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Articles by Dannagal G. Young

Dannagal G. Young is an associate professor of communication at the University of Delaware.
“Even if ironic satire isn’t great at persuading people to change their minds, research shows it does subtly shape how we think about and engage with our political world.”
“We will not learn who the best person for the job of the presidency actually is, but we might come away from campaign coverage knowing who the best person is to play president on TV.”
“In 2023, journalists can choose to relegate cynical elite displays of identity threat to mere footnotes.”
“Although people today hate ‘the other side,’ I remain convinced that once they catch on to the game, they’ll hate being pawns even more.”
“Does satire have a liberal bias? Sure. Satire has a liberal psychological bias. But the only person who can successfully harness the power of satire is the satirist. Not political strategists. Not a political party. Not a presidential candidate.”
“Put simply, journalists’ reliance on this practice is allowing elites to further divide the country, avoid scrutiny, and distract citizens away from thoughtful policy debate on issues that carry real-life consequences.”
“Walter Lippmann was right. There is no substitute for experts in a field, parsing information and serving as the arbiters of truth, and reifying our faith in a shared reality, a shared body of facts.”