Rhetorical analasis May 15, 2007

An interesting fact to be added is that even Comcast, 50 percent owner of The mtn., is not offering the channel outside of Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Kind of sends the wrong statement to the satellite guys, don't you think? I went to make good on my threat to DirecTV and switch to Comcast here in Northern California, until I found out that it would do me no good. I also think it is too late for the phone calls to the TV distributors. I think CSTV and the MWC had their most bargaining power the last couple of days before BYU's first home game. By today they should have assessed the situation and dropped their demands to whatever it took to get the channel on the air. Then if it gets ratings they are in a better position in the future. It can't be much of a cost issue, since CSTV will have to produce the games either way. It is time for the MWC and CSTV to do the deal, whatever it takes.
Reed Smith


This Article was taken from a group of other such opinions published in the Salt Lake tribune fall 2006. I would tend to say that it is not a very good opinion editorial and the use of rhetoric is very poor. First the audience is unclear. I seems as though he is writing mostly in an informative way to the fans. However towards the end he mentions the MWC and CSTV. I would say that he wants them to take charge and do something but is trying to raise awareness of this “unknown” issue at hand. I think his Logical approach is lacking the most. He describes problems but falls short of answering the why question why is it a problem, how can it be fixed, who needs to fix it, what is the benefit of fixing it etc. Next to look at the emotional appeal I feel it would appeal fairly well to any major sports fan because he describes a problem which plagues many fans that they cannot see their team play. I would say of all the rhetorical tools his ethos is the best because he discusses what happened to him as an expert however phrases such as “I think” defiantly do harm to his ethos because he does not know. Lots of people think this or that but why should I listen to what you think. I think his thesis is as unclear as his audience we realize form his writing that this is a problem but what exactly we need to do about it is unclear to me. I do not think this would be very effective to the target audience because I think most of his audience has already experienced this first hand and already realize a problem exists.