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The rise of candidate, then president, Donald Trump coincided with a near-total turnover of late-night hosts, as well as the additions of late-night shows in new formats. The result has changed the paradigm of late-night talk show hosting, in which each host or segment must weigh the political leanings of their audiences and their personal convictions as they choose how to poke fun at or pontificate on the issues of the day. The ways each host has navigated this new terrain of outrage and resistance in their comedy offers fascinating insights into hosts' abilities to use new techniques to continue to inform, inflame, entertain and satirize, all while shaping their audience's knowledge about their world. This volume examines the communication strategies, informed and influenced by their individual experiences, employed by the hosts as they seek to handle Trump and the fast-moving news cycle that trails in his wake. Examining topics as varied as politics as the carnivalesque, race and gender privilege, satire as education and the blurring lines between satire and journalism, this volume provides a starting examination of the rhetoric, humor and political chops these hosts have employed while they use their platforms to inform, entertain or resist.
List of contents
List of Figures - Acknowledgments - Introduction - Matthew R. Meier: Trump vs. Comedy: The Carnivalesque Politics of Late Night - Stacie Meihaus Jankowski: "There Are No Switzerlands": Jimmy Fallon and the Costs of Staying Apolitical - Jessica Birthisel: From The Man Show to #MeToo: How "the Personal" Shifted Jimmy Kimmel's Comedy, and His Performance of Masculinity, into the Political - Spring-Serenity Duvall: "Jokes Seth Can't Tell": Using White Male Privilege to Promote Diversity in Late Night - Lori Henson: The Roasts That Burned: Comedy, Access Journalism, and Resistance at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner - Nancy Bressler: Checking In with the Resistance against Trump's Administration: How Samantha Bee Utilizes Feminist Humor to Advocate for Social Issues - JenniferA. Jackson: Truth, Humor, and a Reality Check: Samantha Bee's 'Full Frontal' Coverage of Trump's Travel Ban Executive Order - Kacee A. Garner: Deconstructing Privilege with Trevor Noah - Patty Terhune / Charisse L'Pree Corsbie-Massay: Satirical Education or Educational Satire?: Learning and Laughing on Last Week Tonight - Rosemary Pennington: John Oliver: Committing Acts of Journalism through Dick Jokes and Snark - Contributors - Index.
About the author
Lori Henson (Ph.D., Indiana University) is an Instructor of Journalism in the Department of Communication at Indiana State University. Her research focuses on American news media, religion and politics.
Stacie Meihaus Jankowski (Ph.D., Indiana University) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Northern Kentucky University. She is the co-author, with Lesa Hatley Major, of Health News and Responsibility: How Frames Create Blame.
Summary
This volume examines the communication strategies, informed and influenced by their individual experiences, employed by the hosts as they seek to handle Trump and the fast-moving news cycle that trails in his wake.
