Participatory Effects of Political Satire Revisited in The
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PARTICIPATORY EFFECTS OF POLITICAL SATIRE REVISITED IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL MEDIA: THE ROLE OF HARD NEWS, POLITICAL EXPRESSION AND SOCIAL MEDIA _______________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctorate of Journalism _____________________________________________________ by HEESOOK CHOI Dr. Esther Thorson, Dissertation Supervisor MAY 2019 The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation titled PARTICIPATORY EFFECTS OF POLITICAL SATIRE REVISITED IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL MEDIA: THE ROLE OF HARD NEWS, POLITICAL EXPRESSION AND SOCIAL MEDIA Presented by Heesook Choi, A candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, And hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. Dr. Esther Thorson, Chair Dr. Tim Vos Dr. Yong Volz Dr. Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz Dr. Ben Warner DEDICATION To all the people who have helped me become who I am today. Nobody has been more important to me in the pursuit of this journey than my family. I would like to thank my parents, Sagil Choi and Jongok Choi, whose love and guidance are with me in whatever I pursue. I am grateful to my twin sister, Kyungsook Choi, and her husband and newly adopted brother-in-law, Daniel Wolkenfeld, for their unending support and inspiration along the way. I am also thankful to my brother, Sunwoo Choi, and his wife, Jichan Park, as well as my vast extended family for their moral and emotional support during my journey. And to my eternal cheerleaders, my late grandparents, Chanwook Choi and Sunweol Kim, who played an important role in my life. I miss our interesting and long- lasting chats on what I was up to. They were always keen to know what I was doing and how I was proceeding. Although it was likely that they never grasped what it was all about, their unconditional love strengthened my resolve to succeed in life. My late grandfather, Chanwook Choi, used to ask me when I would pursue my doctoral degree, and here I am now with the degree he asked for… I will miss forever their screams of joy whenever I reach a significant milestone. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work would not have been possible without the support of many people. Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Esther Thorson, for her continuous support for my Ph.D. study. I have taken more time than expected on my dissertation and her unflagging support and faith in me was uplifting. Her belief in my work and intellect, as well as her patience in my overcoming obstacles I have faced during my program, helped me grow into my full potential. I would not be where I am today without her. Besides my advisor, I would like to thank the rest of my dissertation committee. Each of them has taught me a great deal about both scientific research and life in general. I am grateful to Dr. Tim Vos for enlightening me about important concepts central to media studies with cryptic questions. I would also like to thank Dr. Yong Volz who helped me with my first academic research paper and provided me with emotional and moral support throughout my program. My sincere thanks are also extended to Dr. Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz for introducing me to the various important concepts of new media technologies, which became an important part of my dissertation. And a very special acknowledgement goes out to Dr. Ben Warner for his patient guidance, enthusiastic encouragement and useful critiques of my research work. He has been a great help in doing the data analysis using structural equation modeling. A very special gratitude goes out to Dr. Margaret Duffy and Dr. Glenn Leshner who taught me early on the importance of making clear conceptual and operational definitions in scientific research. That training prepared me well for my dissertation. ii I would also like to extend my sincere appreciation to my mentors and friends who have lifted me up when it was necessary. I am grateful to Dr. Soo Jung Moon and Dr. Ki Deuk Hyun, who saw something in me that I did not see in myself and led me to this academic journey. They motivated me to get through my program and accomplish my goals. I am appreciative to Dr. Beverly Horvit, my teaching faculty mentor, for her support for and interest in my Ph.D. study. I also thank Columbia Toastmasters, especially Ralph Kreigh, Lorie Kaplan, Randima Dinalankara, Seth Jarboe, and Elizabeth Depke, for their emotional and moral support, as well as encouragement. I forward special recognition to both Ann Mehr and David Mehr who kept me grounded with caring, humor and dog walks for the past year. David Mehr, who is a doctor and researcher himself, even provided me with his insightful feedback to better contextualize my findings. And finally, many thanks to Dr. Yulia Medvedeva who has lifted me up, as a friend and colleague, with moral and emotional support, no matter where she was. Thank you all for your support and encouragement! iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ ii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 Significance of The Present Study ............................................................................ 7 Design of the Present Study .................................................................................... 10 2: THEORETICAL REVIEW .................................................................................... 14 Political Satire ......................................................................................................... 14 Social Media and Political Participation ................................................................. 37 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................... 51 3: RESEARCH HYPOTHESES ................................................................................. 82 Model 1 ................................................................................................................... 82 Model 2 ................................................................................................................... 89 Model 3 ................................................................................................................... 94 4: RESEARCH METHOD ....................................................................................... 101 Procedure .............................................................................................................. 102 Model 1 ................................................................................................................. 103 Model 2 ................................................................................................................. 109 Model 3 ................................................................................................................. 115 5: RESULTS ............................................................................................................. 118 iv Analysis 1.............................................................................................................. 118 Analysis 2.............................................................................................................. 124 Analysis 3.............................................................................................................. 128 6: GENERAL DISCUSSION ................................................................................... 134 Theoretical Implications ....................................................................................... 145 Methodological Implications ................................................................................ 148 Practical Implications............................................................................................ 148 Limitations and Future Research .......................................................................... 149 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 153 APPENDIX ..................................................................................................................... 198 VITA ............................................................................................................................... 209 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Factor Loadings for Maximum Likelihood of Late-Night Talk Show Scales ...... 185 2. Correlation Matrix of Key Variables in Model 1 .................................................. 186 3. Latent Regression Paths for Final SEM Model 1 .................................................. 187 4. Significant Indirect Effects of Hard News Use ..................................................... 188 5. Correlation Matrix of Key Variables in Model 2 .................................................. 189 6. Latent Regression Paths for Final SEM Model