The Onion may be everyone’s favorite fake news site--but apparently it’s also good science communications!
That’s the gist of a new study in Science Communication, which measured how watching an Onion video changed people’s perceptions on the certainty and risks of climate change.
The study looked at two different snarky videos: one from the Onion and one from the Weather Channel. In the Weather Channel’s video on “Saving Smalltalk,” the silliness and sarcasm was two-sided, with both denier and alarmists’ responses to weather chit-chat getting skewered. The Onion’s video, on the other hand, was one-sided, with deniers being mocked through a satirical video wherein a climate scientist explains just how hard it was to pull off the global hoax.
According to the study, based on the responses of 142 undergraduates, those who weren’t all that interested in climate change before watching the Onion video reported an increase in concern about the risks of climate change. The Weather Channel’s video didn’t have that effect, and those who were already concerned showed no changes in their perception either.
What the study shows isn’t particularly surprising, in that it builds on a body of work concerning humor’s effectiveness as a “gateway” to serious issues. Humor is a Trojan horse, packaging an important issue within a bit of satire or snark to sneak around people’s natural avoidance of scary stuff. (Not that we would ever use sarcasm or snark to address the daily dalliances of deniers…)
It’s sad, then, that The Onion is getting put up for sale and laying off employees as part of Univision’s shedding of its Gizmodo Media Group assets (which includes the fantastic climate blog Earther). In lieu of offering our own subpar sarcastic quip to conclude today (and in case there are any philanthropists reading who might be inclined to put the fun in funder) here are a few great Onion headlines taking on deniers that, apparently, are also great #SciComms:
Texas Governor Warns It Could Be Decades Before State Fully Ready To Talk About Climate Change
Climate Change Denier Battens Down Worldview To Weather Hurricane Irma
Mike Pence Training For Vice Presidential Debate By Hitting Punching Bag With Climate Change Study Taped On Front
Climate Change Deniers Present Graphic Description Of What Earth Must Look Like For Them To Believe
Frustrated Republicans Argue Pope Should Leave Science To Scientists Who Deny Climate Change
Report: Climate Change Skeptics Could Reach Catastrophic Levels By 2020
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