Comedians rely heavily on sarcasm, Feldman explained, and not everyone is in on the joke.
That’s not to say satire isn’t without its stumbling blocks. “By virtue of the people they were interviewing about climate change, they were able to highlight other dimensions of the issue, whether it be economic implications or public health implications or some of the underlying morality issues,” said Feldman. Stewart and Colbert were more likely to feature scientists, science writers and other environmental experts (a practice Colbert has kept up in his new job). In a 2013 study, she found that The Daily Show and The Colbert Report rarely brought on climate deniers as interview guests. In the segment that followed, scientists spoke to the validity of their work.Īccording to Feldman, satirists tend to practice what they preach. “It’s a matter of scientific opinion - in this case, overwhelming scientific opinion.” Kimmel explained that 97 percent of climate scientists affirm that humans are driving global warming. “Unlike a lot of things, this isn’t a matter of political opinion” he said. Earlier this year, Jimmy Kimmel assembled a group of scientists to clear the air on global warming. They are in a position to skewer climate change denial. Unlike traditional news media, comedians can have a critical voice. The study finds that “satirical news helps information about science and the environment reach a broader swath of the American public than ordinarily seek out such information.” People tune in to The Daily Show because they want to laugh, and they end up learning about climate science. Source: Feldman, Leiserowitz, & Maibach, 2016.Īuthors describe a kind of bait and switch. This is especially true among people with a high school education. People who watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are more likely to follow news about science, technology and global warming. The effect was most pronounced among viewers without a college education. In a 2011 study, Feldman and her colleagues found that people who watched The Daily Show and The Colbert Report were more likely to follow news about science, technology and, specifically, global warming. To the extent comedy shows cover it, “I think it’s going to get a whole lot more people paying attention to science.” They’re sometimes there for the politics,” said Feldman. “People watch these comedy shows in large part to be entertained. What’s more remarkable than the sheer number of minutes given over to climate change is that late-night comics are making the research accessible - serving up the latest science with a side of humor. Colbert, Seth Meyers, Jon Oliver, Jimmy Kimmel, Trevor Noah and, until recently, Jon Stewart have lent valuable airtime to a vital issue that garners too little attention in traditional news programs.
#Quip about climate change tv#
“I think it reflects a continuation of the attention he paid to the issue on The Colbert Report.”įeldman explained that TV satirists are regularly pulling double duty as America’s ambassadors to science - whether geeking out with Neil DeGrasse Tyson or riffing on the latest climate science. “It is certainly notable that Colbert spent as much time as he did on climate change, given that his show is a comedy variety show,” said Rutgers professor of communications Lauren Feldman. This may be as much an indictment of ABC’s news coverage as it is a testament to Stephen Colbert. Last year, ABC News devoted just 13 minutes of airtime to coverage of climate change in its nightly and Sunday news shows - about as much as CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
0 kommentar(er)
