Political satire
By its very nature, it rarely offers a constructive view in itself; when it is used as part of protest or dissent, it tends to simply establish the error of matters rather than provide solutions.
[1] Because of the exaggerated[2] manner of these parodies, satirical news shows can more effectively sway their audiences to believe specific ideas by overemphasizing the flaws of the critiqued subject.
"Satire and derision progressively attacked even the fundamental and most sacred facts of faith," leading to an increased doubt towards religion by the general population.
Historically, public opinion in the Athenian democracy was remarkably influenced by the political satire performed by the comic poets at the theatres.
Examples include musicians such as Tom Lehrer incorporating lyrics which targeted the army and the church,[12] live performance groups like the Capitol Steps and the Montana Logging and Ballet Co., and public television and live performer Mark Russell who made satirist comments to both democrats and republicans alike.
[13] Additional subgenres include such literary classics as Gulliver's Travels and Animal Farm, and more recently, the digital online magazine and website sources such as The Onion.
The piece used the literary device of a dialogue between two diabolical plotters in Hell, the historical characters of Machiavelli and Montesquieu, to cover up a direct, and illegal, attack on Napoleon's rule.
[14] The literacy rate in France was roughly 30 percent in the 19th century making it virtually impossible for people of lower classes to engage in political satire.
However, visual arts could be interpreted by anyone, and a man named Charles Philipon took advantage creating two weekly magazines, La Caricature and Le Charivari – the cheaper of the two.
In some readings, a number of William Shakespeare's plays can be seen – or at least performed – as satire, including Richard III and The Merchant of Venice.
[19][20] The early 1960s saw the so-called "satire boom", of which the most prominent products were the stage revue Beyond the Fringe (debuted 1960), the fortnightly magazine Private Eye (launched 1961) and the BBC TV show That Was the Week That Was (1962–1963).
[24] He criticizes the nature of war and the opinions of politicians on the subject as the woman represents innocence being directly impacted by the "dark" bomb symbol.
He employed satire in several essays, including Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One and A Witch Trial at Mount Holly.
In the late 1800s, editorial cartoonist Thomas Nast employed political satire to tackle issues like corruption.
During the months leading up to the 1968 presidential election, Richard Nixon appeared on Laugh-In and repeated the program's catch-phrase "Sock it to me.
When Saturday Night Live debuted in 1975, the show began to change the way that comedians would depict the president on television.
Some of the other famous presidential impersonations on Saturday Night Live include Dan Aykroyd's Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter caricatures, Dana Carvey as George H. W. Bush, Darrell Hammond and Phil Hartman as Bill Clinton, Will Ferrell as George W. Bush, Jay Pharoah and Fred Armisen as Barack Obama.
Real Time with Bill Maher, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver are also examples of satirical news shows.
One of the most-widely read satirists is Egyptian writer Lenin El-Ramly, who is credited with over 30 scripts for films and television series and 12 plays.
A 2002 example of censorship resulted in satirist Ali Farzat having to remove two articles and a cartoon about the Prime Minister from a magazine, which was deemed insulting.
[35] According to the findings of the 2004 Pew Survey, both younger and older audiences are turning to late-night comedy shows as not only a source of entertainment, but also for an opportunity to gain political awareness.
[36] Utilizing satire has shown to be an attractive feature in news programming, drawing in the audiences of less politically engaged demographic cohorts.
For the satire news show, presenting information in a comprehensive manner was used to give viewers a greater perspective of a situation.
[37] Not to mention, with the rise in technology and the growing ubiquity of cellular phones, it can be argued that civic participation is all the more easy to accomplish.
[39] Research has shown that voter attitude shifts positively in relation to political figures who find humor in their ridicule.
[43] Critics have expressed their hesitancy toward the infiltration of lighthearted practices to cover more dire topics like political affair.
Critics of satire in news shows thus believe that the showcasing of an overly and openly frustrated host will induce or perpetuate "cynicism in viewers".
