Voice, deliberation, resistance and persuasion through networked journalism

The pervasive use of the World Wide Web by the general population has created a cultural shift in “our living world”. It has enabled more people to share more information about more events and issues in the world than was possible before its general use. As a consequence, it has transformed traditional news media’s approach to almost every aspect of journalism, with many organisations restructuring their philosophy and practice to include a variety of participatory spaces/forums where people are free to engage in deliberative dialogue about matters of public importance. Moreover, while news media were the traditional gatekeepers of information, today many organisations allow, to different degrees, the general public and other independent journalism entities to participate in the news production process, which may include agenda setting and content production. This paper draws from an international collective case study that showcases various approaches to networked online news journalism. It examines the ways in which different traditional news media models use digital tools and technologies for participatory communication of information about matters of public interest. The research finds differences between the ways in which public service, commercial and independent news media give voice to the public and ultimately their approach to journalism’s role as the Fourth Estate––one of the key institutions of democracy. The work is framed by the notion that journalism in democratic societies has a key role in ensuring citizens are informed and engaged with public affairs. An examination of four media models, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Guardian, News Limited and OhmyNews, showcases the various approaches to networked online news journalism and how each provides different avenues for citizen empowerment. The cases are described and analysed in the context of their own social, political and economic setting. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with key senior journalists and editors provide specific information on comparisons between the distinctive practices of their own organisation. In particular these show how the ideal of democracy can be used as a tool of persuasion as much as a method of deliberation.

The philosopher and the rhetorician : a study of persuasion in Plato's Gorgias and Aristotle's Rhetoric /

In his treatise, On Rhetoric, Aristotle argues that there are three species within an art of rhetoric, judicial, deliberative, and epideictic. Aristotle's threefold rhetorical art, which is based on the functioning of the soul toward justice, reveals the possibilities for persuasive speech found in the Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle suggests that the soul and political life can be ordered according to reason through speeches pursuing justice, efficiency, and noble action. The relation between rhetoric and the soul also demonstrates how Socrates' rhetoric in Plato's Gorgias is based on an well-ordered soul, which is a just soul. In contrast to his own persuasion, Socrates demonstrates that the persuasive speech employed and taught by Gorgias, the rhetorician, is based on disorder and injustice. These two texts reveal that the intent of rhetoric is not separate from its practice. A study of the art of rhetoric, based on a study of the just soul and the good life, leads to the higher inquiries into politics and philosophy. Thus, political life and philosophy may benefit when citizens examine the nature of rhetoric, and subsequently, justice, within a community and within a soul.

Linguagem e argumentação na produção escrita de vestibulandos

In this study, we analyzed the argumentative processes of written texts produced by UERN (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte) vestibulandos : (students who apply for University Entrance Examinations in Brazil). It has as its corpus twenty compositions by such students. These compositions, collected in UFRN COMPERVE (Permanent Commission of vestibular examinations) and written in 2005 examination, were selected in a random way. The theoretical support is based on Perelman & Olbrechts-Tyteca (1999; 2002), Reboul (2004), Bakhtin (1992), Faraco (2003), Platão e Fiorim (2003) e Geraldi (1997), and other scholars. The work aimed to investigate how vestibulandos make use of argumentative techniques in order to construct their arguments in the vestibular examination. In the analysis of the corpus we considered that the used argumentative techniques, the relationship with the thesis, the sense effects students wanted to produce and the type of the required speech. It showed that in the, discourse construction of argumentative texts, students made use, with more frequency, of the following argumentative techniques: pragmatic arguments, arguments of the definition, comparison arguments, division arguments, example arguments, argument of the model and authority arguments as means to support their theses. However it was not carried out in a conventional way, reason why it leads us to believe that schools, as part of human activity, responsible for education and for the insert of learners in the literate world, have a fundamental role concerning the offer of conditions, so that, the teaching of Portuguese Language leads students to a systematic and explicit preparation of the knowledge, regarding the social and functions of the language, as well as of the strategies of the construction of argumentative texts. This can lead learners to develop communicative competence and to feel more confident when working with text production

A COMUNICAÇÃO DE MERCADO E A ATMOSFERA DO SHOWROOM: ASPECTOS POLISSÊMICOS DO DISCURSO PERSUASIVO.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo investigar e discutir o showroom como meio de comunicação com o mercado, sob a ótica da Comunicação Integrada de Marketing. Busca-se compreender como o showroom é capaz de envolver emocionalmente os consumidores, por meio de estímulos sensoriais aos sentidos humanos (tato, olfato, visão, audição e paladar), a ponto de materializar um sonho de consumo dos clientes. Assim, o objeto de estudo é a atmosfera de vendas, cuja mensagem polissêmica é utilizada em showroons com apartamento decorado na construção civil. Sua relevância, está justamente no fato de ser uma estratégia amplamente utilizada pelas empresas na atualidade. Porém, nota-se que há uma carência de estudos relacionados ao tema, o que justifica a realização da dissertação e a opção por uma abordagem qualitativa na metodologia. Por tratar-se de um fenômeno contemporâneo inserido num contexto da vida real, não enquadrado como caso raro ou revelador, a estratégia de pesquisa adotada é o Estudo de Casos Múltiplos, ancorado nos procedimentos de pesquisa bibliográfica, observação direta e entrevistas semiestruturadas. Os resultados da pesquisa revelam que o showroom é um meio de comunicação sintonizado com os anseios do consumidor contemporâneo, que valoriza as experiências sensoriais.

Free coinage of silver : speech of Hon. William Elliott, of South Carolina, in the House of Representatives, Thursday, February 13, 1896 [Pamphlet]

This speech is given to the United States House of Representatives. Hon. William Elliot gives a persuasive argument for why he will be voting against the senate amendment for free coinage of silver. He defines free coinage of silver and he describes fifty-cent dollar. He discusses the fall in the price of products and provides causation.

Persuading the Public : A Linguistic Analysis of Barack Obama’s Speech on “Super Tuesday” 2008

This essay examines the persuasive side of language in a speech given by Senator Barack Obama on Super Tuesday in February 2008. It studies how Senator Obama utilizes language to convince and persuade his audience. This is done from an Aristotelian point of view, meaning that the study focuses foremost on how the senator’s word choices relate to Aristotle’s three means of persuasion, ethos, pathos and logos. Those basic guiding principles are relevant to use since Aristotle’s work on the subject of rhetoric is still today one of the most relevant works in that field. The analysis is basically performed through personal observations guided by previous studies, within the frame of Aristotelian rhetoric. The results show how Senator Obama enforces the three means of persuasion through language and how it can be considered persuasive. The study might add to rhetoric studies from a linguistic perspective since it reaches a better understanding of language used in the field of politics, where rhetoric is a prominent component.