David Page Bill Wolff - RHE 306S May 8, 2001 "Election 2000: Legitimate Passage of Power or Right-Wing Conspiracy" Esteemed linguist Deborah Tannen presents her theories about the culture of critique in her highly acclaimed book The Argument Culture. As taken from chapter three, "From Lapdog to Attack Dog: The Aggression Culture and the Press", we will take an in-depth analysis into Tannen's notion that, "the culture of critique undermines the spirit not only of people in public roles but of those who read about them, afraid to believe in anyone or anything because the next story, if not the next paragraph, will tell them why they shouldn't" (77). Tannen's theory on the culture of critique is blatantly evident throughout the media's coverage of the Supreme Court's role in Election 2000. The Unites States Supreme Court ultimately served as the "final buck" in Election 2000, thus it became the focus of much scrutiny from the media.
English: Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Supreme Court justi...
U.S. Supreme Court building.
English: United States Supreme Court building in W...Aligned with Tannen's theories are essays authored by Chait, Cocco, Freedland, Kamiya, Meyerson, and Greenhouse. In my essay, I will use Deborah Tannen's theories as stated in The Argument Culture to evaluate articles regarding the pivotal role the Supreme Court played in the elusive Election 2000, and the impact they had on the public. As a result, we will be able to see that the media's coverage of the Supreme Court was completely unjust.
Tannen elaborates on the notion that the media has a unique way of criticizing public officials as well as presenting information with a negative connotation, when often it is meant in an entirely different way. Tannen states that, "everything is given a negative slant, and even miraculous accomplishments are ignored to focus on failures" (Tannen 54). This negative slant is alive and thriving throughout the media today. The press...