Amna Nawaz
@PBSNewsHour·5.3M subscribers·62.2K videos
How shifts in media increased trust in satirical news
Posted
July 10, 2026
Views
13,952
Likes
1,075
Engagement
7.70%
July 10, 2026
13,952
1,075
7.70%
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2:56Now PlayingWhy do Americans trust satirists more than the news media?
The answer has to do partly with how the media has changed over the years, says Penn State University's Sophia McClennen.
"It starts to change when you get cable, and suddenly you could be watching the news or you could be watching 'Baywatch,'" she told PBS News' Judy Woodruff. "Then the news had to suddenly get a little more entertaining to pull those eyeballs back."
McClennen, a professor of international affairs and comparative literature who has examined the global impact of satire, added that the creation of CNN and the lack of news to fill a 24/7 news channel led to a rise in pundits on television.
"Now the person who's in the audience doesn't get to take the information and form their own opinions," she said. "They're watching opinions fly around, and so they're having a connection that's fully about affect and not about thinking critically."
McClennen, along with The Onion's Joshua Johnson, joined Judy Woodruff for the latest episode of PBS News' podcast, "In Pursuit of Happiness." They discussed how Americans use satire to process politics and power.
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