Stephen Colbert: Great satirist, or greatest satirist ever?

European Journal of Cultural Studies

2021

This article explores news satire engagement and civic motivation, an area of concern in satire scholarship. Focused on what audiences ‘do’ with media, the ways in which young adults who regularly engage in news satire construct political efficacy is studied. Using a qualitative contextualising audience study, including in-depth interviews and focus groups with 31 young adults, a thematic analysis of transcript data identifies three discursive themes relating to civic anxieties; development and invitation, performance and knowledge, and conflict and ‘packaged deals’. These emphasise news satire as cultural form as well as shifting civic ideals and development processes: exposing how news satire’s ‘kynicism’ (non-nihilist criticism) connects to civic performance anxiety. The identified anxieties are understood as related to fears of exclusion, embarrassment and misrepresentation. The metaphor of civic stage fright is developed to further understand these, underscoring the role of emotion and social interaction in civic performance.

Section: The Civic In News Satire Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Civic stage fright: Motivation and news satire engagement

European Journal of Cultural Studies

2021

“…However, the journalistic claim to epistemic authority is still robust in Sweden. Tendencies to question it have increased, but seem to relate to a general questioning of the very nature of objectivity, neutrality, civility and taste (Baym, 2013; Combe, 2015). That in turn relates to larger shifts from modern-era normative dichotomization between rational/emotional and information/entertainment (Coleman, 2013a; Dahlgren, 2009; Jones, 2013a, 2013b), also found in scholarly political entertainment research methodologies, resulting in a division between effects research and mostly qualitative, cultural and contextualizing approaches.…”

Section: Theoretical Trajectories and Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While Freja, mentioned above, is neutral in her construction of news, participants like Tim are critical. As theorized by, among others, Combe (2015), news satire questions the very notion of ‘truth’, at least in the senses claimed by political elites and journalists. This has given rise to the concept of ‘truthiness’, coined by the retired satirical host character on The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 2005–14).…”

Section: Genre Work and Satirical Transgressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

News satire engagement as a transgressive space for genre work

International Journal of Cultural Studies

2020

News satire plays with the political in ways that transgress journalistic as well as social and moral boundaries. But the ways in which audiences in different contexts engage with news satire are under-researched, despite the implications of the genre’s role for contemporary citizenship. This article asks how Swedish young adult audiences construct and negotiate news satire’s inherent transgressions, spanning across the ‘serious’ and ‘silly’. Based on interview and focus group data, the analysis shows how sustained news satire engagement entails genre work that aids the development of ‘transgression skills’. This process is stimulating, constructed as part of a complex and emotionally authentic mode of political communication, within a context where journalistic certainty has dominated. By achieving transgression skills, audiences are symbolically put on the same level as political elites and develop abilities to shift perspectives; thereby experiencing a deeper engagement with, and understanding of, political issues and performance.

“…Such critical constructions of knowledge claims are in contrast to the exclusion based on knowledge, mentioned above. Coupled with these kinds of critical constructions is a kind of ‘media savvy’ that includes a basic understanding of media production and logic, which is an important aspect of political comedy engagement, illustrating the ‘serious’ value of irony (Combe, 2015; Jones, 2010).…”

Section: Themes Of Community Constructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political comedy engagement: Identity and community construction

European Journal of Cultural Studies

2018

This article uses the concept of cultural citizenship to understand engagement in political comedy. The concept stresses popular culture’s value for identity and community construction, as well as the importance of learning about and respecting others. Using empirical work on Swedish young adult political comedy audiences in the form of data from in-depth interviews and focus groups, the article argues for analysis of engagement in various discursive forms, in studies of media and citizenship. More specifically, the article answers the question: which citizenship values are defended by political comedy engagement? In order to identify such values, the study focuses on the ways in which audience members construct identity and community, in relation to their political comedy engagement. Four themes of community construction are found: lacking social contexts, ideology and strong emotions, knowledge and education, and irony as a discursive mode and disposition. From these, the values of playful and emotional modes of engagement are conceptualized. The final parts of the article argue for those modes’ legitimacy and significance – both in relation to engagement in, and through, political comedy.