Running head: TATTOO

Tattoo Taboo
Brooke Ballagh
RWS 1302
University of Texas El Paso

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Tattoo Taboo

Tattoos have come to be part of mainstream culture being that society is becoming more
expressive and liberated. Unfortunately some employers including but not limited to the United
States military are having a tough time wrapping their heads around this issue. The military has
actually tightened its policy as of just recently. Due to the fact that this issue is very current the
two genres that will be talked about in this paper are newscasts and newspapers because they are
two of the best sources for information on current events.
The iconographic genre is a televised news interview/newscast on Fox News called
Reaction to the armys new tattoo policy. This newscast contains an interview with a Marine
Corps veteran whom if he decided to try and get back in the military his tattoo would not pass
the new regulations. The typographic genre is a newspaper called The Economist. This article
is titled Tattoos in the workplace: Ink blots which talks about how empirical studies have
linked tattoos with deviant behavior, prisoners, sailors and circus freaks.
Since the internet has become so popular for up to date information, newspapers and
television news has been put on the back burner. Being able to catch ones attention right off the
bat is the most effective way of getting any information out into the community. Both of these
genres were meant to inform and raise awareness to the public about this current issue.
Audience and Purpose
During the newscast that aired on Fox News on June 24, 2014, the main purpose of this
was to raise awareness to the fact that the military has their priorities backwards and that they
should be more worried about other more serious issues that the Army has going on rather than

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turning down hundreds of potential recruits because they have tattoos that can be seen while
wearing their physical training uniform. (Fox News, 2014) Fox News is known to have a very
strong republican bias and being that the Commander and Chief President Obama is in charge of
the U.S. military and is a democrat, they are mainly reaching out to those other republicans and
military personnel. The audience absolutely ties in with the purpose in that the person being
interviewed was a Marine veteran with tattoos. (Fox News, 2014) Although the likelihood of
this new regulation being changed is low, Fox News and this soldier wanted to get the word out
that there are much more important things that the military should be focusing on other than
tattoos. The language used for the most part was formal being that it was on a worldwide
newscast. No special vocabulary was used in this segment which made it clear and
understandable.
Body art is growing more popular, though few employers are not on board with the idea
yet. In this short article written in The Economist Newspaper, published in New York, NY
August 2, 2014, it describes the issue from both points of view but mainly from the point of view
of the employers. The intended audience is quite vague in this piece, but the probability of
anyone under the age of twenty-five reading this magazine is slim. This articles main purpose is
to inform the audience of the issue going on in the job market with those persons having tattoos
that are visible. The writer does bring up the fact that the army has recently tightened its policy
and reinstated old grooming standards. (The Economist, 2014) The language in this article is
formal and there was no special vocabulary used.
The differences between newspapers and newscasts are mainly time and space. In
newspapers the most important detail in writing a story is to grab the attention of the audience

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right off the headline. If they are not interested in your headline they are probably not going to
flip to that section and read your article. Space is also a big issue in newspapers. There is the
issue of getting your point across with as much information as possible within the space limits
that the editor has given. A newscasts main problem is having enough airtime to get the
information out to the public. Whether it be on paper or on the television, both these genres are
part of the oldest ways to get information out to the people.
Rhetorical Issues
In the Fox News newscast, ethos and credibility is apparent because of the fact that Fox
News is a very popular news station that is watched and heard by millions every day. On top of
being a very prominent news station, the reporter had a former Marine, Adam Shatarsky on the
show to talk about this issue. Prior to this segment, Adam Shatarsky had been on this show to
talk about the Wounded Walk that he himself created to help support and raise funds for
wounded soldiers and veterans. (Fox News, 2014) The main method used to provoke pathos in
this newscast was the interview with the actual former Marine. Mr. Shatarsky definitely
conveyed a sense of irritation with the new policies that have been put into place pointing out
that the Army should be more worried about their appearance by taking care of another current
issue in which there was a situation with sexual misconduct of a high ranking officer rather than
turning away soldiers for having tattoos that show in their physical training uniform. (Fox News,
2014) Logos was a little lacking is this piece because they really just went back and forth taking
about the issue and how it is absolutely ridiculous. There is some mention of the fact that they
have recently been turning away potential candidates for the Army solely based on the fact that
they have tattoos in places in which are forbidden due to the new policy. (Fox News, 2014)

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The article from the print edition of The Economist provides no clear author of the piece,
so it is hard to establish true ethos. Although throughout the article there is a few sources that
they provide that might be somewhat creditable including but not limited to a market-research
firm called IBISWorld that had statistics on the heightened percentage of tattoo-removal. (The
Economist, 2014) The lack of ethos in this piece takes away a lot of credibility. In this piece
there is one personal account at the beginning of a student at New York University that had
gotten her tattoos on her feet in hopes of being a lawyer one day. She was quoted as saying, Its
easy to hide. (The Economist, 2014) Meaning that she wanted to make sure that her tattoos
where hidden so that it would not affect her chance at getting the job of her choice down the
road. Out of all the rhetorical issues, logos is the one that was most prominent in this article.
For example, the article states that One in five adults has a tattoo, and two in five thirtysomethings. (The Economist, 2014) There is also a study done by Andrew Timming of the
University of St. Andrews in Scotland. In all these studies there is an absolute progression to the
argument they are presenting. From the studies to the facts that they provide they are saying that
it is the employers perception of the future employee that is the biggest factor in gaining
employment. That being said, they are claiming that most employers tend to gravitate towards
those whom do not have tattoos that are showing rather than those whom do.
When it comes down to ethos, the newscast does a much better job establishing
credibility than the article because it is an extremely well known news cast that is watched and
listened to by millions every day. Also the fact that it actually had a former Marine on there to
talk about the issue really brings it home to those whom have and do serve in the United States
Armed Forces. That being said the article itself did not establish any credibility thus the reader

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not knowing if the source was reliable. Both genres in fact did talk about the militarys new
policy and how it is getting harder to get into the military because of tattoos.
Structure and Delivery
The Fox News broadcast reporter had specific questions to ask Mr. Shatarsky, but then
also had to improvise and play off of what he said during the interview. With most news spots
on the news, time is limited and trying to get the most information in the time allotted to them is
hardest part. For example, she finally asked Mr. Shatarski if in fact he had a tattoo that would
disqualify him from his ability to reenlist and he showed her his tattoo, an owl on the back of his
neck and he described how ridiculous it was that the new military regulations set dont have
anything to do with his ability to fight for our country. (Fox News, 2014) The interview for the
most part stayed on track and did not jump around that much. The element of the interview with
the veteran itself was the main contributor for this genre.
In the newspaper The Economist, the structure was very different from that of a newscast.
It started off with a story about a female that had got a tattoo on her foot due to the fact that she
was planning on getting a job as a lawyer and she felt as though getting it there would be easy to
hide. (The Economist, 2014) This story was meant to bring the reader into the rest of the story.
There was a visual in this story which was of a man in a dress shirt and tie, just like any blue
collar worker but the only difference was that his hands were covered in tattoos. Space is the
main consideration for newspapers. They are extremely limited in the space they are given to
convey their message. The article stayed on tract for the main part of the piece, although the last
couple paragraphs really did not tie into the general ideal of the article.

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The main similarities in these two are the fact that they are trying to inform or educate us
either in the time or space given to them. With the internet being as advanced as it is now both
of these genres generally end up on it. Fox News streams live on the internet and radio for those
who like to know things right when they happen. On the other hand, newspapers take a while to
make it onto the internet but not too long. Both genres are very similar in their freedoms of
speech and censorships.
The most effective genre between these two is the newscast interview. The times have
changed a lot since the time when there were paperboys everyday dropping the local news off
on the doorstep. Now is the time where most people will just log on to their computer or turn on
their television to get the up to date local and world news. But besides the internet being the
fastest way to receive important news or information the television and classic newscast will
never go away. Fox News is watched by most military individuals and in turn most soldiers do
have tattoos that can be seen which made this the most effective genre in which to get this issue
out to the public and to those whom care about it.

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References

Fox News (June 24, 2014). Reaction to armys new tattoo policy. World News
The Economist Newspaper Limited (August 2, 2014). Tattoos in the workplace: Ink blots. New
York, NY