The Effect of El Bernameg TV Show on Egyptian Young Viewers' Evaluation
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American University in Cairo AUC Knowledge Fountain Theses and Dissertations 6-1-2016 The effect of El Bernameg TV show on Egyptian young viewers’ evaluation of Egyptian media figures Menna Mohamed Kadry Follow this and additional works at: https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds Recommended Citation APA Citation Kadry, M. (2016).The effect of El Bernameg TV show on Egyptian young viewers’ evaluation of Egyptian media figures [Master’s thesis, the American University in Cairo]. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/560 MLA Citation Kadry, Menna Mohamed. The effect of El Bernameg TV show on Egyptian young viewers’ evaluation of Egyptian media figures. 2016. American University in Cairo, Master's thesis. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/560 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by AUC Knowledge Fountain. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of AUC Knowledge Fountain. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The American University in Cairo School of Global Affairs & Public Policy (GAPP) The Effect of El Bernameg TV Show on Egyptian Young Viewers’ Evaluation of Egyptian Media Figures A Thesis Submitted by Menna Mohamed Kadry Submitted to the Journalism and Mass Communication Department In partial fulfillment of the requirements for The degree of Master of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication Under the Supervision of Dr. Sheila Peuchaud June 2015 ii iii AKNOWLEDGMENT In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful First, I would like to thank God for his blessings and for gracing me with the opportunity and perseverance to complete my MA degree. Al Hamdulillah. Upon the completion of my thesis, I would like to take the time to thank everyone who contributed with their support and encouragement in making all this possible. I would like to start by thanking my parents for their constant support and encouragement throughout my life, as well as for inspiring me to pursue my dreams and to believe in myself and my abilities. I would also like to thank my little sister, Yasmin, for her help and optimistic attitude. Huge thanks also goes out to my loving and supporting family for their words of encouragement and well wishes. Third, I would like to express my utmost gratitude to my adviser, Dr. Sheila Peuchaud, for her valuable time, fruitful guidance, and encouragement throughout the journey towards completing my thesis. Forth, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my committee members, Dr. Naila Hamdy and Dr. Shahjahan Bhuiyan for their valuable time and constructive feedback. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to Dr. Naila Hamdy for her help and support towards putting the finishing touches to my thesis, and thank you for your valuable knowledge and teachings. I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Hussein Amin for his precious time and feedback towards improving my thesis, as iv well as for his guidance and mentoring throughout the course of my MA degree. I would like to extend my thanks to Mrs. Nesrine Azmy for her support. Thank you to all my AUC professors who helped guide me throughout my graduate studies, and in turn towards completing my MA degree. I am truly honored and humbled to have had the opportunity to learn and be inspired by prestigious and influential educators. Finally, I would like to thank my friends and colleagues for their help and support. I particularly would like to thank my best friend, Eman El Ahl, for her support and words of encouragement, as well as her positive and adventurous outlook on life. v Abstract The study examines the impact of Egyptian political satire show, El Bernameg, upon young Egyptian viewers’ evaluation of Egyptian media figures. The significance of researching this topic comes from being the first of its kind in Egypt, combining both comedy and political discussions. In the form of a mock commentary, the program has tackled as well as lampooned a variety of political topics and public figures ranging from presidential candidates to government officials to media figures and even entertainers. The study particularly focused on the potential impact of El Bernameg’s metacoverage upon young Egyptian viewers, mainly when it comes to evaluating the role of prominent Egyptian media figures. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction ………………………………………………………………………. 1 II. Literature Review ………………………………………………………………... 11 a. Understanding the audience of political entertainment shows ………….. 11 b. Content of political entertainment shows ……………………………….. 14 c. The power of humor …………………………………………………….. 17 d. The effects of political entertainment shows ……………………………. 27 e. Metacoverage (Coverage of the News Media) ………………………….. 45 f. Advantages and Disadvantages of political entertainment shows ………. 46 g. Explicit versus implicit messages ……………………………………….. 48 III. Hypotheses ……………………………………………………………….............. 51 IV. Methodology ……………………………………………………………………... 52 a. Introduction ……………………………………………………………… 52 b. Procedure ………………………………………………………………... 52 c. Egyptian Media Personalities …………………………………………... 53 d. Description of the video clips …………………………………………… 58 e. Hypotheses ………………………………………………………………. 59 V. Findings ………………………………………………………………………….. 63 a. Key measures ……………………………………………………………. 63 b. Descriptive Statistics …………………………………………………… 66 i. Gender ………………………………………………………….. 66 ii. Evaluation of Egyptian media figures ………………………….. 68 iii. Overall evaluation of Egyptian news media ……………………. 86 iv. Evaluation of Bassem Youssef …………………………………. 88 v. Media usage …………………………………………………….. 91 c. Hypotheses Testing ……………………………………………………… 92 VI. Discussion ……………………………………………………............................. 95 VII. Conclusion ……………………………………………………............................. 102 VIII. References ……………………………………………………………….. 104 IX. Appendix ………………………………………………………………................ 112 a. Appendix A – Post-Test Questionnaire …………………………………. 112 b. Appendix B – IRB Approval Letter ……………………………………... 127 c. Appendix C – CAPMAS Approval Letter ………………………………. 128 vii Introduction Purpose of the Study With the growing literature on quasi-news media, such as political entertainment shows, various scholars attempt to understand the potential effects of such medium upon viewers. Are they a mean to provide unpolished critiques of political corruptions, or are they an easy refuge for individuals to learn about news and politics minus the complexities of politics while being entertained? The study seeks to examine what influence El Bernameg TV Show, a political satire show, has upon young Egyptian viewers. The study particularly focuses on how young Egyptian viewers, upon watching El Bernameg TV Show, evaluate Egyptian media figures. The study will also examine if moderating factors, such as political knowledge and likability of the El Bernameg host, Bassem Youssef, may influence viewers’ evaluations. The study will utilize controlled experiment particularly a posttest control group design where the experimental stimuli will be a 15-minute montaged video clip of 2 episodes of El Bernameg, during its third season. After exposure to the video clip, both groups were asked to answer a post-test questionnaire. The experimental research has no pre-test in order to avoid subject sensitization towards the post-test. A control group was utilized in the study to be compared to the experimental group in order to examine whether the causal hypotheses is an outcome from exposure to the experimental stimulus (El Bernmaeg clip) or not. 1 History of Political Satire in Egypt The earliest form of political satire in Egypt can be traced back to Pharaonic times found through bas-reliefs (Marsot, 1971). For centuries, Egypt had faced many hardships from oppressive rulers, poverty and disease, and besides that censorship was imposed by a government comprised of autocratic elitist who, in the words of Afaf Lutfi Al-Sayyid Marsot (1971), “did not speak the language of the population” (p.3). This in turn led Egyptians to criticize or ridicule the ruler and the impoverished conditions of the country through indirect methods by using satire (Marsot, 1971). Satire took on different forms in Egypt at different times and served as a means for the public to vent out their disdain towards their rulers at that time while avoiding any legal problems (Marsot, 1971). Besides, satire was not only used to mock rulers, but also during times of war to ridicule the enemy (Marsot, 1971). At first, satire was verbal rather than written due to the high rate of illiteracy of the Egyptian population (Marsot, 1971). Among the earliest forms of satire in Egypt were folk tales that were narrated at public gatherings and characterized as adventurous tales infused with social commentary, words of wisdom and morals (Marsot, 1971). Examples of such folk tales were: Abu Zaid El-Hilali, an Arab warrior, Antara Ibn-Shadad, an Arab warrior during pre-Islamic times, and the tales of Goha (Marsot, 1971). Another form of satire were proverbs or folk sayings that are used in conversations to mock certain situations, for instance the following proverb can be used to express a society’s hierarchal system “if you have any business with the dog call him master” (Marsot, 1971, p. 5). The zajal is another form of satire which is a traditional form of oral strophic poetry that comprises of improvised descriptions or commentary and often recited with the accompaniment of music (Marsot, 1971). Eventually, the popularity 2 of the