If Words Could Kill: Rhetorical Methodology in Media Depictions of Serial Killers
Date
2022-09-21
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
0000-0002-7832-6049
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
This thesis explores how the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), a trusted national broadcaster, engages in implicit and particularly damaging rhetoric in The Fifth Estate’s “Karla Homolka” documentary to influence audiences into adopting a misleading impression of its conveyed message. Originally aired on November 25, 1997, the hour-long episode of CBC’s flagship television program, The Fifth Estate is dedicated to examining the Ontario Crown prosecutors’ plea bargain with Karla Homolka. The Fifth Estate’s “Karla Homolka” from the CBC will serve as the primary rhetorical artefact with Geraldo’s “Manson: Psycho” from a syndicated network acting as a secondary rhetorical artefact and comparison point.
To understand the rhetorical processes in the respective episodes of The Fifth Estate and Geraldo, this thesis will conduct an analysis using (1) leadership theory by John P. Kotter and James MacGregor Burns, and (2) rhetorical criticism rooted in concepts provided by Lloyd Bitzer, Edwin Black, and Kenneth Burke. The leadership and rhetorical theories offer insight into identifying the context, motives, and patterns to critically analyze Geraldo’s “Manson: Psycho” as a baseline of defining sensationalism to contextualize with the sensational tactics in The Fifth Estate’s “Karla Homolka” episode.
To conclude, this thesis reveals how the leadership and rhetorical strategies enacted by the CBC undermine its own integrity in the documentary by inviting an audience to indulge in salacious entertainment, motivated less by a desire to understand a complex legal process than to be titillated by sensationalistic and fantastical narratives. The CBC manipulates and misdirects the audiences’ attitudes, flirting with societal harm and public moral panic over a supposed threat that was disparate to its potential harm or actual danger.
Description
Keywords
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC, Media, News Media, Investigative Journalism, The Fifth Estate, Investigative reporter, Investigative journalist, Trish Wood, Tabloid television, Talk shows, Geraldo Show, Geraldo Rivera, Manson: Psycho, Interview, Media Sensationalism, Serial Killers, Karla Homolka, Documentary, Charles Manson, Rhetoric, Rhetorical Analysis, Rhetorical theory, Rhetorical criticism, Lloyd Bitzer, Edwin Black, Kenneth Burke, Leadership theory, John P. Kotter, James MacGregor Burns
Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
Ron & Jane Graham School of Professional Development
Program
Special Case