This thesis is a serious study of humor – a seemingly contradictory task to wich I was drawn becasue of the possibilty of understanding society and public opinion through satire. More precisely, it explores the use of political satire in the Swedish comic magazines Söndagsnisse–Strix, Lutfisken and Joker during the Second World War. The comic press was an influential public commentator in Sweden whose satirical remarks not only shaped, but also corresponded with, the general understanding of social, political and economic conditions. Since the genre reached its pinnacle at the turn of the 20th century, and later was challenged by the daily press during the 1920s, its activity from the 1930s and onwards tends to be neglected. This thesis argues, however, that even though the number of comic magazines was radically diminished during the 1920s, those that survived continued to be influential by offering a unique type of opinion-forming satire, not least during th second world war when the Swedish government tried to restrict the freedom of the press. By understanding the satire in the comic press, mainly in the form of witty drawings, as a laughing mirror that reflects essential features of the society it comments in the form of parody, it further argues that the comic press offers a valuable insight into how political decisions and developments was understood and presented at the time. The analysis is structured around two main themes. The first one explores how the Swedish coalition-government and its domestic policies during the war was presented in satirical depictions. The study shows that the Swedish prime minister Per Albin Hansson was recurrently criticized, not least for the government's tendency to accommodate German complaints and demands during the beginning of the war, and thus deviating from Sweden's   proclaimed policy of neutrality. Apart from Per Albin Hansson, two of his goverment colleagues, minister of finance Ernst Wigforss and minister of justice KG Westman, was repeatedly criticized and ridiculed for the policies they were in charge of respectively. The government also received criticism for not taking appropiate action against domestic communist and Nazi movements, which were depicted as a menace to the Swedish society. The second part of the thesis explores how the political situation in the Nordic neighboring countries, that unlike Sweden did not manage to avoid the war, was commented and portrayed in satire. The analysis shows that it was common to express sympathy and admiration for their attempts at resisting occupation while at the same time mocking the aggressors. The thesis ends with the note that satire in general, and cartoons in particular, should be considered more often in the study of history and the shaping of public opinion. Unlike an editiorial, that demands time and effort from the reader, a satirical drawing has the potential of shaping peoples understanding of events in the blink of and eye due to its condensed message in the form of a snapshot.

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The aim of the Master thesis "The Transformation of Czech political satire in TV broadcasting after year 1989" is to capture and describe changes of political satire in television shows over last 25 years on sample of six selected shows: Česká soda, Gumáci, S politiky netančím, Politické harašení, Stalo se and 168 hodin. Theoretical part of this work is trying to explain idea of satire itself and to introduce of the topic into more general historical context. Practical part is then, using semiotic analysis, aiming at what expression/aesthetic and thematically variables create satiric constructions in the level of visual picture, press and graphics, language level and music component. Last chapter is dedicated to offer political satire in TV broadcasting after 2010. This work is then connecting results of the analysis and findings from the theoretical part in the conclusion.

Net neutrality is currently one of the most topical government policies up for debate. In the following paper, I will examine three cases in which net neutrality has been threatened by internet service providers and the Federal Communications Commission and reinforced by public interest groups, major website companies, and the public. The online regime has been a critical instrument in the outcome of all three cases, highlighting the role and influence of internet users in the virtual and physical public spheres. Some say that the battle is already lost. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and his Republican majority in the agency are set on and have the capacity to push through legislation that will undo strict regulation of ISPs set by the Obama administration. The vote has yet to take place later this month, but the result should not detract the democratic nature and value from the decade-long debate. Net neutrality has been demonstrative of a civil society, one that uses all the tools, techniques, and platforms available to them in the fight against corporate interest. For its relation to First Amendment rights, its goals of redeeming public interest to rightful owners, and its use of new public spheres to organize civic participation, net neutrality is not only necessary for the success of the Internet, but the debate around it is also indicative of and essential to the growth of democratic debates around public policy.

The present thesis is constructed upon the findings of a two month long field research, a Minor Field Study (MFS), in Casablanca, Morocco between February and April 2017. The aim is to understand how Moroccan satirical journalists can be understood in relation to the Moroccan media, and seeks out to answer the following research questions: 1) how can the relationship between Moroccan satirists and the majority media be theorized, and 2) how do the satirists relate to journalistic ideals in regard to the truth? The thesis was conducted by applying semi-structured interviews with six satirical journalists. The analysis is based on theories on public spheres, counterpublics, juxtaposition and journalistic ideals, and evolves as a discussion that intertwines the Moroccan and global media arena and the rise of a subjective narrative in global journalism. This thesis concludes that the Moroccan satirists are driven by ideals that are substantially in line with that which we connect to journalism. And while there are reasons to believe that the satirists of this thesis are countering the Moroccan media – a conclusion supported by factors such as hegemony, expression and content – I argue that it is more accurate to define the relationship between satirist and the dominant media as a juxtaposition. This is supported by the way the satirists view their work – accentuating the need to be truthful, responsible, and by acting as the public's surrogate when interrogating and questioning the power elite.

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This thesis focuses on the topic of Czech political satire on Facebook. It presents an overview of most followed Facebook pages covering the topic and analyses the degree to which their content can be considered a political satire, how the authors use satire and to what impulses they usually react. The theoretical part introduces the concept of satire as a genre and the criteria it should meet in order to be considered as such. Next part of the thesis introduces theories focusing on political satire and their historic development in the Czech Republic. The thesis also presents expert opinions on the question of to what degree can sharing and interacting with political satire content on Facebook be considered as political participation. The analytical part describes the selected Facebook pages in a certain time period and evaluates their content, activity and authorship of its posts. After selecting a representative sample of the pages, three pivotal socio-political events of 2019 were chosen. The thematic focus of the posts and methods the content authors use to achieve satire is analysed for the period these events took place. For each of the events, a sample posts are provided as well as the most commonly satirised public personas and the context in which they are satirised. The goal of the...

The work "Rise of television political satire in the USA, Czech Republic and Germany in the new millennium" maps the development of television political satire in the United States, Germany and the Czech Republic in the period from 2000 to the present days with a look at the history of this genre in each respected country. Special attention is focused on the programs that had the greatest influence on the current form of this genre and influenced it the most. The first part of the work presents the history of television political satire in each individual country and introduces their current representatives of this genre, which have the greatest influence in the modern day. This section also introduces the obstacles of their cultural environment in which the shows were created to provide a more holistic view on obstacles that these shows have had to overcome in today's media world. In the second part, selected shows will be analysed from a technical and formal point of view and attention will also be focused on their hosts. The role of host in these shows is one of the most important elements which determine their future success. Furthermore, the work will examine other elements that individual programs share with each other and, conversely, the elements in which individual programs of political...

The diploma thesis deals with political satire in the Show Jana Krause at the time of selected elections in the Czech Republic in the years 2010-2019. Altogether six sub-periods in which the chosen elections were held were examined, which means that the general sample of episodes of the Show Jana Krause is formed from six smaller samples. The aim of the work was to find out what form political satire had in the show in the monitored period, how often it appeared in it and which political actors were most often its target. The research method was a quantitative content analysis with the help of which the work seeks answers to the following four research questions. RQ1: How much space was devoted to political satire in the Show Jana Krause? RQ2: What elements of political satire does the Show Jana Krause use? RQ3: What politicians, or which political subjects were most often satirically portrayed on the show? RQ4: What topics did political satire on the Show Jana Krause focus on the most? The thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter theoretically defines key concepts and outlines the history of political satire. The second chapter deals in more detail with the genre of television political satire and its development, especially with a focus on the Czech environment. The intention of the...