A Typology for the Study of Entertainment Television and Politics

Abstract

General questions concerning the role of entertainment media in politics permeated the 2004 election cycle. Political communication scholars are beginning to systematically analyze potential sociopolitical ramifications stemming from entertainment television viewing, but one difficulty with this emerging area of research is an inability to forge connections between seemingly disparate research agendas. Several distinct lines of research are summarized in this article and forged into a coherent whole through the lens of Zillmann's disposition theory and the broader study of media enjoyment. Extant works devoted to the study of entertainment television and politics are summarized, and a ninepart typology is introduced. This article closes with a discussion of how the typology can serve to advance the study of entertainment television and politics.

Predicting the Consumption of Political TV Satire: Affinity for Political Humor,The Daily Show, andThe Colbert Report

“…Studies show various forms of political entertainment media content impact the full range of the hierarchy of effects, including salience (e.g., Young, 2006), knowledge (e.g., Baum, 2003;Prior, 2003), perceptions (e.g., Holbert et al, 2007), attitudes (Holbert et al, 2003;Moy, Xenos, & Hess, 2005b), and behaviors (Cao & Brewer, 2008;Moy et al, 2005a). It is clear from this empirical research that political entertainment content has the ability to generate politically relevant outcomes (Holbert, 2005;Holbert et al, 2010).…”

“…Many of the political entertainment exposure measures in these surveys reference late-night talk shows like Letterman or Leno in the same item as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Holbert (2005) has argued that it is important to distinguish between various types of political entertainment TV programming based on the degree to which (1) the political content is primary or secondary in the programming and (2) the outlet offers explicit versus implicit political messages. A big distinction between late-night talk shows like Leno and Letterman and a program like The Daily Show is that the percentage of any one episode of Leno or Letterman that deals squarely with politics is exceedingly low.…”

Combating Fake News: An Investigation of Information Verification Behaviors on Social Networking Sites

“…Traditionally, research defined fake news as a television comedy genre in which a portion of the program is devoted to political satire [29]. Such programs draw millions of viewers by mimicking a traditional news cast, but adding humor [18,30].…”

Selecting Serious or Satirical, Supporting or Stirring News? Selective Exposure to Partisan versus Mockery News Online Videos

“…This difference could result in different selection and processing patterns for health and political messages, respectively, which in turn shape entertainment-embedded persuasion effects. Additionally, political satire in particular may be rather implicit in its meaning and thus open to interpretations that suit the recipients (Holbert, 2005;LaMarre, Landreville, & Beam, 2009).Regardless of what persuasive outcome a political message embedded in entertainment pursues, there may be much to be learned from the research on health entertainment-education. To assess hopes that political messages might reach the electorate better when interjected in entertainment, it is worthwhile to inspect what health entertainment-education research has found.…”