The Art of Mastering Principled Persuasion

In a time where media has become a chaotic, contested terrain and news is more often baffling than not, principled persuasion – rather than factual content – has found its way to become the standard form of journalism. The New York Times article about Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner serves as a prime example of such.

The article is written by Maggie Haberman and Katie Rogers. While Haberman was a part of a Pulitzer-winning reporting team in 2018 and has been writing about politics since 2010, Rogers only started to cover the White House during the Trump administration and specializes more in the world of pop culture, fashion, socialites. The article thus reflects this combination with details of Trump-Kushner’s socialite life woven in the analysis of their political actions.

Among an extensive number of sources the article derives information from, two groups emerge. The first includes recognizable authority figures such as the White House press secretary, the Treasury secretary or even the couple themselves. These sources have extremely high proximity and expertise but are not at all independent. The second group consists of those the article refers to as “five people who heard him,” “people close to her,” or sources in the name of “privately said,” “according to someone familiar with her thinking.” These sources might also be high in proximity and at the same time independent since their names are not bound by publicity. However, because there are no names or details to be verified, this makes it impossible to assess whether the information being provided is accurate. This binary poses an inextricable challenge when it comes to writing about politics.

Despite the anonymity of the majority of sources, the way evidence is presented to support arguments is a creative technique the article uses to hold readers’ attention and gain credibility: from a long list of authority figures Jared Kushner has been at odds with and the few famous names the couple brought into the White House to the specific activities Ms. Trump and Mr. Kushner did to improve their public images. Moreover, from what we have seen from the White House in recent times, the evidence used to back the article’s claims can be considered logically accurate.

In addition, the article succeeds in presenting multiple points of views regarding its subject of discussion. Despite declining to comment themselves, the couple asked their ally Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, to speak to the New York Times on their behalf. On the other hand, a critic of the couple and the Trump administration in general, Hilary Rosen, a Democratic strategist, was also asked to give comments. Throughout the article, different voices, ranging from Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner themselves to their supporters, allies, to their critics and even fellow New York socialites, although mostly unidentified, are included to make sure that no point of view is being left out of the discussion.

So, how exactly does the article master principled persuasion?

With the tone and word choice used throughout the article, it is apparent that a certain degree of hostility is directed towards the couple. The dislike is expressed clearly through examples such as “Mr. Kushner has shown an adeptness at using the president’s impulses to steer him toward his own priorities,” or “Both husband and wife, like Mr. Trump, are said to hang on to grudges, but Mr. Kushner is far more transactional than his wife,” and many more. The authors’ rather negative views of the Trump-Kushner couple surface at times during the article and interpret the evidence into their preferred meanings. Together with factual evidence and information, this opinion-based article makes an ideal example of principled persuasion.

Therefore, different readers might interpret the article in different ways. Those who support the Trump administration and the couple might see this as some form of personal attack, or as President Trump so regularly says, fake news. On the contrary, people who oppose to Trump-Kushner couple would find this piece rather persuasive and accurate.

All in all, with the credibility of the platform it is published on, the experience of the main author, the logical use of factual evidence to support arguments and the inclusion of multiple points of view, this article on Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner can be considered fairly credible in this current news landscape. However, with the apparent hostility in tone and interpretations against its subject of discussion, this New York Times article has established itself as an affirmation piece of journalism.