Tow #17: Smoking is Worse Than You Thought

This article was about how much harm tobacco actually causes. Researchers are discovering new things that can cause harm to smokers and nonsmokers who are exposed to the "toxic fumes." People who smoke are subject to cancers, chronic pulmonary diseases, and plus they cost a lot of money in medicare. The purpose of this editorial was clearly to cause awareness of tobacco and encourage people to cut down on smoking.

This editorial is always going to be in context because people are constantly smoking and although they are aware of the effects smoking can cause, they still continue to do it. However, the journalists on the New York Times editorial board decided to inform people that smoking gives only bad side effects.

The editorial board is composed of a variety of journalists who do research on a variety of different things. They are very credible and this article is very credible because as it's main rhetoric it uses irrefutable data to support it's claim of how harmful smoking really is. "Most shocking, the report finds that today’s smokers have a much higher risk for lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than smokers in 1964, despite smoking fewer cigarettes." This irrefutable data really hits close to home for a lot of people because a lot of people know someone who smokes and this appeals to their emotions because they do not want anything happening to their loved ones. Also the report states facts about the cost that smoking brings, "The report estimates that smoking costs the United States between $289 billion and $333 billion a year for medical care and lost productivity, well above the previous estimate of $193." This appeals to the logic of the audience because they understand that they do not want to pay taxes for smokers who have bad health. This makes the community more aware, once again, of how bad smoking really is. For ethos, the article talks about the law that Congress has passed to regulate tobacco products. This really makes the editorial credible because it really shows that smoking is bad.

I personally believe that the journalists of this editorial really achieved their purpose because they really drove home the point of how terrible smoking really is and the fact that there is new and more evidence about how harmful it really is just shows that something needs to be done to cut it down.