Running Head: GENRE ANALYSIS ON MEDIA BIAS

Genre Analysis on Media Bias

Aleeza Kaplan, Cristina Melendez
The University of Texas at El Paso

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Introduction
Ever since the invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg in Germany,
people have had access to news. At the time, media was greatly influenced by the doctrines and
teachings of the Catholic Church. Nowadays it is not necessarily so, but the issue still remains
whether or not media is presented in an objective manner. In order to examine the topic of biased
media, this paper will compare and contrast the article Muslims, Murder and Media Bias
written by Robert Fantina about a recent shooting committed in North Carolina and a political
cartoon illustrated by Steve Kelley. This genre analysis will focus on the sources abilities to
reach their target audience and purpose through the use of ethos, logos, and pathos.
Audience and Purpose
The intended audience for both the article and the political cartoon include adults with
internet access and interest in politics. In the article, Fantinas envisioned audience is revealed
through the vocabulary, events, and characters that the author introduces throughout his article.
For example, he uses the word terrorism which can only be understood by audiences familiar
with the term, usually adults (Fantina). Furthermore, this piece can only be found online, so
whoever reads it must have access to a computer. In comparison, Kelleys audience is the same.
This is determined by his chosen topic of bias political polls which he published on the internet.
These questionnaires are encountered by adults who are of age to be a voting citizen and have
probably experienced these polls. Therefore, it is only this type of viewers who are able to
comprehend both the article and the satirical cartoon.

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In contrast, the purpose of Robert Fantina and Steve Kelley differ because the former
encourages the reader to explore different sources due to biased media, while the latter desires to
humor the audience by revealing the partiality of polls. Fantinas objective is demonstrated
through his quote of a Fox News analyst, Andrea Tantaros, who says that Muslims are not
reasonable human beings: You cant solve it with dialogue. You cant solve it with a summit.
You solve it with a bullet to the head. It is the only thing these people understand (Fantina). By
using this quote, he proves one source as being potentially unreliable by prejudice and urges the
reader to search for several sources before reaching a conclusion. On the other hand, Kelley
proves how reporters design their questions in advance to get specific responses. This can be
seen by the irony in the phrasing of the question inscribed in the picture: Do you believe the
medias polls demonstrate the bias in favor of the youthful, articulate and charismatic Barack
Obama? (Kelley). This query is asking about prejudice in media polls while the question itself
is biased. Since the reporter uses the words youthful, articulate, and charismatic one can
infer that the artist is mocking the media representatives (Kelley). In summary, the purposes of
the authors diverge.
Rhetorical Issues
The execution of Robert Fantina gives him credibility because he proves to be
knowledgeable about facts and media, but Steve Kelley has greater ethos because in addition to
his comprehension of these aspects, he is able to persuade the viewer by showing his experience
with biased polls. After reading Fantinas article, the reader is able to infer that the author is wellinformed because he mentions certain events related to the topic of the Chapel Hill Shooting in a
nonchalant manner. For example, he makes the play on words switching Minister to

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Murderer to describe Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister of Israel), which conveys the
journalist is acquainted with this authority figure and has a predetermined opinion on his
character (Fantina). Likewise, the cartoonist shows he is well-read through his reference of a
prominent person in the discourse community, President Barack Obama. This shows he is
familiar with recent news and its impact on the citizens of the United States. Unlike Robert
Fantina, it is the experience of the cartoonist depicted in the illustration and dialogue of Steve
Kelley that improve the credibility of the artist. The cartoonist draws a couple that is appearing
annoyed at the woman taking the poll. The facial expressions of the couple shows the artist has
experienced this situation of taking part in a biased poll through the couples rolled eyes, pursed
lips, and careless body language (Kelley). Accordingly, it is the knowledge of the first, and the
experience of the second that give both sources ethos.
The logos displayed in both the article and the cartoon effectively reach the sources
purposes. Fantinas logos is as follows: He begins with a satirical prediction of how the populous
will react to the Chapel Hill Shooting to attract more readers. Afterwards, the author makes the
definitive statement that he will begin his serious arguments. This adds to his logos because
Fantina is organizing his article. Immediately after he states his points, the journalist proves them
with several examples, such as quoting Andrea Tantaros. Once Fantina has expanded on his
message, he adds his opinion. This proves the journalists effective organization because he
convinces the reader even before stating his opinion.
Dissimilar from the use of words in the article, the organization of the picture and the
setting convey the logos of Steve Kelley. The picture is organized with the question and the
reporter on the left and the couple on the right. It is possible that because English is read from

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left to right, that the eyes of the viewer are led to the question first and the reaction last. Kelley
has thereby designed the picture so the viewer has the same displeasure of the couple to the
question of the reporter. Moreover, the reporter is in favor of Barack Obama who happens to be a
Democrat, otherwise known as a lefty. Perhaps, she (the reporter) is placed on the left side of
the cartoon because she is affiliated with the left party as suggested by the question. Therefore,
the logos of the cartoonist is reoccurring in the image. As written above, the organizational
approach is completely different because Robert Fantina uses words and Steve Kelley uses
mostly illustrations to transmit their messages, but they are both successful.
Similar to Steve Kelley, Robert Fantina uses humor to appeal emotionally to the intended
audience, but only initially because he ends on a reflective note. For instance, the journalist uses
the subsequent prediction to make fun of the way people use Twitter to make a difference in the
world: A new hashtag, #wearechapelhill will flood the Twittersphere, and people around the
world will tweet their solidarity with the victims (Fantina). Likewise, Kelley utilizes wit to
appeal to his viewers emotions. In his illustration, the artist creates irony by juxtaposing the text
with the reaction of the irritated couple. However, Fantina ends his piece with a pensive tone. In
the beginning, the author stated several predictions related to the Chapel Hill Shooting, but
towards the end he allows the reader to make his or her own prediction: It will be interesting to
see who is asked to apologize for this crime (Fantina). This remark is open for interpretation,
which is appealing to the human emotion in his readers.
In conclusion, this genre analysis compares and contrasts the target audience and purpose
of the article Muslims, Murder, and Media Bias by Robert Fantina and a political cartoon
illustrated by Steve Kelley as well as their use of rhetorical appeals. Both genres had different

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purposes but they appealed to the same audience: adults with political interests and access to the
computer. They were both successful in using rhetorical appeals, even though they did not
always align. The importance of evaluating these pieces is to understand the purpose of the
sources, and how they executed their vision. By breaking down each element, they successfully
brought their points to life.
References
Fantina, Robert. Muslims, Murder, and Media. Counter Punch. 13 Feb. 2015. Web. 15 Feb.
2015. http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/02/13/muslims-murder-and-media-bias/
Kelley, Steve. (2012). Blog. Galleryhip. Retrieved February 7, 2014, from
http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/10/03/biasobama_custom426cb2dc37edd3d1be1e6a7847f5733e37b3dfb4-s1100-c15.jpg

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