Rhetoric strategy is used everywhere in real life and online. Its used in literature, design, art, appearances, and the media.
I've been doing some reading on rhetoric strategies and how the media uses it. Persuasion in the media can have good or bad intentions. "Fake news" in particular seems to use language to manipulate its reader, usually with ill intent.
An article titled "Decoding Fake News: Decoding the Rhetoric", written on the Fraser Hall Library website, goes into detail on what existing rhetoric strategies are used and it gives examples to the readers.
The article tell us to "consider how a writer's choice of words reflect their perspective" and to be aware of an author's bias in the title.
One of the strategies mention is using language that sounds misleading. "'He is an ex-con' vs 'He served time in prison'" both have the same meaning, but one sounds more sinister. This can influence how a reader thinks about this person and can change their opinion on them. Propaganda tends to use this strategy to influence public opinion or to downplay or magnify certain events.
Another way to manipulate opinions is to generalize groups of people. A headline with the title "Syrians refuse to bomb terrorism" or "Americans bomb school in Afghanistan" both mislead the reader by grouping all citizens of a country together and making it seem like the event was supported by everyone.
Word choice in media is almost always intentional. Being able to analyze the author's intent and biases helps us determine whether the news or information has been changed or manipulated to only be seen through the angle that the author wants us too.
Though rhetoric strategies aren't inherently bad nor do they make one a bad journalist, it is always better to keep an eye out for them and checking for misleading content and skewed perspectives in media and in real life.
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