Analyzing Credibility

ANALYZING CREDIBILITY

Who paid for each example to be created?

CNN obviously paid for the interview with Rudi Giuliani; or I suppose that you could boil it down to the commercials that air on CNN, ultimately pay for the interview. Progressive Insurance Group pays for the commercial with Flo (the Progressive Girl) portrayed by Stephanie Courtney .

Can you detect a slant—that is, a secondary opinion conveyed by the examples’ creators?

I could detect a slant in the CNN clip; it seemed to me that Larry King was trying to bait Giuliani to be political in the interview. Controversy sells and it seemed that King was trying to get Giuliani to contradict and not support President Bush. I did not detect a slant in the Progressive Insurance commercial – I thought it was witty and humorous.

What does each example reflect about society at large? Is it credible? Explain your answers.

The CNN clip reflects society’s dilemma of one major element and one minor element; the major element would be the war in Iraq and the minor element is what needs to be done at the sight of the World Trade Center. Both of these issues are credible due to the fact that these are dilemmas that society is struggling with; the clip did not offer any solutions to these two issues which would have jeopardized its credibility. The Progressive Insurance clip reflects society’s transitory focus on the fashion world – this commercial might not have been humorous to someone who does not know what skinny jeans are. However, since America in particular seems to be heavily focused on self indulgence and vanity this premise strikes common ground and appeals to most viewers of driving age.

Answer the following in regard to the news clip in a 50- to 100-word response:

Are you skeptical of the sources’ credibility? Why or why not?

So far as the CNN clip, I think that with today’s news media, you always have to be skeptical as to what you hear as many of the outlets are very biased as to one party or...