ILP II: The News Article

Due: 2/7

Part I: Citations
Bi-Partisan Citation: Brodey, Denise. Pelosi and Trump offer a Surprising Lesson on Office Politics at
State of the Union. Forbes, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/denisebrodey/2020/02/05/pelosi-and-
trump-offer-a-surprising-lesson-on-office-politics-at-state-of-the-union/#fbad7075df80. Accessed 6
February, 2020.
Left/Right Citation: Lutz, Eric. Republicans suddenly concerned with Decorum after Nancy Pelosi
Ripped Speech. Vanity Fair, 2020, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/02/republicans-suddenly-
concerned-with-decorum-after-nancy-pelosi-ripped-speech. Accessed 6 February, 2020.

Part II: Bi-Partisan Analysis

Kairos/Date: The article was posted almost a day after President Trump delivered the 2020 State of the
Union Address. It is highly relevant in relation to the events because it was posted a few hours after the
speech was delivered and after the two politicians it focuses on had a spat.
Authority: As a senior contributor for Forbes, specifically on matters diversity and inclusion, the author
of this article makes her an authority on this subject. She mostly writes about the role of disabilities,
diversity and inclusion in today’s workplace for the website, meaning that she’s an author who presents
facts that are verified. The opinion she gives is mostly based on what she views and sees happening,
thereof.
Bias: Brodey’s decision to write about and to expound on the true meaning of divisive politics in the
Congress. She writes about what it means when the House of Representatives Speaker Pelosi decides
to tear the State of the Union Speech at the end of President’s Trump address of the same, and what it
also means when the President fails to shake her hand in front of all members of Congress and the
world. The article doesn’t seem to take a side between the Liberal/Democratic and
Conservative/Republican’s understanding of the same. Instead, it is one that addresses why both sides
should be considered, and why both actions from politicians from extreme sides should be addressed
and understood by everyone.
Context: The article’s posted on the Forbes website, uses credible sources. While this is a story to
which the Forbes author provides an opinion about, it is reported based on what happened. It is an
accurate discussion of the SOTN’s happenings, based on the author’s interpretation. The content is
mostly factual because it reports on the story, but may not be fully trustworthy because it is an opinion.

Part III: Left/Right Analysis

Kairos/Date: Lutz posted the article on 5th February 7, 2020, a few hours to a day after the infamous
tearing up of the SOTN address by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It relates to the events just alright because it
comes only a few hours after what it is meant to address happened.
Authority: Lutz took his time to make the information as accurate as possible. The author uses a
number of verified sources in reference to the report and its topic. He’s a verified contributor to Vanity
Fair on politics, thus an authority on the subject.
Bias: The topic of the article likens Pelosi’s tearing up of the SOTN 2020 Speech to the lack of
decorum that Republicans tend to show. The reference to Republicans as those who are always on the
wrong implies how much the article and the source is left-leaning. Starting up with points about the
presentation of the medal by the President to Rush Limbaugh who he shows to have made comments in
the past about people that show his lack of decorum, and the fact that Republican lawmakers cheered

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 ILP II: The News Article
Due: 2/7
when this was happening, then showing that what Pelosi did is just a page out of the Republican’s book
minimizes the bias.
Context: Vanity Fair is mostly a left-leaning news website, but a credible one because, as can be seen
from this article alone, there’s the reference to different sources, some left-leaning, others slightly
right-leaning. The articles posted on it, therefore, are well-researched.

Part IV: Reflection

While Brodey’s article on Forbes about Pelosi’s tearing up the 2020 State of the Union Address in front
of all members of Congress establishes a number of viewpoints about what that meant in the current
political world, it is mostly an opinion. It goes into detail expounding the real lesson on what people
ought to take away from the State of the Union’s happenings between President Trump, Speaker Pelosi,
and the rest of the Republican and Democrat members of the Congress, but based on an opinion and with
no real sources to the story. Lutz’s article, on the other hand, uses sources – credible ones – to discuss
what it meant for Republicans and Democrats to behave how they did at the SOTN. While it is quite
biased being on a mostly left-leaning website, its credibility and the author’s authority on politics makes
me favor it over Brodey’s.