Audience

In this part, we will talk about the audience of Barack Obama’s remarks on Trayvon Martin, including the wider audience who watched the speech through different kinds of media.

Obama’s speech was delivered in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room in the White House, where briefings and public addresses are usually given to the news media. The audience present in the Briefing Room consists of news media – photographers, reporters, journalists, etc. As the speech was also recorded and televised, it not only reached the media present but the entire nation. The speech is currently available online, which means that the potential audience also includes people outside the US. 

Note that, because it was delivered to the press and not to a roomful of supporters, Obama’s words are not punctuated by applause or cheers, unlike during some of his other speeches. Instead, Obama tells the press that he is not going to take questions, and gives his speech quietly but firmly.

Obama’s speech is generally targeted towards the citizens of the US, as he addresses the entire nation and invites each US citizen to contribute so a similar event will never take place again: “Now, the question for me at least, and I think for a lot of folks, is where do we take this? How do we learn some lessons from this and move in a positive direction?” (ll. 97-99); “That doesn’t mean, though, that as a nation we can’t do some things that I think would be productive.” (ll. 114-115)

Nevertheless, during his speech, Obama makes it clear that...