Audience

Barack Obama delivered his speech on the shooting in Oregon on the 1st of October 2015 in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, in the White House. This is one of the official rooms in the White House where the President sometimes addresses the nation and where briefings are, in general, given to the news media. The speech comes as a response to the mass shooting that took place at the Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon on the same day.

As the speech was televised and shared on social media, it also became available for the entire nation. This means that all American citizens could hear Obama’s speech, no matter their political affiliation.

If you watch the video version of the speech, you will note that the audience does not applaud or comment on what Obama has to say. This is partly because of the depressing occasion and Obama’s disappointed and serious tone, and also because the live audience is made up of members of the press, who attempt to remain neutral.

An important category of people that Obama targets in his speech is ...