Adja Ndiaye

Professor Matey

English 101-32

13 March 2019

Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin’s School Scandal

In the light of recent scandal allegations that have captured a great deal of the public’s

attention, a light has been shed on the college admissions bribery scandals. Kids with wealthy

parents are getting their degrees handed to them because they are paying admissions to admit

them while qualified students that have worked hard are not getting into schools. Some media

and news outlets have chosen which story they believe and use different rhetorics necessary to

convince their audience of what they are trying to prove in the most recent allegations against

Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman. The New York Times news report “Fallout From College

Admissions Scandal: Arrests, Damage Control and a Scramble for Answers” by Kate Taylor and

The National Review report, “Damaging Admissions” by Kevin D. Williamson are both biased

news outlets that use different rhetoric to appeal to their audiences. In comparison, the CBS

News report “College admissions scheme: How Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin allegedly

participated” by Graham Kates only provides the audience with facts without being biased. The

difference in how each news outlet puts out a story and how scholarly a person writes an article

is intentional by rhetors and helps viewers agree with their views.

In the CBS News article, the information given throughout the article used tons of

numbers, data, and facts. This shows the audience that they are a credible source and the facts

presented are reliable. Throughout the article, the rhetor shows the audience the exact numbers

and statistics off the scandal. It is very difficult to believe or support an argument if it doesn’t
make logical sense, providing the audience with numbers creates a visual representation of the

study which helps make the rhetor be more believable. Another example the rhetor uses numbers

and data is when the author states “Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli are

accused of paying $500,000 as part of a bribery plot to help their daughters gain admittance to

the University of Southern California” (Kates). In this example, the author gives direct numbers

and facts, which gives her more credibility. In the article no persuasive language is used to make

the reader feel any type of emotion, instead this article is intended to be unbiased, informative,

and factual.

In the New York Time article the rhetor successfully shows his reliability and

trustworthiness by staying neutral when all throughout the article and providing factual

information. Graham shows little to no bias and uses very neutral language in reporting the

college scandal. In presenting the information, the rhetor using direct quotes from each suspect

that are directly involved with the college scandal without making any assumptions. Some

benefits of writing a news article without any bias is it allows the audience to formulate their

own opinions with the information given to them, which this news outlets does successfully. The

language used in this article can be easily understood and gets straight to the point. This

continues to prove the trustworthiness of the rhetor and may even motivate the audience to

continue to follow up with this particular news outlet. This, in conclusion, shows the audience

that this source is reliable.

The Nation Review also wrote an article about the scandal but used a different rhetorical

approach. The rhetor used emotionally charged language and asked rhetorical questions which

keep readers engaged throughout the article. For example, the writer says “Hey, my great-

grandfather worked hard for that money.” and then poses the rhetorical question, “But
why stop with money?” (Williamson). This is used to emphasize the rhetors point and

makes the audience think why would someone work hard for the money and stop there. The

rhetor used certain words to make the audience feel rage and disappointment such as unfair,

scandal, and unjust. For example, the author stated “Maybe we should set aside 70 percent of the

housing units in Glen Park for homeless people. No?” (Williamson). This use of rhetoric

questioning could invoke the audience to feel outraged and upset by the fact that rich people are

scamming their way through college instead of doing more important things like feeding the

homeless.

The way the media portrays certain stories is inadequate and doesn’t always tell the

whole story or leaves out part of the story. Although this is true, all of the sources were very

beneficial. They all provided facts and information. However, out of all the articles, the article

“College admissions scheme: How Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin allegedly participated”

was found the most effective and least biased. It answers many questions about allegations of

people scamming their way through college and shines light on what is really going on in our

educational system. Lower class and middle class people who had to work for their education

shouldn’t be allowed to get laid over by colleges trying to earn extra money. Our identity isn’t,

or rather shouldn’t be, in what school we attend or who we know. Our identity must be somehow

bigger. If a kid gets into a school it shouldn't be because their rich parents bribe admission to get

there, its should because they deserved to be there.

Works Cited

“College Admissions Scheme: How Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin Allegedly
 Participated.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, www.cbsnews.com/news/college-admissions-

cheating-scandal-prosecutors-detail-how-felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-and-more-

allegedly-rigged-college-entrance-2019-03-12/?ftag=COS-05-

10aaa0g&utm_campaign=trueAnthem: Trending

Content&utm_content=5c88766d3ed3f00001b2f808&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_s

ource=twitter.

Taylor, Kate. “Fallout From College Admissions Scandal: Arrests, Damage Control and a

Scramble for Answers.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Mar. 2019,

www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/us/college-admissions-probe.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-

nytimes.

Williamson, Kevin D., and Kevin D. Williamson. “Elitist Outrage at the College Admissions

Bribery Scandal Is Deeply Revealing.” National Review, National Review, 13 Mar. 2019,

www.nationalreview.com/2019/03/college-admissions-bribery-scandal/.