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A Brief Note On Police Accountability And Reform

Good Essays

Sydney Boysen
Professor E Spencer
Rhetoric 1030:0200
2 February 2017
Word Count:
Police Accountability

Police Accountability and reform is a major topic of discussion in the United States of America today. Whether it’s through protesting on the streets or debating on television, like news shows, it’s an issue that you will most likely hear about over and over again. According to the scholarly article I read, Police Journal, accountability is seen as, “opposed with certain obligations that arise within a relationship of responsibility, where one person or body is responsible to another for performance of particular services” (Cheung 6). On The Daily Show, a man names Charles Kinsey was discussed. Kinsey was shot while trying to help an …show more content…

This gave Oliver the opportunity to be named on the list of Time Magazines, “100 Most Influential People” in 2015. During the episode on October 2nd, 2016 of the show, Last Week Tonight, John Oliver argues the topic of police accountability. After watching the segment, we can unmistakably see the exigency Oliver used to show his pro-police accountability stance. Once learning more about Oliver and his targeted audience, it was clear to see the many different forms of rhetoric he used to portray his position.
The targeted audience for Last Week Tonight is young to middle-aged adults looking for an informative show with a lot of humor. The reason this show isn’t something a young child should watch is due to the fact that there is quite a bit of inappropriate language and there are many references younger children wouldn’t understand. Also, this show has brought attention to very serious topics that aren’t appropriate for some ages. As for adults older than middle-aged, some may not enjoy the way this kind of information is presented. Typically, older adults tend to be more conservative and less open to innovative concepts like presenting news with memes and current jokes trending across social media.
Oliver uses his style as the key way to support his claims. By arguing such a ripe subject, like police accountability, Oliver appeals to the audience’s emotions and uses pathos to keep the audience interested and invested. An example of his use of pathos would be when

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