Abstract

By Víctor Sampedro Blanco and José Luis Valhondo Crego Info-satire is a satirical genre which uses the parody of news media and other elements of popular culture to describe the social and political reality of a country. Taking a new institutional perspective this article examines the media effects of info-satirical television programs on the opinions, political knowledge and attitudes of the audience. In particular, the purpose of this study is to clarify if infosatirical television programs lead the aware public to deeper political knowledge and consciousness or to broader cynicism and disaffection. This paper uses empirical research on the American Late Night Shows and on the Spanish El Guiñol and Polònia for its analysis.