What Is The Difference Between The Washington Post And Alaskan Dispatch News

These two articles, from The Washington Post and Alaskan Dispatch News discuss hate crimes from two different perspectives. Alaskan Dispatch News takes a more conservative look at hate crime laws, as the title is “Time to Scrap Hate-Crime Laws.” The Washington Post takes an opposite stance, and is more liberal, as the title states that “…Its More Important Than Ever to Fight Hate and Bigotry.” Just the titles of these two articles alone sets the stage for the side the article will be taking. The Washington Post has a heavy focus that hate-crime laws are necessary in order to maintain equality. The authors, Brooks and Greenblatt say that hate-crime laws demonstrate that bigotry will not be tolerated. Bigotry is when a person is intolerant

Its biggest strengths are the author’s persuasive use of logos, which appeal to logic. The article uses the origins of identifying hate-crimes which gained currency in the 1980s. There are other captivating facts throughout the article such as talking about what makes a murder first degree. A second aspect to this editorial is the use of a real incident in the beginning. It brings the reader to reality and has them connect with a news story they had heard, but on a deeper level. The author uses the incident to frame the whole article in order to show the controversy. People initially reading the article will have their own opinions on the hate motivated incident, but the end of the article will sway these ideals; because after all, “Is the killer who shouts bigoted epithets more dangerous to society than the quiet sadist who first tortures his murder victim without comment?” (Hanson

Both of the articles use persuasive techniques to evoke a reaction out of the reader. Each article has a different view on hate-crimes and they each use different persuasive techniques. The Alaskan Dispatch Network takes a more conservative approach on hate-crimes, saying they need to be “scrapped,” while the Washington Post takes a liberal side, saying that we need to fight hate. The articles both have the same purpose, to get the reader to view hate-crimes from their side. The editorials both talked about the media and how it influences the way that the public sees the issue of hate-crimes. Media plays an important role, and looking at it through a constructionist perspective, (or the social construction of reality) it is the most important factor that affects the way society views an