attheverybeginningoftheessay,itisnarration,tellingthereaderaboutthesettingandthepersonsinvolvedintheissue.ItwasanoccasionofapublicsymposiumontheroleoftheAmericanpress,andtwospeakers,atelevisionanchormanandanewspapereditor,werethecentreofattention.ThequestionraisedatthesymposiumwasWhyarethenewspapersandthetelevisionnewsprogramssodisaster-prone?Inordertolendvaliditytotheargument,itisnecessarytoclarifythemeaningofthewordnewsfirst.Heretheauthormakesuseofdefinition.Notonlyisnewsdefined,butcivilization,progress,andpositivenewsarealsoexplained.Theclarificationofthesetermsaffordstheargumentstrengthandeffectiveness.Thecause-and-effectpatternisusedtoshowthereaderthatthepeople'sbeingover-informedaboutdisastersleadstoapublicmoodofdefeatismanddespair,whichisdetrimentaltoprogressandtosocietyasawhole.Tofurtherhisargumentforreportingimportantevents,Cousinsprovidesanexample—nitrogenfixation,whichisbynomeanseruptive,butwhichwillmakeaninvaluablecontributiontohumanlifeandprogress.Furthermore,Cousinsurgesthenewsmediatopresentatrueportrait,butnotacaricatureofourselvesandoftheworld.AndhequotesdeChartres'wordsaboutdwarfsseatedontheshouldersofgiants.Thesearetheuseoffiguresofspeech.adistinguishedTVanchormananexcellentTVanchormanwhohasgreatfamedistinguishedisanadjectiveusedespeciallyofpeoplewhoarefamousforseriousworkinscience,thearts,etc.e.g.adistinguishedscientist/physician/writer/artist,etc.anchormann.abroadcasterornewscasteratacentralstationwhocoordinatesandintegratesabroadcastconsistingofcoveragecomingfromseveraldifferentlocationsanewsmantothecoreanewsmanineveryway;anewsmanthroughandthrough;anewsmancompletelytothecore–completelyThesystemisrottentothecore.savvyadj.intelligent,sensible,andknowledgeable;showingalotofpracticalknowledgewaysandmeans1)methodsandmeansofaccomplishingsth.2)legislationandmethodsforraisingrevenuesforpublicexpensee.g.Hetriedeverywaysandmeanstogethisworkdoneaheadoftime.Hehasn'tgotajob,butheseemstohavewaysandmeansofgettingmoney.scrutinizev.examineindetailwithcarefulattentioninordertofindsomeusefulinformationaboutsomethinge.g.Sheleanedforwardtoscrutinizetheirfaces.Thebuildi