“We’re journos tooooo! Sorta”: The professional identities and values of the working comedy news journalist

Bain, Cale L.

“We’re journos tooooo! Sorta”: The professional identities and values of the working comedy news journalist

Bain, Cale L.

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Publication Type:: Thesis
Issue Date:: 2023

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Bain, Cale L.
dc.date.accessioned	2023-10-03T03:54:53Z
dc.date.available	2023-10-03T03:54:53Z
dc.date.issued	2023
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/172436
dc.description	University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.description.abstract	If comedy news - news satire, news parody or just news delivered through humour - can be considered part of a healthy news ecology (Harrington, 2019; McNair et al., 2017; Phiddian, 2017), then how do we consider those who are producing that comedy news? This thesis considers comedy news journalists as part of journalism, examining their professional identities through the lens of Deuze (2005) and Donsbach (2009) by way of interrogating interviews with 21 practitioners. The ideologies, role orientations, and foundations for ethical practice form the basis of an understanding of the professional identity of the practicing comedy news journalist. This work builds upon that understanding of the comedy news journalist to arrive at news values (Bednarek & Caple, 2012; Conley & Lamble, 2002; Harcup & O'Neill, 2019) specific to their practice. The comedy news values were arrived at through an analysis of the interviews and then examined further through content analyses. This thesis also examines the relationship of comedy news journalists in the broader field of journalist and their relationship with audiences, in terms of truth and trust. Ultimately, the argument is made that through the emotional delivery of comedy news, trust is built (Wahl-Jorgensen, 2020) and audiences more effectively uptake news because of that increased trust. A case study of the Australian comedy news program Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell provides insight into just what opportunities comedy news can provide in interrogating fake political actors to address real political problems. The character portrayal of political players allows for more than the scrutiny of political concepts. It also widens comedy news’ scope as a form of media literacy by engaging with how politicians can be agenda builders before the news media set agenda (Scheufele, 2000). Ultimately, this thesis argues for the inclusion of comedy news as part of complete journalism school curricula, as a genuine form of disseminating the news to engaged audiences.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.format	Thesis (PhD)
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US.UTF-8
dc.relation	https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/172436/1/thesis.pdf
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess
dc.rights	The author owns the copyright in this thesis including all reproduction and reuse rights for the work. The work may not be altered without the permission of the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from this thesis.
dc.rights	© 2023 Cale L. Bain
dc.rights	au.edu.uts.lib/cph
dc.title	“We’re journos tooooo! Sorta”: The professional identities and values of the working comedy news journalist	en_US.UTF-8
dc.type	Thesis
utslib.copyright.status	embargoed	*
utslib.copyright.embargo	2025-07-14T00:00:00+1000

Abstract:

If comedy news - news satire, news parody or just news delivered through humour - can be considered part of a healthy news ecology (Harrington, 2019; McNair et al., 2017; Phiddian, 2017), then how do we consider those who are producing that comedy news? This thesis considers comedy news journalists as part of journalism, examining their professional identities through the lens of Deuze (2005) and Donsbach (2009) by way of interrogating interviews with 21 practitioners. The ideologies, role orientations, and foundations for ethical practice form the basis of an understanding of the professional identity of the practicing comedy news journalist. This work builds upon that understanding of the comedy news journalist to arrive at news values (Bednarek & Caple, 2012; Conley & Lamble, 2002; Harcup & O'Neill, 2019) specific to their practice. The comedy news values were arrived at through an analysis of the interviews and then examined further through content analyses. This thesis also examines the relationship of comedy news journalists in the broader field of journalist and their relationship with audiences, in terms of truth and trust. Ultimately, the argument is made that through the emotional delivery of comedy news, trust is built (Wahl-Jorgensen, 2020) and audiences more effectively uptake news because of that increased trust. A case study of the Australian comedy news program Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell provides insight into just what opportunities comedy news can provide in interrogating fake political actors to address real political problems. The character portrayal of political players allows for more than the scrutiny of political concepts. It also widens comedy news’ scope as a form of media literacy by engaging with how politicians can be agenda builders before the news media set agenda (Scheufele, 2000). Ultimately, this thesis argues for the inclusion of comedy news as part of complete journalism school curricula, as a genuine form of disseminating the news to engaged audiences.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/172436