Abby Sudlow, Mackenzie Powell, Madeline Webb

Dr. Peter Blair

WRDS 1103: 053
29 February 2024
With the COVID-19 virus came an overload of information the public was left to read
and discern truth from lies, especially with articles like, “Fear, Lies, and the ‘Mandatory’
COVID-19 Vaccine” by Ty and Charlene Bollinger. In this essay, we will analyze the fallacies
and flaws scattered throughout the article, specifically highlighting the use of fear-mongering,
misrepresented data, and rhetorical manipulation. Uncovering fallacies, verbal “swindles,” and
propaganda techniques will help reveal the biases and agenda behind the article.
The article begins by downplaying the pandemic’s severity and doubting certain public
health measures, creating the idea that they are coming from an authoritarian agenda rather than
being efforts to protect public safety. The authors raise fear and concerns about the vaccine and
claim that mandating it infringes on the rights of the public. They aim to manipulate the
perceptions of the reader and create a lack of trust in the government and health care through the
use of emotional language to appeal to their anxieties and insecurities
One noticeable aspect of the article is the way it presented the data about COVID-19
cases and deaths. In an attempt to downplay the virus, the article compares it to other causes of
death without acknowledging the differences in transmission of these causes. They
misrepresented data by selectively choosing data that would support their narrative that the
effects of the virus were exaggerated.
Nancy Wood identifies various logical fallacies that can be found in this article. Wood
defines the slippery slope fallacy as, “a scare tactic that suggests that if we allow one thing to
happen, we will immediately be sliding down the slippery slope to disaster” (Wood, p.2). In this
article, they suggest that accepting mandatory vaccines would lead to a slippery slope of
overreach from the government and loss of individual freedom. The ad hominem fallacy was
created when the article attacked the credibility of the institutions and experts in support of
vaccination efforts, rather than responding to their arguments.
Another way the article shows its intentions is through the use of a few of McClintok’s
propaganda techniques.
“Fear, Lies & the “Mandatory” COVID-19 Vaccine?” The Truth about
Cancer, 11 June 2020, thetruthaboutcancer.com/fear-lies-covid-vaccine/.

https://uncc.instructure.com/courses/216019/files?preview=23999677

https://uncc.instructure.com/courses/216019/files?preview=23399518

https://uncc.instructure.com/courses/216019/files?preview=23399527