The Real Dylann Roof Assault vs. The Fake Dylann Roof Sexual Assault: An Analysis of a Real News Source and Fake News Source

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1 Spencer 1 Lauren Spencer Professor Mary Hays Rhet February 2017 Word Count 1700 The Real Dylann Roof Assault vs. The Fake Dylann Roof Sexual Assault: An Analysis of a Real News Source and Fake News Source Dylann Roof is a mass murderer and white supremacist, but does that mean that false stories should be told about him? According to The New York Times in June of 2015 there was a mass murder of nine African Americans at a church in a Charleston, North Carolina. Dylann Roof is the young white male that has been convicted of this infamous Charleston church shooting (Corasaniti). In December of 2016, Roof was convicted of 33 counts of federal hate crimes (Hersher). Roof has been public enemy number 1 since committing the mass murder of nine African-Americans in a known African-American church. He has been so hated recently by the public that there have fake accusations of Roof being raped while incarcerated, but the truth is that Roof was just a victim of an assault, not sexual assault. This essay will analyze the fake news source on Dylann Roof s rape and the real news source on Dylann Roof s assault while in prison according an analysis format developed by Stephen Toulmin. According to Toulmin, an argument consists of three essential parts, and the first of these elements is the thesis. The thesis of my fake news source is that Dylann Roof was raped while inside of his prison cell ("Charleston Church ). There is no listed author, but the writer of this story makes fakes claims about Roof being raped in his prison. The author even provides fake evidence for his claim that Roof was raped in prison. The thesis of my real news source is that

2 Spencer 2 Dylann Roof was assaulted by another inmate s fists while in the protective custody unit of his cell (Visser). The CNN writer, Steve Visser, provided valid evidence of exactly how the assault occurred in his protective custody unit. The second essential part of an argument is evidence that supports the main claim. Since the claim of the fake news source was fabricated, it is not hard to believe that the evidence given was also fictional. The evidence presented in the fake news is that according to an on duty correctional officer, staff found Roof unclothed, tied to the frame of his bunk bed, with blood leaking from his backside and his undergarments covering his face after hearing cries coming from his cell ("Charleston Church ). This evidence would lead anyone to believe that Roof was raped if the news source was real. The evidence in the real news was a lot more suspect than the fake news source. According to CNN s real news source, correctional sheriff, Al Cannon Jr. said that The injuries that Roof received are relatively minor -- some bruising around the face and the back. It appears he was struck with a fist and nothing more serious than that (Visser). CNN s evidence came from an actual Charleston county correctional sheriff, unlike how the fake news sources evidence came from just an on duty correctional officer. The fake news source could have a least provided a fake name. The last but not least essential part of an argument are the warrants. The warrants of an argument are the underlying values that the author uses to write their argument. The main underlying value of both the fake news article and real news article is vigilantism. According to the fake news article while Dylann Roof was being raped there had been reports that other inmates were cheering the assault on from their cells ("Charleston Church ). The fact that the author fabricated this story of Dylann Roof being raped is enough to say that the writer values street justice, but the claim of cheers being heard demonstrates how critical vigilantism is in the

3 Spencer 3 Roof case. The author felt like it was necessary to include the falsified fact of cheering going on during a serious assault shows the support of street justice for Dylann Roof. Though the author of the CNN real news report does not include whether or not other inmates supported the minor assault of Roof, the author does include the support of the vigilante act by citizens on social media. According to Visser, The attack brought praise on Twitter with calls for donations to Stafford's jail commissary account (Visser). This indicates that in addition to reporting the assault of Dylann Roof, he felt it was very important to indicate the encouragement of the assault by people on social media. Though one article is fake and one article is real, the two articles come to a consensus in terms of their possible value on vigilantism. In addition to there being three mandatory parts of an argument, there are also three optional parts of an argument. The first of these voluntary argumentative aspects is a qualifier. A qualifier is language that limits the thesis. Seeing as though the two sources I am analyzing are news articles, it makes sense that neither the fake news article or real article has language of possibility. The thesis of the fake news article is that Dylann Roof was raped while in prison ("Charleston Church ). This thesis is definitely unqualified based on how the word was was used in the thesis, for was implies absoluteness. If the thesis said Dylann Roof was probably raped while in prison, the thesis would be qualified, but it is understandable why the author did not lean toward this word choice. Any news article has an essential goal of always establishing credibility of behalf of the author. The thesis of the real news source is that Dylann Roof was assaulted by another inmate s fists while in his protective custody unit (Visser). This thesis is definitely unqualified but what if the author chose to say that Dylann Roof might have been assaulted by another inmate while in his protective custody unit? That different phrasing would make this thesis use language of possibility, for the thesis becomes qualified by just simply

4 Spencer 4 adding the word might. The language of possibility in a news article is horrible, for it makes the news source seem flimsy and untrustworthy. As expected, both news sources use the language of absolutes. The second nonessential aspect of an argument, according to Toulmin, is backing. Backing is additional support to the warrant. Seeing as though these are both news article, fake and real, the goal is to always convey the news in the most unbiased way possible. Therefore, there was no backing found in neither the real news article or fake news article. Though there was no backing found in the fake news source, an example of backing in the fake news source could be how group assaults sparked by vigilantism boosts the prison community spirit. This made up statement would support the author s value on street justice. The real news source does not exactly have backing either, but the source would have backing if the author bluntly stated how vigilante acts spark unity among citizens. While it is easy to see the value each author places on vigilantism, the authors did a good job of not providing backing to their arguments to avoid bias to the best of their ability. The last part of an argument, that Toulmin describes as being inessential, is the rebuttal. The rebuttal is the part of an argument where the writer anticipates objections to their argument, so the author responds to the foreseen counter-argument. The natural rebuttal for any news report is No, that is too crazy to have really happened or No, you can t be serious. The only rebuttal for this argument would be evidence indicating exactly how an event played out to allow readers to understand how exactly the news became news. The more specific rebuttal for the fake news source would be how exactly was Dylann Roof allowed to be raped while in prison? The author responds to this possible rebuttal by making up a false idea that Prison officials are busy trying to figure out how this occurred and if anyone on staff assisted in allowing the attack to

5 Spencer 5 take place ("Charleston Church ). Though this not a very good rebuttal, it does demonstrate a direct response to a possible rebuttal. A possible rebuttal for the real news source could be how can Roof be allowed to be assaulted if he was in a protective custody unit, which is obviously meant to protect him. The author of the real CNN report responds to this possible rebuttal by stating that Stafford (the assaulter) was able to attack Roof because guards had violated security procedures. Both guards weren't on the floor of the unit and Stafford's cell door was not checked to make sure it was secure before Roof was let out his cell (Visser). This is a much better rebuttal compared to the fake news sources rebuttal. The author does a great job of explaining how exactly Dylann Roof even received the opportunity to be assaulted. Both news sources demonstrated some form of a rebuttal. Although Dylann Roof may not be one of the best human beings on earth, he does not deserve to have false accusations made on behalf of his name. Fake news sources can be very misleading, and although real news sources are real, they can still convey a bias message. Social media has changed the way news travels overall. Now-a-days it does not take CNN or FOX news to tell a story first, rather the social media is one of the most proactive forms of communicating news. With that being said, it is important for everyone to be skeptical of all news sources because it is very easy to pass fake information by. As people we cannot believe everything we see, especially just because it is something we want to see, so fact checking sources is important in any analysis of news sources.

6 Spencer 6 Works Cited "Charleston Church Shooter Dylann Roof Was Raped in His Cell." Nymeta.co. NY Meta, 7 Aug Web. 14 Feb Corasaniti, Nick, Richard Perez-Pena, and Lizette Alvarez. "Church Massacre Suspect Held as Charleston Grieves." Nytimes.com. New York Times, 18 June Web. 14 Feb Hersher, Rebecca. "Jury Finds Dylann Roof Guilty In S.C. Church Shooting." NPR. NPR, 15 Dec Web. 14 Feb Visser, Steve. "Accused Charleston Church Shooter Dylann Roof Beaten in Jail." CNN. Cable News Network, 5 Aug Web. 14 Feb

Domestic. Violence. In the State of Florida. Beware. Know Your Rights Get a Lawyer. Ruth Ann Hepler, Esq. & Michael P. Sullivan, Esq.

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