Does Political Satire Spark Negativity Among Citizens?
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Remixing current events and politics: does political satire spark negativity among citizens? Christian Manuputty 10616756 Master’s thesis Political Communication & Journalism Graduate School of Communication University of Amsterdam Supervisor: S. Geers 01-02-2019 Abstract: This study investigated through an experimental design (N = 117) the potential negative effect of exposure to Dutch political satire on attitudes that will be formed towards a politician who is covered by the satirical content. The Dutch satire in this case is the show Zondag met Lubach. Furthermore, the mediating role of perceived funniness of the political satire was also researched in this study. In addition, the moderating role of political knowledge in the relation between exposure to political satire and perceived funniness of the political satire was also examined in this study. There was no evidence for a significant negative effect of political satire on political attitudes. However, this study did find significant results when testing for the control variables political knowledge and news consumption of Dutch news platform Nu.nl and newspaper NRC. Key words: political satire, perceived funniness, political knowledge, political attitude 2 Introduction It is possibly one of the most popular satirical platforms of the Dutch media landscape and the reach of this show does not stop at the Dutch border. Worldwide virals made the show visible in the international media landscape: Arjen Lubach and his team made it happen with their show Zondag met Lubach. What kind of a influence does a Dutch satirical show as Zondag met Lubach have? For instance, Lubach and his team achieved that trade agreement TTIP between the European Union and the United States was more present on the agenda. As a result, the show accomplished that Minister of Foreign Affairs Lilianne Ploumen attended as a guest in an episode to ensure that the trade deal would not have any negative effects on the Netherlands (NU.nl, 2016). Zondag met Lubach also played a significant role in society by setting the agenda concerning this specific trade agreement. For instance, individuals showed better understanding on the issue of TTIP after being exposed to an episode of Zondag met Lubach. The satire show also had an effect on the agenda of individuals, the public and politics (Boukes, 2018). Scoring worldwide virals is also something that Zondag met Lubach accomplished throughout the years. Examples of going viral worldwide are the videos Netherlands Second (Algemeen Dagblad, 2018) and a satirical item on gun control in the United States (Het Parool, 2018). A show as Zondag met Lubach can be seen as political satire. This phenomenon can affect concepts as attitudes towards a politician. For instance, Guggenheim, Kwak and Campbell (2011) described how this type of entertainment can cause negative opinions of society towards politicians. Therefore, it is interesting to get better insights in this topic. Especially, during elections, having knowledge on political satire as politician, policy worker or campaigner, can be beneficial. However, existing literature on the effects of political satire is mostly American-focused but does Zondag met Lubach have the same effect as a satirical show from the US, as for instance, The Daily Show? Therefore, the first aim of this study is to research whether there is a negative effect of Dutch political satire on 3 political attitudes. There is evidence that perceived funniness of the political satire can also play a role in the possible relation between political satire and political attitudes (Boukes, Boomgaarden, Moorman & De Vreese, 2015). That is why the second aim of this study is to examine a potential mediating role of perceived funnines. To conclude, characteristics of viewers of political satire can also play a potential role in the possible attitudinal effects of political satire. For instance, the amount of political knowledge a citizen has, can play a role in how funny the political satire is perceived (Matthes & Rauchfleisch, 2013). Therefore, the third aim of this study will be testing whether political knowledge has a moderating effect. Thus, the research question in this thesis will be as follows: RQ: How does political satire affect attitude towards a politician and to what extent is this mediated by perceived funniness and moderated by political knowledge? As stated earlier, the influence of a show as Zondag met Lubach can be big in society considering the power to alter the agenda of citizens, media and politics. How to respond as a politician on the potential effects of satirical content can have its benefits during, for instance, election times. During those periods, politics will be highly present on the media agenda. This can be the case for serious newscasters but also for satire producers. The chances of being covered by a satire show is likely for politicians. Therefore, this thesis can offer public officials, politicians and political campaign teams more insights in the influence of platforms that produce political satire. Currently, there is a high amount of scientific research available that investigated the effects of political satire. However, most research is focused on shows that are from the United States. This is not surprising because the genre of political satire shows can be seen as an American concept. Research on shows as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are highly present in today's research. A Dutch TV show as Zondag met Lubach is highly influenced by this type of satire shows. However, the amount of research investigating the 4 effects of this particular Dutch show is not sufficient. Only few studies did examine the effect of a Dutch satire show as Zondag met Lubach. As a result, the amount of knowledge on the potential effects of Dutch political satire is low or at least, insufficient. Therefore, this thesis can try to fill the gap that is present in today’s scientific research. Theoretical framework To gain more insight in the influence of political satire on the political attitudes of a voter, concepts and theories that will be used in this thesis will be defined. Firstly, the concepts political satire, attitude towards a politician, perceived funniness and political knowledge will be described. Furthermore, theories that underlie the relationship between political satire and attitude towards a politician will also be discussed, namely the Affective Disposition Theory (ADT) and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). Political satire can be seen as a subgenre of the overarching political-focused entertainment. Satire is a form of mocking human failure or other human stupidities. These actions can be criticized through humor. Therefore, this potential negative focus can cause negative attitudinal effects. Furthermore, satire can also mock actors as religion, politics, moral and social standards (Amundson, Cuddon, Duncan, Jackson, Lindsay & Sufit, 1991). Holbert (2005) devised a typology for all genres within entertainment TV and politics. This typology is based on the Affective Disposition Theory of Zillmann. This theory explains how viewers of entertainment experience this content and how this type of content has certain effects. An example of the list of typologies is situation comedy satire. Shows as The Simpsons and South Park can be defined as this type of entertainment, because subtle fragments of satire on politics are integrated in the content of this show but its fundament is different compared to a show as Saturday Night Live. The show Saturday Night Live is mainly focusing on exposing political satire. Another example of the Holbert’s typology is an entertainment talk show. Shows as Oprah and Larry King Live can be seen as this type of show because these shows offer interviews between a host and politician in an informal and entertaining setting instead of a formal politically focused sphere. Traditional satire is also an 5 example of Holbert’s list. In this case, a show is trying to be funny without supporting a specific political party or politician. It is important to state that it is not excluded that a show will choose a specific side in a certain issue. The show Zondag met Lubach can be seen as a program that can be characterized as traditional satire. However, this is a Dutch show and the literature that will be discussed below is mainly focused on political satire from the United States. As a result, the literature on Dutch political satire, as Zondag met Lubach, is scarce. However, as described earlier, there is evidence for the power of this show to alter the agenda in the Netherlands (Boukes, 2018). Furthermore, the Dutch context also differs from the American. Where in the US mostly two parties are competing with each other, namely the Democrats versus the Republicans, in the Netherlands there is a multiparty system (Dit Is Amerika, 2012). It is also important to state that both countries also differ in media landscape. Hallin and Mancini (2004) described the type of media systems western countries as the Netherlands and the US have. These authors categorized the Dutch media system as the democratic corporatist system or Northern European system. This system is experiencing a shift from polarized party press to neutralism. Furthermore, the state can fund the media system. However, the media will always stay independent. The media system in the US is categorized as the liberal model or North Atlantic model. This model has as characteristic that it is mostly market-driven. In this thesis, the effect of political satire on attitude towards a politician will be investigated. The concept attitude in this thesis is defined as is common in social sciences. Therefore, the definition that is originated in the article of Azjen and Fishbein (1975) will be used. These authors described attitude as beliefs that a human being can held. Individuals can evaluate objects, persons or certain effects in order to create an attitude towards these actors.