Study Finds 'Saturday Night Live' Season 51 Directed Most Political Jokes at Conservatives
A Media Research Center analysis examined all 20 episodes of the recently concluded Season 51 of NBC's Saturday Night Live. The study counted political jokes and characters across the season's Weekend Update segments and cold opens.
automotiveworld.comThe Media Research Center's NewsBusters released a study on Monday examining political content in the recently concluded Season 51 of NBC's Saturday Night Live. The analysis reviewed all 20 episodes that aired from October through the end of the season.
Researchers counted 238 jokes delivered by Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che. Of those jokes, 217 targeted conservatives while 18 targeted liberals and three were classified as nonpartisan. The study also found that 83 percent of the season's cold-open political characters were conservatives or Republicans.
Che's top 10 targets included President Trump with 108 jokes, Health Secretary Robert F. with 15 jokes, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with 12 jokes, and Tucker Carlson with 11 jokes. The list continued with former Rep. D. Vance, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and FBI Director Kash Patel.
Bozell said in a statement that entertainment companies once understood alienating half the country was not a great business model. Bozell added that when every political punchline focuses on one side, the program risks becoming a caricature of its own political obsessions.
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The study may be cited in future discussions of political balance in late-night comedy.
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