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Satirical Comedy Corrects Climate Change Disinformation Michigan Technological University Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports 2020 “YOU DON’T NEED PEOPLE’S OPINIONS ON A FACT!”: SATIRICAL COMEDY CORRECTS CLIMATE CHANGE DISINFORMATION Shelly A. Galliah Michigan Technological University, [email protected] Copyright 2020 Shelly A. Galliah Recommended Citation Galliah, Shelly A., "“YOU DON’T NEED PEOPLE’S OPINIONS ON A FACT!”: SATIRICAL COMEDY CORRECTS CLIMATE CHANGE DISINFORMATION", Open Access Dissertation, Michigan Technological University, 2020. https://doi.org/10.37099/mtu.dc.etdr/1022 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etdr Part of the American Popular Culture Commons, Digital Humanities Commons, Other Arts and Humanities Commons, Other Film and Media Studies Commons, and the Television Commons “YOU DON’T NEED PEOPLE’S OPINIONS ON A FACT!”: SATIRICAL COMEDY CORRECTS CLIMATE CHANGE DISINFORMATION By Shelly A. Galliah A DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In Rhetoric, Theory and Culture MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2020 © 2020 Shelly A. Galliah This dissertation has been approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Rhetoric, Theory and Culture. Department of Humanities Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Sue Collins Committee Member: Dr. Andrew Fiss Committee Member: Dr. Patricia Sotirin Committee Member: Dr. Joseph Reagle Department Chair: Dr. Patricia Sotirin Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ vi Abstract ............................................................................................................................. vii 1 Introduction: The Climate Change Controversy .........................................................1 1.1 The Representation of Anthropogenic Global Warming .................................1 1.2 Summary and Overview of Case Studies .........................................................7 1.3 Overview of Chapters .....................................................................................10 2 (Mis)Representing Climate Change ..........................................................................14 2.1 The Routines of Commercial Journalism .......................................................14 2.2 The Manufactured Scientific Controversy of Climate Change ......................24 2.3 Fox News and its Climate Change Problem ...................................................27 2.4 Conservative Thinktanks and Planned Disinformation Campaigns ...............32 2.5 The Effects of Past and Current U.S. Administrations ...................................39 2.6 Climate Change Skepticism and the Two Gaps .............................................42 3 The (Potential) Corrective of Satire ..........................................................................46 3.1 A Brief Overview of Satire: From Horace to Satire TV ................................46 3.2 Satire’s Form, Tone, and Slipperiness ............................................................50 3.3 Satirical Television Does Journalism .............................................................63 3.4 Satirical Television Covers Climate Change ..................................................67 3.5 Investigating Satire’s Approach and Reception .............................................72 4 Methodology .............................................................................................................73 4.1 The Particularities of Online Research ...........................................................73 4.2 Multi-Level Approach ....................................................................................79 4.2.1 Step One: Examining the Contexts and the Texts ............................79 4.2.2 Step Two: Tracking the Videos’ Online Circulation and Reception 81 4.2.3 The YouTube Comment Board as an Audience Study .....................82 4.2.4 Step Three: Analyzing YouTube Comment .....................................94 5 Oliver and Kimmel Correct Climate Change Misrepresentations ..........................100 5.1 Case Study Texts ..........................................................................................100 5.2 Oliver and Kimmel as Celebrity Climate Change Communicators .............101 iii 5.2.1 Oliver’s Authority and Authenticity ...............................................104 5.2.2 Everyman Comedian and Reluctant Activist Kimmel ....................107 5.3 Oliver’s Satirical Comedy: Contexts and Texts ...........................................111 5.4 Kimmel’s Satirical Comedy: Contexts and Texts ........................................120 5.5 Positive Reception of Oliver and Kimmel on the Internet ...........................133 5.5.1 Commercial News Sites and Respected Magazines .......................134 5.5.2 Entertainment and News Aggregator Websites ..............................137 5.5.3 Activist Websites ............................................................................138 5.5.4 Blogs ...............................................................................................140 5.5.5 Accepting Comedians as Climate Change Communicators and Agenda-Setters .............................................................................................142 5.6 Rejecting Satirical Comedy about Climate Change .....................................144 5.7 Satirical Climate Change Comedy’s Edge ...................................................148 6 Reception of Oliver’s and Kimmel’s Videos on the YouTube Comment Boards ..150 6.1 Research Question ........................................................................................151 6.2 Overview of the Comment Boards ...............................................................152 6.2.1 Shared Themes ................................................................................153 6.2.2 Positive Comments: Approving of Climate Change Messaging ....155 6.2.3 Approval in the Upvoted Comments ..............................................159 6.2.4 Analyzing Reply Density: Climate Change Causes Conversations 161 6.3 A Deeper Dive: Concerned Citizens and Citizen Climate Change Communicators .......................................................................................................163 6.3.1 Discussing the Contexts and Conditions of American Climate Change Denial ..............................................................................................163 6.3.2 Personalizing Climate Change ........................................................169 6.3.3 Acting as Citizen Climate Change Communicators .......................173 6.4 Negative Commenters: Resisting Climate Change Messaging and Promoting Climate Change Myths ...........................................................................................178 6.4.1 Distrusting Celebrity Science Communicators ...............................178 6.4.2 Rejecting Climate Science and Promoting Climate Change Myths 184 6.5 Promoting Climate Change Denial: Intelligent Trollers and Repeat Commenters ............................................................................................................188 6.6 YouTube Comments and the Old and New Conspiracism ...........................199 6.7 Learning about CC Communication Strategies from YouTube Comments .202 6.7.1 Use Precise Language .....................................................................203 6.7.2 Avoid Insulting Skeptics .................................................................205 6.7.3 Dramatize and Personalize Climate Change ...................................209 iv 7 The Perils and Potentials of YouTube for Climate Change Communication .........212 7.1 Perpetuating Climate Change Misrepresentations: YouTube’s Climate Change Denial Problem ..........................................................................................212 7.2 My Research Contribution ...........................................................................217 7.3 Possible Methodological and Theoretical Extensions ..................................219 7.4 Climate in Crisis, Still ..................................................................................222 8 References ...............................................................................................................225 9 Appendix A: Figures & Images ..............................................................................258 10 Appendix B: Tables for Case Studies .....................................................................262 v Acknowledgements It has been a long haul, or, more accurately, an incredibly long race: a marathon followed by what seemed to be an interminable 10k. The death of two family members, my mother, Florence, and my sister, Leslie, stalled me in my tracks for a bit, preventing me from writing, thinking, and achieving that elusive finisher’s medal. But I am here now. I would like to thank all those who helped me make it to the finish line of this dissertation. First, I must acknowledge the members of my patient, brilliant, multi-talented committee: Dr. Sue Collins, Dr. Andrew Fiss, Dr. Patricia Sotirin, and Dr. Joseph Reagle. Their combined expertise, feedback, and kindness helped me understand, improve, validate, and complete this interdisciplinary project. Others have assisted, in less obvious but still important ways, during this journey. Jackie
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