Agenda-Setting With Satire

How Political Satire Increased TTIP’s Saliency on the Public, Media, and Political Agenda

Bibliographic Data

ID7971485
AuthorsMark Boukes (0000-0002-3377-6281, University of Amsterdam, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume36
Issue3
Pages426-451
Publication date2019-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1058-4609 • E-ISSN: 1091-7675
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10584609.2018.1498816
OpenAlexW2889979642
LanguageEN
Citations received46
References cited91

Agenda-setting has mostly been investigated as the cognitive process set in motion by the salience of political issues in the traditional news media. The question, though, remained whether political entertainment shows—political satire, specifically—can also set the agenda. The current study investigates whether two episodes of Dutch satire show Zondag met Lubach (ZML) about the European Union-United States trade agreement Transatlantic Trade Investment and Partnership (TTIP) have triggered first-level agenda-setting effects. For that purpose, three studies have been conducted to investigate the three-step agenda-setting process (i.e., learning, understanding, acting) from saliency in satire to saliency on the public agenda, but also on the media and political agenda. Study 1: A two-wave panel survey shows that consumption of the satire show positively affected knowledge acquisition about TTIP, which is the first step in the cognitive process underlying agenda-setting. Study 2: A randomized experiment demonstrated that exposure to ZML increased the perceived understanding of TTIP, which subsequently had a positive impact on the saliency of TTIP on the public agenda. Study 3: Longitudinal time-series data provide evidence that the saliency of TTIP on the public agenda—short term—and on the political agenda—long term—were positively affected by the ZML satire episodes. The study, altogether, demonstrates satire’s ability to set the agenda of both the individual and aggregate level and emphasizes the persistent relevance of agenda-setting theory in today’s high-choice media environment

Cognitive psychology · Economics · European union · Political communication · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Relevance (law · Salience (neuroscience · Sociology · Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership · Humor Studies and Applications · Law · Media Influence and Health · Media Studies and Communication · Psychology

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