Political satire is an elusive hybrid genre that through its evolution over the past two decades has gained both media and scholarly interest. Inspired by American TV shows like Last Week Tonight, a new wave of more journalistic news satire has spread across the world. Studies have scrutinized its contents and effects, but the production side has remained largely uncovered. This study applies the concepts of genre and boundary work to analyze how advocates of this practice relate themselves to news journalism and previous satire. Based on qualitative interviews with 16 key production team members of four topical satire programs, we investigate how Nordic news satirists interpret their aims and work routines. We argue that both Finnish and Swedish news satirists embrace some of the traditional values of journalism such as striving for factuality, political relevance, and monitoring the powerful while they simultaneously aim for more emotional, opinionated, and exaggerated expression than in regular news reporting. The implications of this hybrid, "neomodern" ethos are examined.

Humor is arguably an essential part of Gonzo journalism, yet the topic has only recently received academic attention. This chapter contributes to emerging scholarship by describing aspects of Hunter S. Thompson's Gonzo through humor theory. We illustrate our discussion by scrutinizing three contemporary cases of Gonzo in Finnish media. Our thesis is that the most prominent feature of Gonzo humor is edgework-a volatile participatory self-reflective literary style of immersive reporting that entails dramatic irony, explicit mockery, and hoaxing. Edgework-voluntary risk taking-is not in itself necessarily humorous, but is accompanied in Gonzo with the humorous elements of dramatic irony, vivid mockery and brutal hoaxing. Gonzo can highlight false promises, hypocrisy and incompetence in relation to socially important issues (e.g. drug culture, politics, journalism) and thereby fulfill the informative and critical functions of journalism. Yet hoaxing and hyperbole undermines, for some audiences, the core value of journalism: the struggle for the truth.

For decades, political activist groups have used humor for ridiculing their opponents and attracting media attention. This study analyzed the online presence of the Loldiers of Odin, a clown-disguised activist group created as a parody of the anti-immigration group Soldiers of Odin. By analyzing the rhetorical strategies of Loldiers’ performance, we show how absurd and naïve parody stunts were used to criticize anti-immigration street patrolling, distort radical right-wing discourses, and mobilize like-minded progressives. Furthermore, by analyzing Facebook commentary of the performance, we trace its communicative outcomes: support and legitimization, but also problematization and delegitimization. Our results highlight the unpredictable and ambivalent nature of humor in facilitating a political protest. We argue that while humor offers a compelling way for citizens to discursively engage with political issues such as the immigration question, the polysemic nature of parody paradoxically works to amplify and support existing polarized positions in online discussions.

Tarkastelen tässä artikkelissa journalistisen uutissatiirin työkäytäntöjä ja merkityksiä genren ja rajatyön käsitteiden kautta. Aineistona on kahdeksan teemahaastattelua, joita erittelen laadullisen sisällönanalyysin avulla. Analysoin erityisesti ohjelmien pääosiota ja tekijöiden käsitteellisiä erotteluja suhteessa aiempaan satiiriin ja perinteiseen uutisjournalismiin. Väitän, että ohjelmien pääosio on journalistisen uutissatiirigenren varsinainen innovaatio, jossa yhdistyvät sekä toimittajien että stand up -koomikoiden ammattitaidot. Osiossa faktuaalinen taustoittaminen ja temaattinen kehystäminen sekoittuvat ajankohtaisten asioiden karnevalisointiin ja ironisointiin. Tekijät erottavat tämän vuoksi ohjelmansa aiemmasta pinnallisesta ajankohtaissatiirista ja neutraalimmasta uutisjournalismista. Tutkimuksen valossa näyttää siltä, että ammatillinen eetos siirtyy toimittajien mukana viihteen tekemiseen. Näin myös viihde muuttuu journalistisemmaksi, eikä vain toisinpäin kuten on usein pessimistisesti esitetty. Uusi hybridi uutissatiiri haastaa perinteistä vastakkainasettelua kovien ja viihteellisten journalististen genrejen välillä.

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