Abstract
This article explores news satire engagement and civic motivation, an area of concern in satire scholarship. Focused on what audiences ‘do’ with media, the ways in which young adults who regularly engage in news satire construct political efficacy is studied. Using a qualitative contextualising audience study, including in-depth interviews and focus groups with 31 young adults, a thematic analysis of transcript data identifies three discursive themes relating to civic anxieties; development and invitation, performance and knowledge, and conflict and ‘packaged deals’. These emphasise news satire as cultural form as well as shifting civic ideals and development processes: exposing how news satire’s ‘kynicism’ (non-nihilist criticism) connects to civic performance anxiety. The identified anxieties are understood as related to fears of exclusion, embarrassment and misrepresentation. The metaphor of civic stage fright is developed to further understand these, underscoring the role of emotion and social interaction in civic performance.
Highlights
Across the world, news satire continues to be popular albeit niche (Baym and Jones, 2012)
This study approaches civic motivation as efficacy and kynicism among young adults who engage with news satire regularly, through a contextualising audience study focusing especially on subjective constructions
Through a qualitative contextualising audience approach including in-depth interviews and focus groups, three themes related to civic motivation are identified: development and invitation, performance and knowledge, as well as conflict and ‘packaged deals’ – which expose underlying anxieties and fears
Summary
News satire continues to be popular albeit niche (Baym and Jones, 2012). This study approaches civic motivation as efficacy and kynicism among young adults who engage with news satire regularly, through a contextualising audience study focusing especially on subjective constructions. While fear of conflict might hinge on other psychological or cultural factors, the contemporary tendency of individualisation problematised by Dahlgren (2009) arguably adds pressure to all social interaction; issues depend on single individuals, rather than collectivities This pressure is carried in to the other main part of this theme, reflecting a lack of external efficacy, and several audience members constructed the issue of ‘package deals’: If you want to engage further, you have to choose the package. He constructs this as partly his personal (internal) issue (‘I know this is really terrible’), yet he finishes by emphasising the risk of being associated with the ‘wrong’ opinion
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
