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Christina Conklin
Tyler Ormond
Rayna Ross
Carol Sieverts
English 1010-Sp16
March 30, 2016
Rhetorical Analysis
Helpless & Hooked
Helpless & Hooked is a 3-part article from Reuters Investigation written by Duff
Wilson and John Shiffman. Their investigation was published in December of 2015 on
reuters.com. Reuters is an international investigative company based in the United Kingdom,
founded in 1851. From their About page, Reuters states theyre based on independence,
integrity, and freedom from bias because it is integral to a free, prosperous, and informed
society. Reuters objectivism has been called into question during their bias-free reporting on the
September 11th attacks in New York, calling them terrorist attacks without knowing the
complete story first (Reuters).
Duff Wilson graduated from Western Washington University in 1976, and from Columbia
University Graduate School of Journalism in 1982, where he is currently a professor teaching
investigative journalism. Wilson has previously worked for The Seattle Times, and The New York
Times, before becoming an investigative reporter with Reuters in 2012. Wilson has received over
30 national and regional journalism awards, and is the first two-time winner of the Harvard
University Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting (Wilson).
John Shiffman is a published author and investigative reporter for Reuters. Shiffman
has previously held positions at The Philadelphia Inquirer, Nashville Tennessean, and The Fort

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Myers News-Press. Shiffman graduated with a bachelor's degree from Trinity College-Hartford
in 1993. Shiffman also received a doctoral degree in law from American University Washington
College of Law, and an MA in Journalism from American University (John Shiffman).
In their investigative report, Wilson and Shiffman, (with the help from other researchers
at Reuters), have scrutinized over 50,000 pages of documents from police, medics, lawyers,
coroners, and hospital reports. Theyve also interviewed over 300 people from mothers, doctors,
nurses, social workers, drug counselors, prosecutors, defense attorneys, academics, child
protection workers, lawmakers, and relatives of women struggling with addiction. Wilson and
Schiffman report that over 200 freedom of Information Act requests were filed with federal,
state, county, and city agencies across the United States. Their goal was to discover mothers who
used opioids during pregnancy, that later gave birth to a child experiencing symptoms of
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), and after the newborn was released from the hospital the
infant later died from a preventable death.
Wilson and Schifman indicate that there is a rising epidemic of babies being born with
symptoms of NAS over the past 10 years. Federally mandated laws from the Keeping Children
and Families Safe Act; passed in 2003; require hospitals, doctors, and social workers to report
cases of mothers showing signs of drug abuse, or babies born with symptoms related to drug
abuse, to social services. Research done by Reuters indicates that these laws are not being
followed by all the states, and that the states are not being held accountable.
Wilson and Shiffman are consistent throughout their report, indicating what issues
theyve discovered, and what steps have been neglected. They display a strong logos supporting
their research by repeatedly including findings of the gross negligence being discovered by

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states, doctors, hospitals, social workers, and parents that fail to properly ensure that infants born
with symptoms of NAS, are being taken care of after being released from the hospital.
The report includes a video of a newborn baby experiencing drug withdrawal tremors;
graphs of the rising numbers of infants born with NAS over the past 10 years; side by side
images of both mothers and/or couples mug shots next to their recently killed newborn child;
images of mothers holding babies in the hospital, and one mother in jail, all are directed at
building a strong sense of emotions within the audience.
The authors, Wilson and Shiffman show a strong use of pathos. The authors demonstrate
that the articles intended audience is the unaware citizen, the voting public and legislatures. The
authors assume that the reading audience will be outraged and disgusted by the stories that they
include about the babies being born addicted to or showing signs of NAS. They also assume the
reader will be outrage by the fact that hospitals, doctors, and social workers dont follow the
federally mandated laws that require them to report these cases.
In order to engage the reader's emotions, authors Wilson and Shiffman give six heart
wrenching stories from different women who have had babies that were either born addicted to
drugs, or experienced symptoms of NAS. Later when the babies were sent home with their drug
addicted mothers, the children died from causes that could have been prevented.
Wilson and Schiffman create a strong ethos due to the extensive amount of research that
was done to create a reliable, and irrefutable report. The research provides the article with facts
about the holes in the system that are currently in place. Wilson and Shiffman have also cited all
those who edited, researched, wrote and added graphic element, making the report more
professional-looking. The error-free and bias-free text adds a great ethos to the overall feel of the
article.

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The article is divided into three main sections with each section being able to stand on its
own. Major points are written in bold lettering to stand out and catch the readers eye as well as
maintain the readers interest. The entire article is well written, and spans 50 pages making it
difficult for the average reader to want to be engaged in for the entire reading. Pictures, videos
and active links all provide the emotional response Wilson and Shiffman are wanting, while not
overwhelming the problem at hand.
The report does end with a success story to show that there is hope, and that if all the
states would follow the federally mandated laws and procedures, these babies may not have had
to suffer their final fates. Wilson and Shiffmans investigation has been so thorough that it has
helped to create a push for further legislation (Shiffman and Wilson).

Works Cited
John Shiffman. Linkedin. Linkedin, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
Reuters Handbook of Journalism. Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 24 Nov. 2009. Web. 27 Mar.
2016.

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Roush, Chris. Reuters hires reporter for investigations team. Talkingbiznews. Talking Biz
News, 16 Nov. 2011. Web. 26 Mar. 2016.
Shiffman, John and Duff Wilson. Senate advances bill to aid drug-dependent newborns.
Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 16 Mar. 2016. Web. 26 Mar. 2016.
Reuters. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Mar. 2016. Web. 26 Mar. 2016.
Wilson, Duff. Biographical sketch. Reporter. Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc., 22
Jun. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2016.
Wilson, Duff and John Shiffman. Hooked & Helpless. Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 7 Dec.
2015. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.