Appropriation of Mainstream News How Saturday Night Live

Appropriation of Mainstream News: How Saturday Night Live Changed the political Discussion BY ANGELA D. ABEL & MICHAEL BARTHEL

Purpose of the Study Focuses on the original Katie Couric and Sarah Palin interview that aired September 24 & 25, 2008 and the SNL skit that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler did parodying the interview which aired September 27, 2008. The purpose of the study was to look at how alternative news outlets (SNL) influence mainstream news outlets.

Key Terms Mainstream news outlets: Front page of New York Times, ABC Evening News, and CNN news coverage (Abel & Barthel) Alternative news outlets: CNN’s Showbiz Tonight and The Rachel Maddow Show (Abel & Barthel) SNL Effect: Where the show is theorized to influence public opinion on political candidates or issues (Kurtz, 2008, March 14)

Rationale for the Study Mainstream News outlets don’t have the opportunity to freely speak their opinion and critique events such as the Palin/Couric interview Reasons for this include organizational pressures, operating procedures, and a general sense of “newsworthiness according to the article (Abel & Barthel) Tina Fey did not change much of the wording from the original interview in her skit which made people pay attention more After the skit aired it was used in mainstream news and journalists were able to voice concerns about Palin’s qualifications as vice president.

Communication Theories/Concepts Used Theory: The theory that non-traditional news outlets can influence mainstream news outlets and change how they cover stories. “…coupled with the ability to mimic real events and people, have led many to question a possible “SNL effect, ” where the show is theorized to influence public opinion on political candidates or issues (Kurts, 2008). “ Communication: The article analyzes how news outlets communicate messages and critique political events and issues. Source credibility: Mainstream news outlets are limited to what stories they cover because their sources need to have legitimacy. “The need for these sources to have an established form of legitimacy limits the political perspectives the press is able to offer. (Abel and Barthel, pg. 4). ”

Interview

Methods Used Content was collected from mainstream news outlets including ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNCB, CNN, FOX, NPR, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. Content qualitative analysis was conducted to analyze how news outlets approached the interview before the SNL skit and after. Research question 1: How did mainstream news media frame the Katie Couric/Sarah Palin interview before and after the SNL skit aired? Research question 2: How did the “Katie Couric/Sarah Palin interview SNL skit” influence mainstream news media coverage of Sarah Palin or of the original interview? It also analyzed “how the user reference of the SNL skit or Tina Fey changed how journalists discussed Sarah Palin or the interview. ” (Abel & Barthel)

Results Before the SNL skit aired about one third of articles and broadcasts blamed Palin for her performance in the interview. After the SNL skit aired about 80% of articles and broadcasts blamed Palin for her “faulty” performance. (Abel & Barthel). When there was a SNL clip included in a broadcast, 91. 1% attributed blame to Palin for faulty performance. When there wasn’t an SNL clip it dropped significantly to 71. 9% It seems that SNL skit had an impact on bringing general concerns of Palin’s qualifications to mainstream news outlets and opening up the conversation about it.