1) The audience for my website will be those who oppose publicly and privately supported health care for immigrants. I would assume it would be those who are looking for a more complete story of the issues related to migrant workers and health care. It is my plan to include both sides of the issue in a way that could lead more conservative minded people to consider the topic differently. All age groups over the age of 18 could be interested in a controversial subject such as this. I do not think many people would go out of their way to look for this type of information, so I am guessing it will be for those who are also researching the subject or for some reason find it interesting.
2) I am going to assume that my audience has relatively little background knowledge on the subject. It seems that most people I talk to have a one sided view on the subject, and I think there is a way for the 2 sides to come together to make a more complete picture. I will assume that people looking at my website will have their minds made up on the subject. Educated or not, people tend towards strong opinions on issues such as these.
I will have to include a lot of background information and statistics showing that immigrants could pose very little increase in the costs for publicly funded health care, and how the government now has to pay very little in comparison to natives. I would like to include a section that shows other countries who do support their immigrants through publicly funded health care, the costs involved and how they achieve success in their programs.
3) I feel I have already addressed briefly how I think my audience will be oriented towards my topic. My goal is to be of use to people from both sides of the fence, address both sides. There are valid points made from both camps, and I think it is important to bring the two sides together instead of continuing this idea that it is us against them. I do fear that my audience will be more open-minded people, willing to have a conversation. I have found that often times people who are closed minded, when they see even the slightest bit of talk that goes against their own ideas, they turn away and disregard all of what that source has to say. So my goal is to have a little something for both sides, I do not believe this is a one sided conversation, and I think this will be agreeable to both sides yet resist also each side in some ways.
4) There seems to be two different conversations going on. There is one side having a conversation about immigrants deserving health care because they work here just like a citizen, they often face harsh working conditions that predisposes them to health issues, and therefore wouldn’t it make sense to help them? Also, immigrants both legal and illegal support local economies and pay taxes. The idea being thrown around as well is that if we accept the mal treatment of immigrants, then we put ourselves as citizens at the same risk of being mal treated. The other camp is talking about the costs of health care, the burdens put on our medical system, Medicaid, and other government programs that help the less fortunate, by the influx of immigrants coming in because of programs like H-2A and the proposed AgJobs bill.
5) Firstly, using sources that are sound, using statistics and facts that are unrefutable, is a great way to gain the trust of readers. There is a certain amount of emotion on this subject, and giving voice to the emotions from both sides I think is important, but doing so in a delicate and responsible manner. What exactly that will look like will work itself out with the content I include. I do not think I am trying to get them to only look at only my website as a source. Including links to other websites and citing others will hopefully convince others to do more research. I think it is important to use more than one source to gain a better understanding, so I would hope that is what my website will have to offer, a jumping off point.
6) Quite honestly, I do think that immigrants deserve a fair chance at obtaining health care in the same way that citizens do. The plea being made by immigrant supporters is that immigrants should have the same ability to purchase health insurance, and be covered by employers. The big gripe being made by the other side is that uninsured immigrants are exploiting the system and creating an economic drain on the health care system. So wouldn’t it make sense to allow them to become insured to alleviate those stresses? It is the fact that they’re uninsured that is creating a lot of the problems. Give them an opportunity to become a part of the system, so they can work within it, not drive them to make the decisions that have become so costly by not allowing them to be insured. It seems to me that people think there is one side and one side only, you are a democrat or you are a republican and depending on which party you claim, that is the stance you take on issues. I believe there is a different answer, the longer we stick our heads in the sand and look at the issue as if it is black and white, we will never come to a solution that works. We have to work together.
Glenny:
ReplyDeleteAwesome work here, really. Some notes:
1… "so I am guessing it will be for those who are also researching the subject or for some reason find it interesting."-- Your audience is already fairly well focused, but this statement seems to offer you the opportunity to narrow it down even more. Who might be researching your subject, or who might find it interesting-- specifically?
2. "It seems that most people I talk to have a one sided view on the subject, and I think there is a way for the 2 sides to come together to make a more complete picture."-- I'm not sure, but I'd imagine that there's a substantial minority-- perhaps a majority-- of people who are annoyed by the overheated rhetoric on both sides of this issue. To build credibility, you may want to address this audience concern toward the beginning of your website. Because you have a perspective on your issue, you shouldn't argue that you're completely unbiased. But you can at least frame your argument in such a way that it's respectful toward, and may be able to persuade, people who disagree with you.
5. "...using statistics and facts that are unrefutable, is a great way to gain the trust of readers." -- I sort of agree with this statement, but there's also a danger here. I'd imagine that your sources may be spinning facts and statistics in a comparatively biased way (it would be difficult for them not too). It might be difficult, depending on your sources, to tell what facts/statistics are accurate or inaccurate. You'll want to consider how to address this challenge.
Keep up the hard work!