Rose Minani

English 1010

04/23/2020

“Report on racism, but ditch the labels”

by: Keith Woods

Keith Woods is an African American Chief Diversity Officer at NPR, who has been in the field

for over 40 years since 2010. He focuses on leadership, storytelling, reporting, and editing. Keith

was also a dean of the faculty of the Poynter Institute. His essay “Report on Racism, but ditch the

labels,” was published on July 17, 2019, in Washington Dc. This essay was written in response to

Democratic African American congresswoman.Trump implied in his tweets that the

congresswomen weren’t born in america. “He claimed the women, “originally came from

countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe,” before suggesting they “go

back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came."Woods’

participated in Npr’s code switch podcast giving a fuller version or account of trump’s statement

where he argues that journalists should focus more on the facts and less on opinions. The

intended audience is journalists,people that care or maybe be affected by the tweet, Keith woods

colleagues and I also consider myself as the intended audience.

“Keith Woods insists that keeping a “dispassionate distance” between facts and value judgments

is the fragile line that separates the professional from the rancid.” “It is precise because

journalism is given to warm-spit phrases like “racially insensitive `` and'' racially charged “ that

we should not be in the business of moral labeling in the first place.’ He then talks about being in

the profession for over 40 years and that he had seen a lot of change in journalism. He points out
that the power of journalism is truth-telling and accountability and that's what gives journalism

it’s power. He claims that in labeling President Trump’s tweets as racists, it makes their words or

message irrelevant. He also explains that we don’t have to put labels on things to have a good

report but to just state the facts. He then asks his audience to think about what gives journalists

the power to say whether something is racist or not .”Who are we? Who decides where the line is

that the president crossed? The headline writer working today who thinks it's "insensitive" or the

one tomorrow who thinks it's "racist?” This is where Keith makes his point that everyone has

their own opinions and labeling it doesn’t make it relevant.

Woods made a very strong argument by being clear, concise, confident and courteous. His tone

and word desire made it possible to convince his target audience of his opinion. He’s word

phrase and credibility shows that he is educated and trustworthy. Woods makes a comparison of

past journalism and today journalism to make a point. He does this by sharing his experience

with the profession. Woods's argument wasn’t successful and Npr will continue referring

President trump’s tweets as racist.

Woods appeals to logos by saying,” The better ideals of truth-telling, accountability, fairness,

etc. are what give journalism its power, while the notion of "objectivity" has been used to

obscure and excuse the insidious biases we do battle with today.” This gives Keith Woods

audiences a better understanding of why he feels the way he does.He feels that journalists should

give the audience a chance to make their own opinions instead of telling them what to think

because labeling things can cause chaos. Journalists should quote people, cite sources, add

context, and leave the moral labeling to the public.keith give examples of past statements or
remarks that trump made and wants his audience to understand why journalists were so quick to

label it racist.

Keith appeals to ethos, “I am not a journalism purist. I came into the profession 40 years ago to

tear down the spurious notion of objectivity used to protect a legacy of sexism, xenophobia and

white supremacy.” in saying that helps him connect with his audience.'' He wants to show the

audience his credibility. What's at stake is journalism's embattled claim to be the source of

credible news grounded in the kind of deep, fair reporting that exposes injustice and holds

powerful people to account. Woods appeals to ethos by his repeated statements acknowledging

that he is familiar with why journalists are inclined to label the president’s narration as racist, due

to the fact this shows that he has a firm grasp on how language is used and recognized. This

additionally serves to persuade his target audience from feeling attacked from his statements and

letting them be aware that he knows the place they are coming from and that he may also even

agree with them.This is because keith woods is an african american and he can tell when

something is racist or not. Which is why he wants to share how he feels about labeling trump's

tweets racist.

Woods also mentions the danger of calling a racist statement racist. It could risk serious media

outlets, turning cable tv news, a morass of yelling and opinion, and all their credibility will be

lost. Woods wants a report that makes it very clear that Trump is saying very racist things

without calling it racist.Mark makes a very strong argument towards Keith on the podcast. He

believes that telling a certain group to go back from where they came is racist. As the intended

audience, I believe that trump is very racist and that he has given us many reasons to consider

him as a racist. He has made very mean remarks in the past about Mexicans and african
Americans.This wasn’t a surprise to me because Trump has always been rude and racist towards

African american.Though keith had a strong argument and tried to make us understand his point

of view , Npr disagreed with Keith which is why they decided to continue referring to president

trump's tweet as racist.