Spiro Agnew Speech Analysis

On November 13th, 1969, Spiro Agnew, who was the Vice President at the time, gave the speech, Television News Coverage, about how news producers are becoming too powerful (Bibliography.com.) To successfully inform his audience, he uses many rhetorical strategies to keep everyone engaged and attentive. Agnew delivered an exceptional speech by using multiple techniques such as analogies, anaphoras, parallelism, and rhetorical questions to justify this problem to his audience.
To help his audience understand what is being addressed, Agnew uses analogies to connect his ideas to familiar objects. For example, in this quote, he compares a news reporter to a judge, “For millions of Americans the network reporter who covers a continuing issue -- like the ABM or civil rights -- becomes, in effect, the presiding judge in a national trial by jury”(Agnew.) Making this comparison helps the audience understand how powerful news reporters are, therefore, proving Agnew’s initial statement about the television reporters’ capabilities. He also makes an analogy within the

For instance, he encourages his audience to think within the quote, “Are we demanding enough of our television news presentations? And are the men of this medium demanding enough of themselves?”(Agnew) He knew that even though his audience wouldn’t say their answers aloud, it would stir thoughts within them and keep them engaged. He also asks the questions, “Now what do Americans know of the men who wield this power?” and, “Is it not fair and relevant to question its concentration in the hands of a tiny, enclosed fraternity of privileged men elected by no one and enjoying a monopoly sanctioned and licensed by Government?”(Agnew) These questions strengthen his speech as a whole and force his audience to think about news producer’s