RUNNING HEAD: EBOLA OUTBREAK 2014 GENRE ANALYSIS

Ebola Outbreak 2014 Genre Analysis

Luis Anthony Gutierrez
University of Texas at El Paso
Instructor: Elizabeth Lang
English 1312: Research and Critical Writing
September 17, 2014

Ebola Outbreak 2014 Genre Analysis

Ebola Outbreak of 2014

The Ebola Virus is a rare but very deadly virus that damages the immune system and
organs of the infected. Once in the body, it causes the number of blood-clotting cells in the body
to drop significantly, leading to uncontrollable bleeding out of every orifice. Unfortunately, once
contracted, Ebola has almost a 90% chance of ending in death. The Ebola virus has been along
since the 1970s, but it has since then seen a spike of reported cases in 2014 originating from
Africa, where since then the CDC has designated it as an outbreak. Since this outbreak has
become world known, many different sources of information have risen to try to keep the public
informed. There are two genres that are the most common. The first genre are medical journals
directly from informed personnel like the Center for Disease Control and Preventions journal on
the 2014 West Africa Outbreak, where it purely gives out facts about the current situation.
Secondly, we have news reports from editors and authors who write as soon as information
becomes available to them, in this case an article named: Ebola in the air? A Nightmare that
Could Happen, by CNN. Both these genres, using these two sources, will be analyzed in this
paper regarding their views, diction, techniques, and intention for writing to find out the most
efficient and trusting genre for this type of information.
Audience and Purpose
The intended audience for the CDC journal is a well-educated adult reader looking for a
strictly informative overview from a medical professional, while the CNN article is geared
toward the everyday adult watching the news and looking to obtain small snippets of what is
going on in the world around him. While the CDC journal is made strictly to inform about the
virus, the CNN article contains small amounts of images and speculation to also provide

Ebola Outbreak 2014 Genre Analysis

entertainment. While the CNN article does give informative information about the situation, it
branches off into the possibility of the virus becoming airborne, which while not impossible, has
a relatively low chance of happening. This makes sense, as audience ties with the CDC journal
are simply trying to keep people informed while the CNN article is designated to not only
inform, but to also encourage general awareness and spread of this information, possibly through
panic.
Unfortunately, due to the differences in their information, the audience is likely to know
different things. With the CDC journal, the audience is likely to know more about the Ebola
outbreak, how it spreads, how to avoid contact with it, and where it originated. On the other
hand, the CNN article only makes the public know the number of people who have succumbed to
the disease and the dangers it poses the world. With this drastic difference, the audience will
undoubtedly spend more time with the CDC journal as it is longer and harder to understand than
the CNN article, which is short and can be understood the first read. Although both sources use a
similar type of formal writing, it is the CDC journal that uses more medical terms and
specialized vocabulary that therefore warrants more time.
While both of these sources display some identical information such as comments on
how the virus is transmitted and the number affected, it mostly has differences, as where one
strictly gives background on the virus and the risks of it, the other branches off to possible
speculation that could only lead to panic.
Rhetorical Issues
Both articles use similar ways to establish the informations credibility. The CDC article
demonstrates its credibility mainly through its name. Over the years, the Center for Disease

Ebola Outbreak 2014 Genre Analysis

Control and Prevention has been the go to organization for health concerns. With ties to the
government, this journal receives its credibility simply from being from the CDC. In other
words, it borrows the credibility of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to make its
information look authentic and reliable. The CNN article on the other hand, makes itself look
credible by quoting doctors and knowledgeable people in this subject. Similar to the CDC
journal, it is also using a type of credibility borrowing to make sure it looks foolproof.
When we reach emotional response, we see a much more clear difference. With the CDC
journal, the way it keeps information arbitrative and specifically includes containment
information makes it clear that it does not want a big emotional response like worry. From the
CDC journal it is very clear that it does not want to worry people and just looks for people to be
informed. The CNN article on the other hand, is a different story. By focusing on the amount of
people affected and killed, while simultaneously creating a worry that the virus could become
airborne, it is much clearer that this article is written to evoke panic and concern. This is mainly
to try to increase general concern and to force people to keep up with the current situation with
the virus by continuing to read their articles.
These emotional responses become much more acceptable when we reach the types of
evidence these genres use to support their claims. Once again, the CDC journal lunges the
CDCs credentials and reputation as a peacekeeper in order to support its information, as they
dont cite any particular individuals or sources. With the way people know the CDC, it comes
down to the fact that the CDC is the evidence itself, as it is apparent that they have analyzed the
virus with their own two hands and therefore know what they are saying. The CNN article on the
other hand, is a completely different story. It continually cites individuals with relevant
credentials and those who have experienced relevant situations with the Ebola virus article in

Ebola Outbreak 2014 Genre Analysis

order to display a form of evidence. However, since these professionals may have been sought
especially for their views, their evidence is much less reliable than the CDC journal. However,
since in both situations we are dealing with people who have relevant degrees and a number of
studies in the field of biology and illnesses, both degrees of evidence are appropriate for the
purpose.
Both genres have some similarities in their rhetorical issues, but once again, have a much
greater number of differences. Both the medical journal and news article use informed people for
their credibility and cite them and their experiences for their evidence. On the other hand, while
the medical journal was designed without a huge emotional response from the audience, this is
precisely why the news article was designed. While the journal keeps things calm and serene, the
news article sought out to instill an emotional response of panic and worry into the reader to
keep them reading.
Structure and Delivery
Seeing on how both sources are accessible online through a simple search engine, both
the medical journal and the news article are shaped similarly. Both are readily available to
anyone who wishes to read up on the Ebola virus and are through trusted brands. When we get
much more specialized on the organization of visuals in their website however, we see the
difference. In the medical journals case, the journal is kept professional, which can be proven
with a constant font, clear line spacing, and lack of visuals. This style greatly contributes to the
purpose of the genre as the lack of advertisements and overdesign clearly demonstrate how this
information is out there strictly to inform and nothing else. The news article on the other hand, is
almost a complete polar opposite. It uses different font colors, strategic picture placement, and

Ebola Outbreak 2014 Genre Analysis

advertisements for some of their other articles on a sidebar, which greatly supports the view that
they are not only to inform, but to entertain as well.
Conclusion
The medical journal, with its more subtle and less obvious bias, purely informational
content, and much more professional and formal writing is clearly much more effective in
conveying its message. Being written from a governmental association and sometimes hospitals,
the medical journal is always written mainly for the reader. While it may be a bit biased due to
the origin of the research, such as funding companies, it never is enough to invalidate the
information it spreads, therefore making it a reliable source. News articles on the other hand,
since they count on readers to make money, their tactics of using advertisements and speculating
in order to keep readers around compromises the information the reader may obtain and therefore
cannot always be trusted. However, while it may have its faults, it is clear that both genres are
great sources of information that make topics like the Ebola outbreak available and interesting to
all, no matter the type of person.

Ebola Outbreak 2014 Genre Analysis

Reference List
CDC. (2014, September 8). Questions and Answers on Ebola. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/guinea/qa.html
Cohen, E., & Bonifield, J. (2014, September 12). Ebola in the air? A nightmare that could
happen. CNN. Retrieved from
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/12/health/ebola-airborne/index.html?iref=storysearch