Media Writing Lab

By: Ben May In the current political climate, satire has and will continue to be a key part of how news is spread in the media. In the popular TV show South Park , each episode is filled with vulgar and extreme forms of satire. I argue that this extreme form of satire is needed in our society, especially for young voters, as it allows for a chance to learn more about current events and issues in our society from a different perspective. South Park is unique in the fact that it is one of the few shows that can successfully “ridicule politics, culture, and the endless contradictions of American liberalism via gross bodily humor” (Thorogood, 2016, p. 18). The willingness of the writers to push boundaries and go far beyond anything close to political correctness in their mocking of politicians, activist groups, and community leaders could be why young people are so attracted to political satire. The power of satire goes far beyond just poking fun and pushing boundaries; it is the...

By Leda Turpen For the majority of my life, I have participated in and found immense amounts of joy in playing sports. As many people can relate to, sports are an escape from the outside pressures of the world, and a way in which many athletes can confide in something they are passionate about. Although, for women in particular, being an athlete can bring about many false assumptions and stereotypes that create a difficult environment for female athletes to not only participate in, but enjoy. Not to mention, this idea is extremely prominent in regards to sportswomen and media representation. I argue that there is indeed unequal representation between genders in the sports media realm and that this misrepresentation is specifically related to the hypersexualization of sportswomen under sports media platforms. Female athletes are confined to certain standards and stereotypes of how they are supposed to look, act, and play. In a study that observed the patterns and ...

By Margaret Wagenbrenner Imagine yourself sitting on your couch, flipping through channels on your television. As you are flipping, you stop on America’s Next Top Model . You see young, slim women competing to be the best on camera. On the next channel, you see a Dove Chocolate advertisement with yet another slim, young woman sensually eating chocolate. You flip the channel one more time and see a bartender passing a woman a light beer. Sounds typical, right? But what we as a society do not realize is that these commercials and other social media posts instill the notion that young women must be like these women we see in media in order to be considered desirable. There are endless examples of advertisements that degrade women sexually.  However, as we look at ads created throughout our history, have we gotten better? Do the commercials of today affect women’s idea of beauty any less? Jean Kilbourne, a famous author and filmmaker, started her research on women’s body...

By Griffin Spurgin Late night talk shows play a big role in today’s society. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Daily Show hosted by Jon Stewart are two reasons why the outcome of the 2016 election came out with the results landing in favor of Republican Donald Trump. Both these shows are a great watch for those that love comedy, but they also provide as good news sources for politics and elections. However, they can pose a negative satirical threat to their viewers. The past election was a heated and important one to say the least. The two candidates, to most, were unqualified for the job. Dean Flannery writes in his research article, “How Satire Failed,” that, “Just 24 hours before Donald Trump was elected the next president of the United States, Americans were still in the mood to laugh about their volatile political climate—or rather, late-night hosts were still trying to make them laugh about it”(Flannery, 2016). Elections should not be laughing mat...

By Georges Azouri Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, and Trevor Noah. These are all household names of television hosts on shows such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report . Both shows are infotainment programs that inform their viewers on current news and entertain them in a satirical way. While there is great comedic value provided by these programs, there is even greater value to the political culture of the United States. Infotainment programs are not new, rather the influence they can have on an audience is new. Shows like The Daily Show or The Colbert Report share news stories and often political stories in a satirical manner. In doing so these programs are still educating audiences on politics even if it may be skewed. Political efficacy is the belief that one is able to strongly influence politics and usually is tied to political participation. A study done on adolescents showed that, “nontraditional sources of political information on television (late-night comedy) i...

By: Caleb Baue     In the early studio days, masculinity looks like what is now referred to as Traditional Masculinity, where men are the dominant gender, working, providing for, and protecting the woman that are in their lives. Anything that goes against this understanding of what it means to be a man is automatically deemed as feminine. (Benshoff   & Griffin, 2009)   In the 1928 silent film Steamboat Bill Jr. , the main character played by Buster Keaton is an obvious let down to his father who is a successful, rich, business man. He then spends the entire film attempting to reach his fathers standards of Manhood. He finally accomplishes this through heroic acts of physical amazement and saves the damsel in distress. Keaton’s character makes the transition from a young college boy, with a sloppy sense of dress, no woman, no job, and no respect, to a man who is now the town hero, has a pretty girl, and shops at Men’s warehouse.(Keaton, Sheneck ...

By Natalie Raskas The American public seems to have a problem with discernment, confusing entertainment with the reality of the real-world consequences of politics more and more and Saturday Night Live (SNL) may be to blame. Nickie Michaud Wild writes in his research article, “Dumb vs. Fake: Representations of Bush and Palin on Saturday Night Live and Their Effects on the journalistic Public Sphere,” that “The observation that news and entertainment are becoming more alike has been met with derision or with acceptance.” This “infotainment” element became popular in American media starting in the 1980s with the advent of cable news and only has grown to be a stronger and more polarizing feature in today’s political climate (Wild, 2015, p.495). To most Americans supporting the political left, Donald Trump, the presidential candidate, now President, became a joke – thanks in part to SNL ’s spot on political satire sketches. We laughed until we cried on election night when the unima...

By Ryan Smith The increasing popularity of superhero movies, such as those produced by Marvel Studios, is undeniable. It seems that each new film released breaks multiple box office records. With Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War grossing over $2 billion worldwide (Box Office Mojo, 2018), the genre of superhero movies has amassed a vast following. Many of these films, however, depict very few female heroes, and when they do, these characters are often much weaker than their male counterparts. Currently, one of the most popular female superheroes actually has no superpower at all. Black Widow, of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is a highly trained and highly intelligent spy. She has exceptional combat skills and leadership qualities but she lacks real knockout punch type firepower. She often times needs a male hero like Hulk or Thor — both of whom are incredibly powerful and masculine — to step in and save the day. Pennell and Behm-Morawitz (2015) point out in their article that...