Same same but different: Communicative functions and journalistic role performance in weekly news satire across cultural contexts

Abstract

Political satire has emerged as a hybrid genre that combines entertainment, information, and critique. While its societal relevance is well established in U.S. contexts, comparative research across cultural settings remains limited. This study examines the communicative functions and journalistic role performance (JRP) of weekly news satire across three countries: the United States (Last Week Tonight), Germany (ZDF Magazin Royale), and Austria (Gute Nacht Österreich). Drawing on the concepts of discursive integration and journalistic role performance in satire, the paper employs a Large Language Model-Assisted Content Analysis (LACA) approach to code 6356 sentences across 30 segments. Results show that while all programmes share a core reliance on the “comedic interlocutor” role and hybrid communicative strategies, significant cross-national differences emerge. U.S. satire exhibits stronger civic educator traits, German satire performs a pronounced watchdog function, and Austrian satire leans toward informative delivery with fewer evaluative or activist tones. These findings suggest the importance of media-systemic context in shaping satire’s journalistic behavior. The study also demonstrates the viability of LLM-assisted content analysis in journalism and communication research.