It Could be You

Snitches get Stitches, so don’t be a tattle tale. Alina Tugend explores the question of when to blow the whistle in her article,”Opting to Blow the Whistle or Choosing to Walk Away.” Tugend goes over various scenarios in which one would be forced to ponder whether or not to blow the whistle. A whistle blower is a person who informs on a person or organization engaged in an illicit activity.[Tugend uses various methods of persuasion effectively, with pathos being the most prominent to demonstrate the importance of only blowing the whistle in the right situation.]Her appeals to emotion make the reading more personal and as a result send a stronger message.

Are you safe?

While Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden may be the only two whistle blowers you hear of, there are many, many more. Normal people every day grapple with the question of speaking up or remaining silent. What do you do when your boss treats other coworkers more favorably than you? What if you found top secret information revealing fraud? This article explores when it is and is not a good idea to blow your whistle. Tugend clarifies that for it to be considered an acceptable situation to blow your whistle, there must be an illicit activity involved. If there is nothing illegal, it is better to just keep to yourself. In a personal story by an anonymous worker at global analyst company, blowing the whistle did not end well. His story involves a superior lying to him and this lie resulting in him being passed up for a promotion. His company’s no retaliation policy gave him a sense of safety in taking his problem to a hiring manager. After telling the situation to the manager, things did not improve, and the company in fact, retaliated. He was assigned an increasingly strenuous workload with few resources. After 8 months of this, he decided to leave the company, not being able to take the new workload. Nothing came of this situation and the worker was simply forced to find another job. It is often situations like these that deter many from speaking up.

Ethos

Various appeals to ethos, or authority, throughout the article establish trust in the author and build on the piece’s persuasive elements. The author presents both sides rationally, with as little bias as possible, and with credible resources. In an interview with Dr. Sidle, the Director of the psychology program at the University of New Haven, Tugend goes over the main paradoxes of whistle blowing, one of them being. “You don’t want a culture of tattling, but you do want a culture of telling if something is harming the company and the community.”

This quote follows similar points, culminating in this one. “The core problem of whistleblowing is telling on someone, and from a young age we are conditioned against that.” Your character develops as your grow up. You either are or aren’t a snitch based on the teachings of your parental units, and changing that is not easy.

Logos

As the article progresses, every point made is backed up by statistics from various credible agencies. Properly communicating this data lends her article to a very strong appeal to logos. She cites the rise of situations where people are deciding to blow their whistle as well as a rise in the retaliation against those who blew their whistles. Tugend references an organization which connects whistle blowers with lawyers. The increase in the need for their service is significant.

“Mr. Kohn, whose organization refers potential whistle-blowers to lawyers, said there had been a 30 percent increase in the number of people requesting referrals over the last 18 months, which comes to about 1,500 requests a year.”…That is almost double the number who said they were retaliated against in the 2007 study.”

This data is frightening in many ways and uses that fear to the article’s advantage. It shows that in a world of constant technological evolution, with transparency and freedom on the rise, people are still being put into these tough situations.

Be prepared

A large portion of the article was dedicated to the story of a worker put into this terrible position and being retaliated against. His story ended in a somber quote by professor Thorton of Asuza Pacific University.

“And, finally, whistle-blowers should know that most cases are not settled in their favor. This may be attributable to injustices in the system, or lack of merit or proof of the alleged wrongdoing,”

This quote by Professor Thornton should serve as a warning to those who do wish to blow their whistles. Be prepared for the possibility of everyone turning against you.

Pathos

Along with her appeals to ethos and logos, Tugend skilfully uses pathos to her strongest advantage. This scenario can happen to anyone in the workforce and almost any information presented can be applied to Pathos. A strong emotional response can be brought on by the thought of something like this happening to you or someone you love. Empathy is a every strong emotion and is often the start for huge changes in the status quo.

Tugend’s article progressed with a very logical flow. Every point leads into the next until the necessary base is built to discuss the repercussions of such actions. She puts the situation into perspective by showing how broad the scope of the problem is, and letting everyone know it could happen to them. Her article finishes with a clear recap of the times to and not to blow your whistle.