In the animal rights community, I feel that a major problem is how animal activists are viewed by the public. A lot of times the public hears the words "animal rights," they think about the extreme fringe of the animal welfare movement. They think of the PETA extremists and the Animal Liberation Front, people that blow up animal research labs, threaten animal researchers, and ask Ben and Jerry's to use human breast milk instead of cow's milk in their ice cream (see one of my old posts!). I believe that this turns the public away from believing in and learning about animal rights.
What I want to prove is that a lot of animal rights organizations are not the fringe extremists that people believe them to be. I feel that writing an editorial is the best way to accomplish this. I plan on using my past research with the an animal rights group here at VT (For the Sake of Animals) to strengthen my argument with their comments on how extreme they think PETA and the Animal Liberation Front really are. My audience will be primarily geared toward people who think that animal activists are extreme, crazy, unjustified, ridiculous, etc. I think writing an editorial will be the most effective way to prove my point by, in a sense, "exposing" the less extreme side of the animal welfare movement.
What many people don't realize is that the majority if animal rights supporters are not crazy and do not condone such violent behavior. It is my hope that people will be able to see this truth through my editorial.
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7 comments:
I also think this is a perfect genre for what you want to do. I would only ask you to now identify a newspaper for which you imagine yourself writing, so you can start thinking about how your editorial should look visually, how long it should be, etc.
That's a pretty sweet idea! Do you want to be a reporter or something like that for a career - might be something to look in to! Good luck with your PETA editorial.
Professor Scott,
This could be a stupid question but should the newspaper already be in existence? (like the New York times or an environmental magazine or something) Or can I make one up myself, like an animal rights magazine?
I'm okay with either one. If you make up a newspaper, I would ask you to design the front page (with your article on it along with all the stuff newspapers usually have) so I can see what kind of paper you're imagining.
You might also think about the audience you are hoping to get. An animal rights newspaper would get you an animal rights only audience, etc.
Sounds great, thank you!
one day i didn't get a feedback form for anyone so i wrote down feedback for 5 or 6 people that day in my notebook and you were one of them....i guess this is a good place to leave it...?
you explained everythign really well and knew what you were talking about, your points were good too about how PETA is a little extreme sometimes thus giving itself a bad name, the powerpoint was done really nicely too, i liked to visuals...pictures can really get a point across without having to say much :)
that's cool that you're actually going to publish your editorial, it's probably better to put it where more people than just animal activists will read it, that way you can let everyone know the truth about what's going on and who and how animals rights activists are (like animal shelters)
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