Polls and Elections: Editorial Cartoons 2.0: The Effects of Digital Political Satire on Presidential Candidate Evaluations

Abstract

While the number of full‐time editorial cartoonists has declined in the past few decades, several have taken their craft online in the form of animated Flash cartoons. In this article I test the effects of one of the more popular animated editorial cartoons on presidential candidate evaluations of 18‐ to 24‐year‐olds. A posttest‐only experimental design was used to survey students from several universities in six states. The results from this online experiment suggest that these editorial cartoons have a negative effect on candidate evaluations. However, viewing the clip did not change candidate preferences and an analysis of the control group suggests that viewership of online humor may have a positive effect on political participation.

Race and Gender in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election: A Content Analysis of Editorial Cartoons

“…Our research shows that racist and, especially, sexist themes continue to appear in editorial cartoons. Although more research on the effects of these cartoons would be welcome, previous studies (Baumgartner, 2008; Brinkman, 1968; Morris, 2009; Young, 2004) suggest that editorial cartoons, as well as other forms of political satire, can affect people's attitudes about candidates. Thus, the presence of negative stereotypes in editorial cartoons may negatively impact a candidate's chances for election.…”

Maybe it Is More Than a Joke: Satire, Mobilization, and Political Participation*

“…Here, too, much of the work is experimental, using college students (or college‐aged individuals) as subjects. The consensus from most of this research is that humor has a message‐consistent effect on opinions of its target (Baumgartner, ; Baumgartner and Morris, , , ; Baumgartner, Morris, and Walth, ; Becker, ; Esralew and Young, ; Morris, ; Nabi, Moyer‐Gusé, and Byrne, ). For example, humor that ridicules a particular individual (e.g., a president or presidential candidate) will lower opinions of that individual.…”

“…Political humor viewership also seems to lower trust in government and external political efficacy (Baumgartner, 2013;Baumgartner andMorris, 2006, 2008;Littau and Stewart, 2015; but see Becker, 2011). The message-consistent effect of viewing political humor also seems to extend to questions of policy (Brewer and McKnight, 2015).…”

And That’s The Word: Effects Of The Colbert Report On Political Knowledge And Participation

“…Although elites have the potential to influence many with mass media, not all studies agree that consuming mass media is influential on political knowledge and behaviors (Brinkman, 1968;Delli Carpini & Keeter, 1996;Chaffee et al 1970;Baumgartner, 2008;Hoffman & Young, 2011;De Vreese & Boomgaarden, 2006;Liu et al 2013).…”

“…Most studies show that political participation increases when people view more news media with political humor (Lee & Kwak, 2014;Becker, 2013;Baumgartner, 2008;Cao & Brewer, 2008). Baumgartner (2008) found that viewing political humor online showed a positive impact on future political participation, and Lee and Kwak (2014) demonstrated that consistently viewing sarcastic political media increased people's political participation. Specific political activities such as attending campaign events and joining political organizations also increase with political humor consumption (Cao & Brewer, 2008).…”