1. The Rhetorical Triangle & Heffernan's Comment is King
By Moses Shumow, rev. GP Dec. 2016

2. Rhetoric is about persuasion

3. "Rhetorical study. is concerned with the modes of persuasion“
"Rhetorical study...is concerned with the modes of persuasion“ Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book 1, Part 1
Tool kit for persuading people
Critical for Greek democracy
Originally for elites
Sophists: for everyone, for $
Used for 2,300 years
Ostracon, BBC

4. Rhetoric is even more important in a digital world

7. View the following through the lens of rhetorical analysis
Select a Designated Team Clicker
Determine the primary form of rhetoric used:
a. Logos
b. Pathos
c. Ethos

8. 1. A Presidential Tweet
a. Logos
b. Pathos
c. Ethos

9. A photo: Migrant Mother, by Dorothea Lange
a. Logos b. Pathos c. Ethos

10. A graph
a. Logos b. Pathos c. Ethos

11. A speech a. Logos b. Pathos c. Ethos

12. A commercial
a. Logos b. Pathos c. Ethos

13. “Comment is King” Virginia Heffernan, NYT, April 26, 2009
Presents an analysis of comments made on the Op-Ed pieces of Anne Applebaum, columnist for the Washington Post
Applebaum is pretty middle of the road, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, but you wouldn’t know that from the comments made on her articles: “liberal fool”; “a lapsed neo-con addict”; “Zionist stooge liar”; anti-Semitic
Comments are not refereed; no “sustained or inventive analysis of Applebaum’s work” emerges from the commentary

14. “Comment is King” Virginia Heffernan, NYT, April 26, 2009
Then
Now

15. “Comment is King” Virginia Heffernan, NYT, April 26, 2009
Heffernan argues that online commentary should become a “cogent part of online journalism”
It is instead the “bête noire for journalists and readers alike”; journalists find it “stinging and distracting” while readers won’t take the time to dig through the comments unless they plan on making a comment themselves

16. “Comment is King” Virginia Heffernan, NYT, April 26, 2009
What’s the problem?
Rhythms of the web: early assent, then dissent, early morning weirdness; then fact checking
Never reaches the level of true analysis; instead, an echo-chamber develops
Echo-chamber is “unpleasant, and it makes it hard to keep listening for the clearer, brighter, rarer voices nearly drowned out in the din.”
Something should be done, but Heffernan seems at a loss as to what that “something” might be

17. OscarZetaAcosta

18. What to do?
2013, YouTube allowed users to block and filter comments; further ties to Google+
July, 2015, Ellen Pao, CEO of reddit, attempted to reign in sexist and racist boards and comments
Both failed amid massive user backlash

19. The latest: Facebook, YouTube, Apple, Spotify ban Alex Jones
Twitter suspends account 1 week
4th most downloaded app in Apple’s App Store
Alex Jones a Free Speech martyr?

20. So, what to do about trolls, flame wars, and the echo chamber?

21. Back to “Comment is King” by Virginia Heffernan
Since this article was published, the Times has come up with their own “troll solution”: Comment ranking by readers and Editors at the Times
“Why Our Memory Fails Us (Chabris & Simons)”
First blogging assignment in class