What stood out to me from class on Tuesday was the argument that Joel Johnson made in the on Wired.com
First off, he exhibited poor logos. The nets that prevented workers from jumping from the top of the factory was the main focus of his article. But this showed poor logic. Is this really the most important information about the Foxconn factories? 17 suicides in 5 years is nothing compared to college student suicide rates, as he says himself in the article. If this is the case, then why highlight the sparse number of self-inflicted deaths in the piece? He himself says: “That 17 people have committed suicide at Foxconn is a tragedy. But in fact, the suicide rate at Foxconn’s Shenzhen plant remains below national averages for both rural and urban China, a bleak but unassailable fact that does much to exonerate the conditions at Foxconn and absolutely nothing to bring those 17 people back.”
Why bring make the nets that prevent these suicides the main feature of the article? It just doesn’t make sense.
Secondly, his pathos argument is poor. He tries to guilt trip Apple users into feeling bad for the 17 deaths in Foxconn. Though those deaths are tragic, we are not responsible for them. The workers in Foxconn are not throwing themselves off rooftops left and right. The less than ideal living conditions are a valid point that he makes though, as the workers are not much better off than college students.
Thirdly, his ethos as a writer is believable because he is a writer for Gizmodo.com and conducted thorough interviews. The details about the living conditions, long hours, and the repetitive work all show that he was meticulous in his reporting.