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

Abstract

Content analyses have focused on the messages offered in political TV satire, and the communication discipline is amassing solid empirical evidence concerning a range of effects derived from this style of programming. However, there is remarkably little understanding of who is tuning in to view political TV satire beyond the audience being dominated by a younger demographic. It is imperative to have a better understanding of the audience for these programs in order to place any effects in their proper context. A statewide survey (N 0305) was conducted to identify predictors of political TV satire viewing. Analyses identify four variables which are particularly important in predicting political TV satire exposure: age, exposure to satirical sitcoms, exposure to liberal cable news programming, and the newly explicated and operationalized Affinity for Political Humor scale.

Playing With Politics: Online Political Parody, Affinity for Political Humor, Anxiety Reduction, and Implications for Political Efficacy

“…Recent efforts have suggested that it is not a matter of simply considering key demographic variables and prior patterns of media consumption but rather an individual's desire to seek out and appreciate humorous political content (Hmielowski et al, 2011). Various measures have been applied to the study of nontraditional media content including news content affinity, the need for humor (NFH), and the newly created affinity for political humor scale (AFPH; Coe et al, 2008;Hmielowski et al, 2011;Holbert et al, 2013;Matthes, 2013).…”

“…The AFPH scale was designed to tap four dimensions of an individual's affinity for political humor, including (a) the desire to make sense of incongruent information, (b) an interest in promoting a sense of superiority, (c) the reliance on humor as a way to reduce anxiety or stress, and (d) the value of humor for social cohesion (Hmielowski et al, 2011). Preliminary research has treated the AFPH scale as a combined single measure, one that has emerged as an important and effective predictor of political satire consumption (Hmielowski et al, 2011).…”

“…Each new election season brings a spate of Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketches, satirical critique from comedians like Jon Stewart of The Daily Show (TDS), doctored photographs and embellished headlines strewn across the pages of The Onion, and user-generated and professionally produced YouTube videos intended to entertain and, in some cases, persuade. Political communication researchers have taken a keen interest in studying this plethora of politically entertaining content with recent research efforts focusing on how political comedy is perceived and processed by viewers; the effects of exposure to political comedy content on key indicators of democratic engagement like participation and knowledge gain; the differential evaluation of varied humor types and programs; and, more recently, predicting consumption of political satire and a general affinity for politically humorous content (Becker, 2011(Becker, , 2012Becker, Xenos, & Waisanen, 2010;Hmielowski, Holbert, & Lee, 2011;Hoffman & Young, 2011;Xenos & Becker, 2009). To date, researchers have primarily focused on understanding the impact of exposure to satirical programs like TDS or The Colbert Report (TCR), the critical humor present in network late-night comedy monologues, and parody content airing on the weekly broadcasts of SNL.…”

Do We Need to Go Cellular? Assessing Political Media Consumption Using a Single-Frame Landline/Cellular Survey Design

“…The Affinity for Political Humor measure is an 11-item index (see Hmielowski et al, 2011). Personal agreement for each of the 11 items was assessed using 5-point scales ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with the higher end of the scale indicating a greater affinity for political humor.…”

“…Citizens who are older tend to consume these media outlets with greater frequency. In addition, the only consistent predictor of various forms of entertainment-oriented political media (e.g., The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report) is age, but it is those who are younger who are turning to this content more often (e.g., Hmielowski, Holbert, & Lee, 2011;Young & Tisinger, 2006). Methodologically, the field of political communication, as well as every other field that employs the use of survey methodology to address various research questions and hypotheses, is becoming all the more aware of the inherent weaknesses of using traditional landlines as the only telecommunications mode by which to generate representative samples of a population (Link, Battaglia, Frankel, Osborn, & Mokdad, 2007).…”