Wonkette’s Snarky Attack on the Healthcare System

Wonkette.com made a post
on November 20, 2007, which attacked first the current healthcare system, then Republican candidate proposals. The first paragraph describes the small and complicated market for those who do not receive healthcare from their employer, attributing these complications to the 47 million uninsured in America. The post then aggressively attacks the Republican proposal which assumes that by giving people tax breaks they will be able to self-insure, noting that this doesn’t ensure coverage especially for those with pre-existing conditions.

Since this information was conveyed by a blog it differed from traditional media in two essential ways. First it explicitly stated an opinion, presenting the information through the bias that our healthcare system is broken. Secondly, because op-ed pieces also state opinions, the post is written in an extremely snarky tone. This could convey the policy information to readers more easily, or could simply distract them from the actual issues.