Fresh Politics, New Media

Ever wonder about the impact of those political parody videos you were watching during the 2012 Election cycle? While you might have found it funny to see Barack Obama or Mitt Romney made fun of, were others finding these things funny as well? Was anybody else watching? A new article I just published in Human Communication Research addresses these questions and more by applying the disposition theory of humor to the study of both political parody appreciation and the effects of humor exposure. First, a little background: The Pew Research Center reports that 55% of all registered voters went online during the 2012 Election cycle to watch political video . 37% watched humorous or parody videos dealing with political issues. So yes, you weren't the only one watching those YouTube clips. The research featured in the HCR article is based on an experimental study that asked subjects to watch one of three sets of videos: a set that featured Democratic-directed humor, one set that inc...

Well the semester is FINALLY over and I'm happy to report that we had A LOT of fun in my new seminar, Popular Culture & Politics. While the 2012 election didn't provide quite as much entertainment as the 2008 Sarah Palin fest, we spent some quality time talking about SNL's new Barack Obama (Jay Pharoah), Mitt Romney style , and Stephen Colbert's Super PAC - Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow . We tried to keep up with the various viral videos and comedy appearances that popped up during the election cycle. Here are some highlights: Lena Dunham's First Time: This one's not political but it did help us talk about Saturday Night Live: Barack Obama's appearance on The Daily Show: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Barack Obama Pt. 1 www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook And last but not least, here's some more Lena Dunham: "You Don't...

There's a great article in today's New York Times about the influence of SNL during a competitive election season. As we've been learning in my TSEM class(Popular Culture and Politics: Comedy, Entertainment, Celebrity, and Democracy) this semester, journalists and the public alike look to the cast of SNL to offer their parody version of each general election debate. Parody is a reinterpretation of an original text -- a mockery that is easier to understand if you're familiar with the original event or script. According to the SNL writing team, this past Wednesday's debate failed to offer genuine comic inspiration. From the NYT article: "But the debate itself turned out to be a challenge. There were no big gaffes or obvious springboards for comedy. Instead, the first debate of this election offered up a blizzard of policy details and a lackluster performance from President Obama. At home Wednesday night, Seth Meyers, one of the show’s head writers, watch...

It's hard to believe that the third week of classes is almost over at Towson University. We've been having a lot of fun in my Towson Seminar ( Popular Culture and Politics: Comedy, Entertainment, Celebrity, and Democracy ) and we've been reviewing some interesting video content In fact, I'm struck by how much material the 2012 campaign has already provided. We spent some time talking about Clint Eastwood's Invisible Chair debacle at the Republican National Convention -- what a great example of celebrity politics gone wrong! If you don't believe me, see for yourself: We've been giving equal treatment to the Democrats too -- a great gem from this past week was this New York Times article about Joe Biden's get together with a group of bikers in Ohio. The NYT journalist penning the piece, Sarah Wheaton, offers some spot on commentary regarding the picture featured in the article. Even she can't believe it's not ripped from the pages of The Oni...

Want to share your views on the pressing issues of the day? Want to see your face and views up in the lights of Times Square? According to an article in today's New York Times , Facebook users will have the opportunity to vote on key political issues using the new app 2012Matters. The non-partisan polling app will touch on nine issues during the course of the election cycle including:  the economy, health care,  immigration , social issues, energy,  Social Security , debt, national security and the environment.  After users rank what they see as the personal importance of these nine issues, they'll have the option of sharing their poll rankings (and their Facebook photo) on the Nasdaq billboard in Times Square. The billboards will highlight how the importance of these key issues varies by state. The 2012 Matters app represents an interesting bridging of political sentiment with new technology and allows users to express their political viewpoints in one of t...

If you subscribe to emails from the  Colbert Super PAC  like I do or if you're just a frequent viewer of The Colbert Report  or even someone who spends time on social networking sites, you'll by now know that Stephen Colbert has turned over the leadership of his Super PAC (Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow) to Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show . Colbert is taking a step back from the Super PAC so that he can be considered as a candidate for president in the upcoming South Carolina primary on January 21st. Here's Stephen's take on his electability in South Carolina and his popularity as a Mitt-ternative. The Colbert Report Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , Video Archive Since candidates are technically not allowed to coordinate with super PACs, it makes sense that Stephen Colbert can't remain as the director of Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. Trevor Potter, Colbert's lawyer explained the p...

All eyes are on New Hampshire this evening as the GOP primary there draws to a close. It seems that Rick Santorum has continued to ruffle feathers -- this time his comments aren't directly tied to the gay and lesbian community -- now he's making controversial comments about members of the African-American community and entitlement programs. Specifically, Santorum is reported to have commented on January 1 in Sioux City, Iowa: Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum singled out blacks as being recipients of assistance through federal benefit programs, telling a mostly-white audience he doesn't want to "make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money. Of course, like any skillful politician, Santorum is trying to deny that he really made the controversial remarks directed at African-Americans. In fact,  Santorum said that he wasn't really saying the word "black," -- just a simple twist of the tongue.  Here's S...

I'm anxiously awaiting the results of the 2012 GOP Iowa Caucus. Will Mitt Romney be able to secure more than 25% of the vote? Will Ron Paul eek out a Mike Huckabee style victory? Or will Santorum and his v-neck sweater vests  make the most of some recent momentum? While the New York Times  sweater vest story (link above) is a funny one, nothing beats these proposed Santorum newspaper headlines , a fun list that pays tribute to Santorum's Google problem . While Romney remains as the presumptive nominee even with a second or third place finish in Iowa, a second place finish (or even a good showing) for either Santorum or Paul will keep the respective #2 candidate in the media spotlight. If it's Santorum in the news, you can bet the headlines, the sweater vests, and the association with the Google problem will only continue on to New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Check out the answers to yesterday's NYT  quiz. Here's to more Oops! moments in 2012.

In Thursday's New York Times , Nate Silver discusses two fundamental qualities voters look for when evaluating candidates in a presidential primary contest: (1) electability and (2) a candidate who will promote an agreeable (in this case conservative Republican) policy agenda. Often times, it's electability that matters most to primary voters (aka the party faithful) because they seek a candidate who can ultimately win in a general election. As Silver notes, Perry does well in promoting a conservative agenda but is lacking when it comes to perceptions of electability. Romney on the other hand may not appeal to the policy preferences of more conservative Republican voters but he does give off an air of electability when it comes time to think about the general election. The importance of electability was especially evident during the 2004 Democratic primary. In the early days of the primary I worked with a team of pollsters hired by a candidate who was promoting a very cred...

Bill Keller, the Executive Editor of The New York Times , has an interesting piece in this Sunday's NYT  Magazine . In the essay, Keller suggests that: "w hen it comes to the religious beliefs of our would-be presidents, we are a little squeamish about probing too aggressively." Keller is correct in making his claim about our reluctance to ask the hard questions regarding religion. In the piece, Keller subsequently argues that we need to ask candidates for honest answers about their religious beliefs, their adherence to religious doctrine and deference to biblical authority, and the influence that religious values and convictions play in shaping attitudes toward science and social policy. In other words, understanding what a candidate believes and how they apply these beliefs to political and national life is of paramount importance. As an academic who studies how religious and ideological value predispositions shape public opinion and political participation , I ca...

According to Politico, Newt Gingrich is 2012 Republican candidate to watch on Twitter .  As Emily Schultheis noted yesterday, Gingrich who has been using the social media service since Februrary 2009, is leading the pack of Republican contenders. From her piece:  "Gingrich has a whopping 1.3 million followers on the popular social media site. His three closest Twitter rivals from the 2012 GOP presidential field, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Reps. Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann, all hover around 60,000 followers apiece. Even Twitter enthusiast Sarah Palin, who hasn’t indicated whether she’ll run, has less than half the followers Gingrich does." Of course, Schultheis also commends Gingrich for his willingness to be entertaining with his tweets and notes a recent online conversation between Gingrich and Rainn Wilson, or Dwight Schrute of The Office . Rainn Wilson suggested a Newt/Schrute campaign and the former Speaker of the House responded with his own comi...