After almost two years of investigative work, the U.S. House committee complete its report about the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. As we might expect, the report has some features we teach in business communication classes.

The 845-page report starts with a list of contributors and a “letter of transmittal”—language I saw in old textbooks when I started teaching in 2004. Next, we see a few “forward” statements from elected officials, which seem like political posturing, until we get to the six-page table of contents. Students will recognize that the headings are descriptive but aren’t quite parallel: some are full sentences, while others are phrases. Bias—or persuasion—is clear in the heading choice, for example, “The Big Lie,” and an all-caps quote, “JUST CALL IT CORRUPT AND LEAVE THE REST TO ME.”

If you’re brave enough to discuss the report in class, other report features are worth reviewing. The 193-page executive summary is unusual for a business report, which is usually about 10% of a total report. The portrait layoff and footnotes are typical for a more formal report, but the photos, used primarily for emotional appeal, are not. Depending on your perspective, the writing style is vivid, inflammatory, or something else. The report on documentcloud.org is navigable by page numbers and a clunky search, but it could be more interactive, for example, with hyperlinks from the table of contents. This is a public document, so students could analyze the audiences and communication objectives.