The most persuasive aspect of Michael Lemonick’s article, Honesty is Always the Best Policy, is his matter-of-fact elocutio and his seemingly honest portrayal of himself and what he writes. While his article is mainly about his experience in writing pieces on global warming and climate change, the key point of the article is his claims that he is a journalist because he tells the truth. His article is mainly autobiographical when he talks about his career and why he is a journalist and it is deliberative rhetoric with an undertone of epideictic rhetoric.
He starts off the article by claiming that, when speaking to science-journalism classes, most students become journalist to “make the world a better place” (Lemonick, 1) and he himself became a journalist, not to improve the world, but to write about what he loved. Somehow, even though this comment seems to superficially discredit his opinions on global warming, the truth somehow places him deeper into the audience’s trust. Because he is willing to admit his less-than-ideal intentions, the audience is willing to listen.
He talks about how he was tempted in characterizing global warming as a proclamation of “impending doom” (Lemonick, 1) and decides not to because the information simply didn’t show that at the time, it makes him even more honest to the audience. He later brings up that while the “vanishing snows of Kilimanjaro…may not be a victim of climate change alone” (Lemonick, 2) but “the underlying science of climate change is solid” (Lemonick, 2), it is almost a physical relief to read. By the time this article was published, the audience is thoroughly sick of being told that the world is ending and is relieved to hear that the human race hasn’t actually caused all the world’s problems.
In writing about how he words his articles and why he is a journalist, he says that he doesn’t want to be a sensationalist, but he wants to “get at the truth the best I can” (Lemonick, 2) and that his style of journalism will appeal to readers through the enormous changes of his profession. At first glance, his article is only about global warming, but the undertone of Lemonick’s determination to tell the truth overrides the climate change message and changes the reception of the article completely. In enabling this message to be clear to readers, he sticks to his “honest” (Lemonick, 1) and matter-of-fact elocutio and it succeeds in communicating the message.
Bibliography
Lemonick, Michael. “Honesty is Always the Best Policy.” One Earth. 27 May. 2010. http://www.onearth.org/article/honesty-is-always-the-best-policy
