Extrinsic Ethos
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Extensive ethos refers to the reputation of the author outside of the intended argument and how it affects the credibility of the work.
Gabriela Cowperthwaite is the brain behind the documentary Blackfish. She made sure to gather a team with experience and credibility, two things that create effective extrinsic ethos within the documentary. Cowperthwaite is a documentary filmmaker who, for more than 12 years, has directed, produced and written for well-known companies such as ESPN, National Geographic, Animal Planet, and Discovery Channel. This creates extrinsic ethos because it shows her expertise in the field of documentary filmmaking and allows the audience to feel as if they are viewing a credible piece of work.
Associate producer of Blackfish, Tim Zimmermann, wrote an article on Dawn Brancheau, a SeaWorld trainer who was killed by the famous “Big Splash” orca, Tilikum, called "The Killer in the Pool" (link provided at the bottom of the page). This provides the documentary with an educational background on the incident that started the idea of Blackfish in the first place.
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During the documentary, there are four, former SeaWorld trainers who are interviewed: Samantha Berg, Jeffrey Ventre, Carol Ray, and John Hargrove. These are professionals who were not only employed at SeaWorld, the company that Blackfish is trying to build a case against, but who also worked next to Dawn Brancheau and many of the other orca’s that have acted violently towards their trainers. The fact that they are speaking out against the treatment of these whales immensely helps the ethos of the documentary because of the background and firsthand experience they have.
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Another extremely trustworthy source that appears numerous times throughout the documentary is OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The people who work in this administration have the mission to help employers and employees reduce job injuries, illnesses and deaths. They have also fought many lawsuits against SeaWorld because of the way they treat their animals.
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Blackfish documentary was also funded by CNN, a company that many audiences would find trustworthy due to their authority and reliability when it comes to reporting the news.
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