Spring of folly: A content analysis of television political satire in the spring of 2020

ABSTRACT

This study examined how television political satirists responded to the catastrophic confluence of events in the United States from the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, to his burial on June 9, 2020. Programs examined include The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Monologue jokes contained more gentle Horatian style satire than harsh Juvenalian satire, which may have provided some much-needed relief to viewers during this tumultuous time. However, monologues also included serious expressions of outrage and advocacy statements encouraging individual action and structural solutions. For most satirists, their outrage and advocacy remarks combined with their Juvenalian jokes outnumbered their Horatian jokes, which may have spurred viewers to take action.

KEYWORDS:

• Comedic news
• political humor
• satire

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).