Politics in Media: A Strained Intersection
Maya Rudolph of Saturday Night Live and former Vice President Kamala Harris, who guest starred on the show just before the 2024 election. (Photo by Risakubd O’Connor for NBC)
This article originally appeared on page 15 of the No. 4 February 2025 edition of The Gettysburgian magazine.
By Kenzie Smith, Arts & Entertainment Editor and Video Producer
Politics have always been represented in media, from newspapers to online news articles to TV news stations, but as many expanses have changed due to the digital age, so has the way many Americans receive news about politics. Politicians took to campaigning and trying to reach more audiences on social media sites. Some news stations transitioned more into talk shows about current events rather than simply reporting the facts, and other shows, like Saturday Night Live, took to satirizing politics.
There are many voices and forms one can receive their information from, and sometimes people find themselves in an echo chamber of their own and the algorithms’ making. Although it can sometimes be hard to search through and analyze the information being presented, social media also has positive aspects to presenting political information. Many of the younger generations do not watch the news or read newspapers, so information being presented on larger social media platforms reaches important demographics.
Some of the forms also allow for a comedic relief that can help alleviate the sometimes overwhelming political landscape. SNL constantly has skits that satirize the political state of the nation, taking on caricatures of political officials or focusing on specific political issues. One such skit appeared to be a focus on the founding fathers, even featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda, before “Trump” interrupted and took over the show in a recap of his first week in office. The Daily Show also does segments featuring some of the latest political news while making jokes directly related to the topic. SNL and the Daily Show both post clips on social media platforms, such as TikTok, allowing them to reach wider audiences. In a similar vein, people post political memes to platforms such as Twitter and TikTok. These more comical takes allow for a breath of air from the seriousness of politics while also sometimes sharing important updates and news.
Beyond satirical political discourse and more traditional outlets, political podcasts and YouTube channels have started to become popular, such as Jubilee’s series where one liberal individual had conversations with twenty Trump supporters or its counterpart where one conservative had discussions with twenty-five liberal college students. Many different forms of political dialogue have emerged, some more productive than others, but there is almost a type of media for everyone.
With this more widespread political discourse in media, concerns over bias and credibility are brought into question. Social media and more diverse outlets have allowed for more voices, especially those previously hidden, to have a place to speak, but allowing so many voices also causes misinformation to be easily brewed and spread. Bias is not only limited to social media, as many news sources are also politically aligned one way or the other. This facet brings forth the need for the public to reflect on the source of their information and critically analyze the information.
News sources have expanded with the rise of the digital age and have even turned into more satirical and comical representations. With this growth, more generations are able to be engaged with, but the concern with bias and media literacy arise. The role of media will continue to change and mold as the ways information is received and the political landscape change.
