Monarchy, jesters, politicians and audiences. Comparison of TV satire in UK and Spain

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4185/10.4185/RLCS-66-2011-923-252-273

Keywords:

Satire, television, liberalization, segmentation of audiences, political communication

Abstract

Satire programmes have become a frequent form of political communication on TV. After the liberalization of media and the globalization of formats, countries like Spain have adopted satirical formats derived from earlier ones, which relied on old traditions from nearly the inception of television similar to the United Kingdom. The goal of this article is to build a definition of the genre, taking into account the examples of the two mentioned countries and, also, referring to both periods, before and after liberalization. We will use a comparative methodology relative to the profile of the audiences, of the buffoons of satire and the role played by the politicians through the short history of television satire.

The results point to an evolution. During the sixties in the past century, the genre targeted the middle classes, writers tried to popularize politics for a society respectful to the Establishment and politicians censored the program in case it created an imbalance between ideological options during elections. In the nineties, satire jesters acquired the main role in the show and the politicians not only immunized themselves against satire but seemed to take advantage of it. 

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Author Biography

José Luis Valhondo Crego, University of Extremadura

José Luis Valhondo Crego holds a Ph. D. in Audiovisual Comunication from the Rey Juan Carlos University and a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the Basque Country University. He is the author of a book on satire and democracy, “Sátira televisiva y democracia en España” and has devoted last ten years to research on questions related to the public sphere, media and democracy. He has also collaborated on several studies about infotaintment in Spanish television.

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Published

2011-04-01

How to Cite

Valhondo Crego, J. L. (2011). Monarchy, jesters, politicians and audiences. Comparison of TV satire in UK and Spain. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, (66), 253–274. https://doi.org/10.4185/10.4185/RLCS-66-2011-923-252-273

Issue

Section

Miscellaneous