You might see a headline from The Onion or The Babylon Bee and, for a split second, think it's true. But many social media users don't get the joke – and share these articles as if they're real.
Jon Stewart (R) with former NYPD bomb squad detective, Louis Alvarez (L) as they are sworn in before a House Judiciary Committee hearing, June 2019.
EPA-EFE/JIM LO SCALZO
Public taste has changed and that is that. It's not just the references that date in topical satire. Audiences are powerful, and if they feel insulted they can shut down a comedian.
Titania McGrath: not for the easily offended.
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Today's screen satire frequently preaches to the converted. Fortunately, there are some notable exceptions that can skewer even the most progressive of viewers.
Artwork courtesy of Richard LIttler (scarfolk.blogspot.com)
Too many satirists on social media misunderstand that it is humour designed to provoke change, not merely direct ridicule.
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, detailing the grim fate of Protestant clerics Latimer and Ridley, is one clue as to why Baldwin hesitated before publishing his irreverent book.
Wikimedia Commons
We may be living in a golden age of satire, but comedy has always struggled to communicate across political divides. Much of today’s satire may be preaching to the choir.
The magazine taught its readers to never swallow what they’re served.
Nick Lehr/The Conversation via Jasperdo
Speaking with: satirist Armando Ianucci on The Death of Stalin.
The Conversation, CC BY44.1 MB(download)
Armando Iannucci, the satirist and director behind the film The Death of Stalin spoke with Associate Professor Stephen Harrington, an expert on political satire.
Netflix hit, Black Mirror, follows in the footsteps of other forward-thinking sci-fi storytellers.
The stunning hoax of The Shed at Dulwich, deceived millions and showed how willing we are to consume an appetizing story.
(Courtesy VICE /Theo McInnes)
The Shed at Dulwich reached TripAdvisor's No. 1 spot for restaurants in London before it was revealed to be a hoax. The stunt showed how easily we are fooled. The lesson learned? Trust no one.
When does parody spill into insensitive cultural appropriation? While Chris LIlley is probably OK to appropriate the upper North Shore culture of Ja’mie (pictured), he’s on dodgier ground with Jonah from Tonga.
Princess Pictures, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Home Box Office (HBO)
In our pursuit of a world that is safely and entirely OK, must humour be cleansed of its original sin of cultural appropriation and insensitivity? It depends whether we are 'laughing up' or 'laughing down'.
Chaplin's 1940 film 'The Great Dictator' mocks Hitler’s absurdity and overweening vanity, while highlighting Germany's psychological captivity to a political fraud.
Franklin’s lifelong quest was spreading scientific knowledge to regular people.
Mason Chamberlin
Franklin advanced a scientific – not supernatural – understanding of astronomical events such as eclipses. His satirical character 'Poor Richard' mocked those who bought into astrological predictions.