To: Ms.

Diaz
From: Cora Wiegel
Date: 21 March 2015
Subject: MWA 2 Cover Letter
Rhetorical Situation
The general goal when writing this paper was to present my stance on an argument while
working to convince my audience of the validness in an argument. In doing that, it is
important to present all of the facts from the opposing argument without giving bias
opinion or attacking the other side. Because the job requires being able to do extensive
research, I made sure that my stance was supported by credible sources. Whenever
including citations, I worked so expand on them with further analysis and reiterating their
purpose.
Areas of Interest
The biggest challenge in writing this paper was controlling the direction I wanted to go in
with the points I was bringing up. I would like your feedback on whether my paper was
disorganized or hard to follow. A lot of times when I am writing about my stance on a
subject, I get distracted from my original thought and begin on another topic.
SLO Progression
D: Improve your fluency in the dialect of Standardized Written American English at the
level of the sentence, paragraph and document
Because this was a position paper, I was much more capable of depicting the message
that I wanted to get across to my viewers. Writing about a topic that is important to me

allows me to express much more passion in my writing along with actually wanting my
readers to agree with what I am saying.
H: Integrate others positions and perspectives into your writing ethically, appropriately
and effectively in various mediums and technologies
I found it somewhat of a challenge to find the right place to insert the rebuttal to my
argument. However, I realized the key importance of the rebuttal in a position paper
because of how efficiently it can also bring out the writers argument. When writing the
rebuttal, it was a challenge to state the facts without showing bias and preference. I see
how it makes the initial argument stronger if the rebuttal is stated in a way that is not
attacking the opposition.
I: Compose a research-based academic argument in one of various mediums and
technologies by identifying, analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing sources, which must
include secondary sources.
The research done for the position paper creates substance to the content of discussing
my stance on an argument. The sources I used for my argument supported my writing
and gave me further ideas to argue my position.

Cora Wiegel
Ms. Diaz
English 120
21 March 2015
The Role of Media: Scandal is not only in the Hands of Politicians
Political news coverage is conveyed to the American people at all times of the day
through different technological forms and from a plethora of sources. Social media users
are constantly bombarded with updates and notifications of the most recent political
occurrence that has caused scandal or any form of uprising among. The negative
implications of the previous statement is not to downplay the importance of staying
informed on political issues, but rather to bring awareness to the competitive market the
news and media industry has become while working desperately to gain the attention of
the American people. The role that media plays in politics has gone too far in excessively
analyzing the personal lives of the politicians, not only portraying them negatively, but
also taking away from the subject that truly matters: their stance on political issues.
Numerous presidents that have dealt with false allegations, words taken out of
context, and become targets of the general public, have been discredited for the tasks that
were done well during their presidency and the focus is solely on the bad when we look
back on them throughout history. A major part of our modern day, quick-fix society is
presenting only the protuberant facts, leaving all the details and background to fall
behind. This is especially prominent in the way upcoming generations are taught about
U.S. history. Our present day society is extremely centered around progressivism and
changing ideals from the past, so much so that the intricate components which built up

our country are often overlooked. While society works so hard to move forward on
social issues, looking back on historic solutions becomes negatively related with
stagnation. While many presidents of the past have surmounted social issues and created
solutions to foreign and domestic affairs with brilliantly strategic approaches, our society
rarely looks back to focus on the tactics of the past in fear of two major occurrences.
First, political issues have drastically changed from those of the past and the problems
that we face today cannot possibly compared to those of the past. The second, going
back to using the same techniques that were used in the passed implies that our
government would not be moving forward. Either way, the focus to always come up with
a new approach as opposed to using one that has previously been used and worked in the
past, is not always the most logical way to come up with a solution. The American
people have developed a sense of fear of our history. The cover-ups, scandals, and
previous mechanisms of handling social issues of the time, have created a cloud of shame
that clouds history and creates a shield from all of the great progression we have made
and high points throughout history.
Although many presidential candidates at one point have a political agenda of
their own, containing how they plan to be perceived by the general public, the media has
become the obvious make or break factor of their presidencies. The thirty-seventh
President of the United Sates, Richard Nixon, is the most obvious example of an entire
term of presidency being entirely demolished over night as the Watergate Scandal was
exposed by the media. It is extremely disheartening to see all of the beneficial and
monumental changes he made to our country, be completely overlooked. Because the
mention of his name immediately causes a general rise intention, many people who have

not looked at the record of his presidency, get a first impression of who he was morally
and what kind of leader he was because his name is associated with a scandal. What is
not considered, was his role in opening diplomatic relations with China, developing the
Environmental Protection Agency, enforced desegregation of southern schools, getting
eighteen year olds the right to vote, ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, and so
much more. Richard Nixon came into office with the promising intent of getting the
United States out of the Vietnam War and he successfully achieved this objective and did
not care at what cost. Recently, the tapes that recorded all of Richard Nixons personal
conversations in the White House were released to the public and made into a
documentary. When listening to a short clip of the tapes, Nixon is easily portrayed as
prejudice, sexist, or racist. However, after listening to the entirety of the tapes, there is a
much better understanding of who President Nixon was, why he made the decisions he
did, and his undying allegiance to execute the promises he made to the American people.
Something that has to be considered when listening to the tapes is the way Nixon speaks
is simply how the majority of people spoke during the time. There was no politically
correct, formal jargon that was set for that time period. When considering Watergate, it
has to be understood that President Nixon took office under somewhat of a state of
paranoia. Not only did he bug the offices of others, he bugged his own office. He was
utterly concerned with the loyalty of those in office around him and after spending many
years in politics, he was right in acting in such a way. This is not to say that his actions
were acceptable, simply that they have a certain context to be understood in and of
course, they have to be seen in the overall picture of his term. The press used, and still

uses to this day, the final actions of his presidency to be his identifier throughout the rest
of history.
Generally, the argument can be divided into two parties: political moralists and
political realists. The latter align their viewpoint with the suggestion that news and
media industries have intruded past the line of essentials in an effort to get a news story
without the sole interest of politics at hand. Political moralists believe in the necessity of
media coverage on stories that go further than politics because they allow the American
people insight on the person that they are electing into office. The common underlying
factor and basic argument of the matter is under what basis does a politician gain political
legitimacy. As defined by Eva Erman, political legitimacy is a virtue of political
arrangements or institutions and the decisions (policies, laws) made within them (217).
Political moralists believe that the justification of coercive power (Erman 217) comes
from the politicians stance on political issues and their ability and ideas to maintain and
improve the republic. Because of this belief, they see the strongest corruption within the
media industry and believe news coverage to be an excessive distraction from real world
issues because of the focus on scandal, personal lives, and most prominently, opinions.
In contrast, political moralists believe the role of the media is vital for the American
people; media is the access we need in order gain a proper understanding of our
politicians and their ability to perform in office. Political moralism refers to the
justification and sanctioning of political theory (Erman 217) to be based on the
politicians moral beliefs and values. Political moralists argue the compatibility between a
morally sound politician and a successful political agenda. The two extremes of political

moralists and political realists further highlight our segregated nation, which dwells
deeper than the titles of democrats and republicans.
In alignment with the beliefs of political moralists and contrarily to the opinion
that media has become too excessive with the stories covered in the news, many people
believe that media coverage is vastly important because without it, citizens would not
have access to the moral and personal qualities of those that we elect and choose to put in
power. Another argument to support the role of the media is that if this industry did not
focus on scandal, further corruption in politics would occur. The distinct role of media
plays a vital role in the way American people select representatives for the country.
The coverage of the press today distracts from the subject of social issues and
alters world news into a form of entertainment for the American people. Throughout
time, and with the advancement of technology, research has shown that in the 1940s
the factors affecting voter choice (in order of importance) were: party affiliation, social
group allegiance, the candidates personality and consideration of the issues. Today, this
order has been reversed. Social science research indicates that the candidates
personality, their position on issues, party affiliation, and group reversal are now the
deciding factors (Media and Elections). The focus on who the politician truly is, not
just what they stand for, has become the primary concentration, in a way that has
consequentially taken away the emphasis on the importance of social issues. Media has
gained somewhat of a desperate intent to attack presidential candidates and work to
create irrelevant and exaggerated parallels between character qualities and political
stances. As media works so actively to twist the words of politicians during interviews, it
causes many leaders from refraining from stating the entirety of the truth and therefore

blocks access of important information to the people of the United States. The existence
of the lap dog press in the 1950s and 60s primarily ignored the minute scandals and
personal lives of the politicians. The Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War are looked
at as the turning point from the lap dog press to the watch dog press. This was a time
when the press started to focus more toward the negative actions of politicians. This had
further digressed into the junkyard dog press that exists today, primarily never focusing
on political issues at hand and only making scandals and personal affairs to be the
headlines. Watching the news no longer serves the purpose it once did and [t]he
medium of television itself shapes the content of presidential coverage in ways that are
not always in the best interests of the viewer (Elert). Media coverage and news
broadcasters have become so competitive to have the most interesting breaking news
story that the news that is covered is more of a desperate attempt to capture the attention
of views. This has become the utmost issue that the overall ignorance of Americans can
be credited to.
The American people have come to accept false news as an acceptable norm. The
lack of information received by the average American truly leads to the overall detriment
of country. This is highly credited to the corruption in media coverage and the plethora
of issues that have surfaced in political broadcasting over time. The corruption in the
media can be changed but it has to be through the action of the American people. We
should be proud of our presidents and the good that they have done.

Works Cited
Elert, Glenn. "Television and the Presidency How the News Affects Our Perceptions."
Television
and the Presidency. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
<http://hypertextbook.com/eworld/president.shtml>.

" Media and Elections." The TEAM Project Media and Elections. Web. 25 Feb.
2015. <http://www.edb.utexas.edu/resources/team/lesson_3.html>.

Erman, Eva, and Niklas Mller. "Political Legitimacy In The Real Normative World: The
Priority Of Morality And The Autonomy Of The Political." British Journal Of
Political Science 45.1 (2015): 215-233. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Feb.
2015.