Illustration by Fintan O’Sullivan
Anderson Cooper or Trevor Noah? Katie Couric or John Oliver? Traditional news or political satire? Political satire has increasingly gained popularity over the years, because the news has become overwhelming. As partisan divides grow deeper and national politics has grown to resemble a schoolyard squabble and the President’s favorite platform is social media, it’s become overwhelming. For many, political satire is filling the holes that are present in traditional news. Satirical TV gives clear, accurate reports of current events while simultaneously exploring underlying social issues.
The Onion, a satirical news outlet, publishes the headline, “‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens,” following every American mass shooting. The mass shooting epidemic and the lack of action being taken isn’t a laughing matter. Satire like this appeals to people because it vocalizes their frustrations.
News outlets cannot address the underlying issues when they report on something such as mass shootings, but where they lack that freedom, political satire doesn’t. While reporting an event, satirical news has the freedom to explore the bigger picture behind the issues, what is and isn’t being done, who is to blame for that, and how it can be solved. It offers a fresh voice that addresses topics as a whole that usually seem so disjointed in the media.
Where most traditional news sources would glaze over the comedic element of stories, political satire builds off of it. In a recent episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, John Oliver attacks Trump’s denial in the Trump-Russia investigation. Oliver talks about the recent Manafor indictments and Trump’s denial of involvement. He poses the big question: “Did Trump know all of this and not care? Or did he know none of it because he’s incompetent? In other words: is Trump smart enough to be evil?”
It’s hilarious, and as Oliver continues, you can’t help but laugh at the sheer hilarity of Trump running himself into the ground. This allows us to make light of oftentimes heavy political issues. Oliver, just like many other satirical comedians, emphasizes the comedic element of our current politics that so many people observe. The ability to weave together explanations of complicated political scandals while voicing the humor of them is what makes satirical TV so appealing in today’s world.
Because it reports information while making you laugh, political satire is quickly becoming a favorite for many, especially in our political climate. Just like in everything, it is important to take what you hear with a grain of salt. But it’s also important to laugh, and political satire will continue to do so as long as our politics do.