SNL and the End of the Obama Honeymoon?

As we talk more about the connection between the media, politics and the masses, I wanted to bring a couple of items to your attention.

First, a news media interpretation of the importance of another mass media form's political influence: the comedy sketch show. Here, CNN considers whether a recent sketch on Saturday Night Live that seemed to be critical of President Obama meant that his "honeymoon" period was over, presumably because during the election season, SNL was much more critical of his competitors. Here is the sketch in question:



I know many of you are aware of the growing prominence of parody, satire and comedy in political media today (and that many of you are fans of The Daily Show). What I find interesting about this article is not so much whether Obama's honeymoon really is over, but that shows based in comedy/entertainment are so powerful and relevant when it comes to political discourse and public opinion. Is this because shows such as these are where most people get their political information? Do the opinions of comedians more accurately represent the pulse of America than the news media? Or, as the pop culture professor in the article, Robert Thompson says, is comedy just about going after people in power, whoever they may be? How powerful is humor in political criticism?

And the case may be that the suggestion that this sketch matters that much is just something being stirred up by those in the media who would like to see more criticism of Obama. After all, they note, the sketch wasn't that funny, and didn't get great ratings.