Analysis of the "Meet the Press" Television Show Featured on NBC News

Introduction

Meet the Press, television show featured on NBC News is presented by Chuck Todd every Sunday morning. Chuck moderate roundtable discussions and interviews primarily concerning America's public affairs. The show hosts various American and world leaders interviewed on matters concerning politics, and socioeconomic issues mainly affecting American citizens (Jones 75). It also features various public affairs analysists on a roundtable discussion that review and analyzes emerging issues from the previous week's political and socioeconomic developments in the United States of America. The show primarily targets the American electorate sensitizing them on emerging issues regarding political, economic, and social matters (Higgins and Walker 202). The electorate is made up of two main political party divides, that is, the Democrats and Republicans. For instance, on November 4, 2018, the Meet the Press show featured discussions and analysis on midterm elections developments in the U.S.A. Chuck began by introducing the day's panelists and interviewees according to their professionals and expertise ("Meet the Press" 1.10-1.37). He also outlined the various matters to be reviewed which included the midterm elections forecasts illustrating the Republican and Democratic parties poll positions. According to Chuck, the main issues that concern the electorate include public healthcare status, job creation, immigration policies, national security, and foreign trade policies. The Meet the Press show has remained relevant for many years due to the ability of the presenters to demonstrate the credibility of the speakers and moderating the discussion to facilitate logical arguments on matters pertinent to the American electorate.

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Establishing Credibility and Logic Appeal During the Show Presentation

The show host Chuck Todd focus on establishing credibility and maintaining logical arguments throughout the discussion to ensure that the Sunday morning show remained relevant among the American electorates. To demonstrate the credibility of the featured speakers, Chuck begins the show by introducing all participants according to their professionals and expertise (Higgins and Walker 225). The speakers' professions or expertise is usually aligned with the topic or issues under discussion. It demonstrates that the show hosts participants with background experience on the issues under discussion (Jones 100). Therefore, they provide a professional or expert opinion on matters reviewed in the show. For example, on November 4, 2018, the show featured Senator Chris Van-Hollen the chair, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee who was used to provide his opinion about the democratic party's midterm poll position ("Meet the Press" 8.59-9.11). Chuck describes Senator Chris experience that stretches back to the year 2008 when he began chairing the committee. The description portrays his credibility to discuss matters regarding democratic senatorial elections.

Logical Appeal in the Show Presentation

The show also demonstrates the use of logical appeal in the presentation of the information by first presenting facts to the audience about the topic under discussion. The facts form the basis for a logical argument through inductive reasoning (Higgins and Walker 215). It involves representation of facts that are then critically analyzed towards drawing certain conclusions. For example, the November 4, 2018 show, Chuck began the debate by presented several gathered facts about the midterm elections. Chuck presented survey data demonstrating an opinion poll on Democratic and Republican party influence in different states ("Meet the Press" 1.46-2.41). NBC News correspondents from various states also presented their findings of crucial emerging issues among the interviewed electorates concerning the midterm elections. According to their report, the matters that topped the list included immigration policy, public health care, unemployment, and foreign trade policies. The presented facts formed the basis of the entire discussion that revolved around issues and not individuals thereby creating a logical appeal to the targeted audience (Smith 193).

Emotional Appeal in the Presentation

The commentator and show panelists demonstrated emotional appeals by trying to persuade the audience with arguments drawn from controversial issues that trigger certain emotional response (Jones 123). For example, Tom Brokaw an NBC News senior correspondents featured in the November 4, 2018 show tries to persuade the panelist and the audience that President Trump immigration policy is inappropriate by describing the unfortunate position of the caravan immigrants from Honduras. Tom describes the desperate conditions the immigrants are freeing from including abject poverty, extortion, and murder by criminal gangs ("Meet the Press" 26.25-27.19). He then disapproves President Trump's threats to allow the use of force against them if they tried to cross the United States of America border and deployment of heavily armed border security guards in response to harmless immigrants. Tom intended to influence the audience towards sympathizing with the immigrants thereby disapproving president Trump's zero-tolerance immigration policy (Higgins and Walker 229).

Purpose of the Show

Meet the Press show focus on reviewing and analyzing matters about public affairs in the United States of America. The show limits its debates to the political, and socioeconomic emerging issues that significantly affect the American citizens. The main purpose of the show is to sensitize the American electorate on crucial matters that impact substantially on their socioeconomic welfare (Smith 197). For example, the November 4, 2018, show, sensitized the American electorate on essential matters to consider when electing leaders to various positions ("Meet the Press" 25.16-25.28). It emphasized on voters to evaluate candidate's proposed policies regarding public affairs issues such as healthcare, employment, national security, foreign trade policies among others.

Structure of the Show Presentation

Meet the Press show involves both roundtable discussion and interviews moderated by one presenter Chuck Todd. The moderator begins by introducing the main participants in a show by their names, professionals, experience, and expertise to establish their credibility ("Meet the Press" 1.10-1.37). The moderator then presents the already gathered facts about the topic or issues under discussion. The show moderator then engages the NBC News correspondents on the ground in different states to establish the general public views on the matter under consideration. The next step in the present process involves scheduled interviews on the issue under scrutiny which is followed by a comprehensive debate among the panelist in the NBC News studio. Most of the speakers featured in the show use formal language when arguing out their points due to the gravity of the issues under discussion. The commentator applies tone variation during the debate which includes raising his voice slightly to emphasize on an issue and lowering it when seeking another person's opinion on a matter. The commentator tries as much as possible not to take sides in the discussion to allow him better moderate the debate. Chuck also used gestures such as body movements when explaining points and signaling for other panelists to chip in the debate.

Conclusion

The Meet the Press, Sunday morning show, hosted by Chuck Todd on NBC News focus on debating and analyzing public affairs issues in the United States of America. The show targets the American electorate with the aim of sensitizing them on political, and socioeconomic matters significantly affecting their welfare. The speakers featured on the show provide their opinion concerning various political, and socioeconomic developments in the United States of America. To establish the credibility of the show, the moderator introduces the participating speakers by their names, profession, and experience. The moderator demonstrates the use of logical appeal by providing all gathered facts on the topic under discussion at the beginning of the show. The facts form the basis for logical arguments. The participants apply emotional appeal to persuade the audience to agree with their views by highlighting controversial issues that stir an emotional response. The commentator employs gestures and tone variation to emphasize some points. Therefore, Meet the Press show has remained relevant for a long time due to the ability of the presenters to demonstrate the credibility of the speakers and efficiently moderating the discussions facilitating logical arguments about matters of great interest to the American electorate.

Works Cited

Higgins, Colin, and Robyn Walker. "Ethos, logos, pathos: Strategies of persuasion in social/environmental reports." Accounting Forum. Vol. 36. No. 3. Elsevier, 2012.

Jones, Jeffrey P. Entertaining politics: Satiric television and political engagement. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2010.

Smith, Angela. "Lifestyle television programs and the construction of the expert host." European Journal of Cultural Studies 13.2 (2010): 191-205.

Todd, Chuck. "Meet the Press: Midterm Election Poll Position." YouTube, NBC News, 4 Nov. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl29s3j5bIg. Accessed 4 Nov. 2018.