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John F Kennedy Speech Rhetorical Analysis

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President John F. Kennedy’s speech to the American Newspaper Publishers Association at a Bureau of Advertising dinner was held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. In his speech President Kennedy addresses his dissatisfaction with the press’s news coverage of the Bay of Pigs incident, advocating that there is a need for “far greater public information” and “far greater official secrecy.” President Kennedy uses logos, ethos, and pathos in order to effectively convince his audience that necessary need for far greater public intelligence, but yet far greater official confidentiality.
Kennedy uses logos to effectively encourage trust in the American people. In section I, paragraph one, Kennedy says, “…no official of my Administration, …show more content…
In section I, paragraph thirteen, Kennedy informs his audience, “But I am asking the members of the newspaper profession and the industry in this country to reexamine their own responsibilities, to consider the degree and the nature of the present danger, and the need to duty of self-restraint which that danger imposes on us all.” Here he is basically saying ‘hey, watch you are reporting because there are other countries paying attention to us.’ Again going back to how he used logos to explain how it’s affecting the country, and here using pathos to really get his point across by using words like “responsibility, degree, nature, danger, and imposes”. By using these words he plays into people’s emotions. Using a word like responsibility makes the press realize how they are being held responsible with possibly of loaded information that will affect the country. Using the words degree and nature causes the press to think and realize that the are reporting some pretty critical information. And lastly by using the words danger and imposes it affects people by causing them to realize that this information once again, has the ability to get the country into jeopardy. In addition to this Kennedy continues by saying, “Every newspaper now asks itself, with respect to every story: ‘Is it news?’ All I suggest is that you ask the question: ‘Is it the interest of national security’”

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