Essay on Laura Ingraham Rhetoric against Gun Rights

Introduction

Laura Ingraham is a conservative presenter at Fox News. Controversy is not new to Laura Ingraham, she has often been involved in controversies especially concerning her style of reporting and hard lined political views, in fact, and some could say that controversy is her brand. She uses the controversial statements to appeal to her target audience which consists of aging white people who are aligned to the right. Recently, she attacked the Parkland survivors, an ordeal that led to the pulling down of adverts from her show. After the incidence, she went on a one week vacation, but she is back. This is not new at Fox news, the network has been involved in numerous political controversies, and many senior reporters at the network such as Bill O Reilly have had adverts pulled from their show and gone on leave but always came back to the network and did the same things (Peters, 2016).

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In her show, the Ingraham Angle, Laura Ingraham had a message on the bottom screen that stated, "We need more academics and less hysterics." This message was about the Parkland shooting survivors and their efforts to promote gun control measures. The statement meant that the parkland survivors were making a big deal about the control of guns while they were supposed to focus on their studies instead. The statement was also an implication of a tweet by Laura Ingraham in which she told David Hogg, to stop whining about the fact that he got rejected from colleges.

Laura Ingraham compared the Parkland shooting survivors to hysterics. Comparing them to hysterics implied that people should not take them seriously. Reference to the teenagers as hysterics meant that they were not serious about their cause, they were making a fit and looking for attention. Laura Ingraham is a conservative and a member of the Republican Party. She has given speeches in numerous political conservative forums where she has opposed the stricter gun laws. The statement about needing more academics and fewer hysterics played into her political views. Invalidating people with dissenting opinions is a tactic of getting people to support her opinion. Implying that the Parkland survivors were not intellectuals reduced the trust of the viewer on the opinion and point of view of the teenagers.

Laura Ingraham and her employer Fox News support the NRA and oppose changes to gun laws. Laura was defending the point of view of her employer. The parkland survivors are a threat to the NRA. They are advocating the very thing that the NRA is opposed to. The fact that fox news is taking measures even going to the extent of bullying teenagers means that the efforts of the shooting survivors are working. The teenagers are threatening the very existence of the NRA. Fox news feels threatened by the teenagers. The network has based its activities on the activities of the political right wing.

At the center of the right-wing political views is the second amendment that gives the right to the ownership of a gun. Right-wing politicians have made it seem like gun control is a violation of the rights of Americans (Berry & Sobieraj, 2013). Laura Ingraham's rhetoric played into an exaggeration of this fear. In fear of their guns being taken away, the NRA and other organizations that have vast interests in the gun industry want to discredit anyone that advocates for gun control. What better way to do that than in a show whose viewership consists mainly of people with right-wing political views?

Conclusion

Laura Ingraham, therefore, aimed at convincing right-wing political supporters that they should not listen to what the Parkland Shooting survivors are saying. The survivors are just merely seeking attention. The Parkland teenagers should instead focus on their academics more since it was clear that they were not doing as well as evidenced by David Hogg's rejection from colleges. Laura's comparison of the teenagers to hysterics was rhetoric that supported her political views and those of her bosses. The controversy that came from the statement only served to advance the message that was intended. The controversy meant that the message was taken up by more news sources and hence reaching a wider audience.

References

Berry, J. M., & Sobieraj, S. (2013). The outrage industry: Political opinion media and the new incivility. Oxford University Press.

Peters, J. W. (2016). Wielding claims of 'fake news, conservatives aim at mainstream media. The New York Times.