School of Social and Political Sciences - Theses
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ItemLate night comedy and political communication: comparing the Australian and US election campaigns of 2004( 2014)This PhD investigates why conservative incumbents in Australia (Prime Minister John Howard) and the US (President George W Bush) did not appear on late night comedy programs as part of their 2004 re-election campaigns – despite repeated invitations and appearances by their opponents. Some researchers herald the political rise of late night comedy as an opportunity for democracy – and situate the 2004 US election as an example – but do not recognise that conservatively aligned incumbents stayed out of the genre during this period. By investigating the way that conservative incumbent campaigns managed this form of media during the 2004 elections, this PhD examines the interaction between political strategists and a specific form of media at a key point in time. Appearances by successive incumbents in the period since these elections show that 2004 was a foundational point for the political use of late night comedy. An examination of the reasons behind conservative incumbent absences from this genre during 2004 can help build our understanding of professional political communication in two democracies – one where the political use of late night comedy is advanced (the US) and another where the political use of late night comedy is, at best, sporadic (Australia). Though the Iraq War featured differently in each campaign, the 2004 elections offered both Australian and US citizens an opportunity to change course on the Iraq War by voting for a change of government. These elections presented pivotal democratic events; elections alongside one of the biggest decisions a democratic leader can make – sending troops to war. In order to better understand why conservative incumbent campaigns declined invitations to appear on an emerging political genre, this research employed a mixed methodology as the basis for a comparison between two case studies. The researcher undertook interviews with key strategists in both campaigns to gather insights into media management strategies at the time. These research findings are cross-referenced with publicly available polling data, autobiographies, campaign accounts and a content analysis of key late night comedy episodes. This research finds that – though there are key differences between the Australian and US political, media and war contexts – both conservative incumbent campaigns made the same decision to stay out of late night comedy, for similar reasons. Both campaigns believed an appearance would conflict with their media management strategies for the 2004 elections, which sought to control the message on sensitive issues and leverage incumbency, strength of leadership on Iraq and conservative notions of the status of the office. Both campaigns viewed an out-of-character appearance on a late night comedy program as more of a risk than benefit, and so both leaders confined their election narrative of national security (in Australia) and terrorism and Iraq (in the US) to conduits they were experienced at controlling. The uncontrolled and spontaneous nature of the late night comedy genre that some researchers believe empowers its contribution to political participation is the very reason that conservative incumbent campaigns rejected successive invitations to appear. Conservative incumbent campaigns in the US and Australia both applied the same rationale to decline invitations to appear on late night comedy – even though each operated in different political, media and war-time environments. The evolving political use of this genre, particularly the appearances of incumbents since the 2004 election campaigns, highlights its ongoing relevance to political communication. By considering the 2004 campaigns, this study investigates whether war, incumbency and conservatism were factors that kept Howard and Bush out of late night comedy. It does so by looking at the last time a conservative incumbent successfully campaigned for re-election in these countries, and at a foundational point for the political use of late night comedy.