By Kelly McBride
Ethics Group Leader
The New Yorker‘s latest cover is deeply offensive or really funny or simply accurate, depending on your point of view. That’s how satire works. So of course people are arguing over it today.
But is there still room for satire in journalism? I sure hope so.
As with most everything else, though, satire doesn’t work the same way online as it does in print. A provocative magazine cover published on the Web will reach an audience far beyond clued-in regular readers who already get what the publication is up to. Savvy editors need to figure smart ways of dealing with the newbies as well as the regulars.
The Chicago Tribune gives the cover discussion a good airing in its Exploring Race blog. Folks are predictably all over the place. But it’s an enlightened discussion.
In talking this over with a couple of reporters this morning, I suggested that the predictable uproar should not be taken as evidence that satire doesn’t work anymore. The New Yorker is legendary for its satirical cartoons. And I’ll bet that most regular readers were not offended at all, even those who passionately support Obama for president. That’s because when they see the cover, they expect satire. They know there’s a joke there.
It wouldn’t work if, for example, USA Today tried it, because the USA Today audience has a completely different set of expectations when they pick up that publication.
But when satire goes beyond its intended audience, it often becomes offensive. Given the fact that most things that get published go beyond their intended audiences in this era of the Internet, it would be easy to shy away from satire, just to avoid the headache.
That would be a shame. Instead, I think the current climate simply means the purveyors of satire have an added layer of responsibility. First, ensure the satire is well-executed, because it’s impossible to defend lame attempts at satire. Then, explain. And make sure that explanation is available to anyone who might be looking for it.
Recognizing the controversy, New Yorker editor David Remnick wisely put out a press release. Folio Magazine quotes his statement: “Satire is part of what we do. And it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to the absurd. And that’s the spirit of this cover.”
If the press release is on the The New Yorker site, I can’t find it. Since they created the controversy, it would be nice if they would make room for the debate. By not doing so, folks at The New Yorker reinforce the notion that they are arrogant or insensitive.
But that’s a small criticism with a larger issue. Remnick’s justification is a solid one, given the current political environment. Journalists are finding that no matter how much reporting they do, how many facts they uncover, false rumors won’t die. That’s what PolitiFact encountered when a researcher took on the authenticity of Obama’s birth certificate.
Satire is risky business. I’m glad there are plenty of professionals around doing it well and keeping it alive.