The role of humor in infotainment: the case of the program Extremamente Desagradável
the case of the program Extremamente Desagradável
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34629/cpublica.894Keywords:
infotainment, humorous programs, social and political criticismAbstract
The present article analyzes the role of humor as a communicational practice within the context of infotainment, focusing on the radio program Extremamente Desagradável, hosted by Joana Marques. The investigation explores how humor is used to transform information into entertainment, examining the predominant discursive formats, the current topics addressed, and the resources employed to engage the audience. Through a semiotic and content analysis of selected episodes, the study reveals that satire, parody and sarcasm are the primary discursive mechanisms used to deconstruct social and political narratives, making them more accessible and conducive to critical reflection. The explored themes include public figures, political speeches, media controversies, and cultural phenomena, strategically selected to amplify the program’s social resonance. The study concludes that humor, by transcending its playful function, acts as a vehicle for education and social mobilization, influencing public perception and fostering debate around contemporary issues.
Downloads
References
Almeida, A., & Sousa, H. (2024). The power of laughter: Emotional and ideological gratification in media. Societies, 14(9), 164. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14090164
Barthes, R. (2018). Elementos de semiologia (Trad. M. M. Barahona). Edições 70.
Baumgartner, J. C., & Becker, A. B. (Eds.). (2020). Political humor in a changing media landscape: A new generation of research. Lexington Books.
Boukes, M. (2019). Agenda-setting with satire: How political satire increased TTIP’s saliency on the public, media, and political agenda. Political Communication, 36(3), 426–451. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2018.1498816
Braun, V., Clarke, V. (2006). Using Thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Bruns, A. (2008). Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and beyond: From production to produsage. Peter Lang.
Camponez, C., Baptista, C., & Amado, A. (2020). Teorias do Jornalismo: Contextos e práticas das abordagens clássicas às contemporâneas. Alêtheia Editores.
Camponez, C., Ferreira, G. B., & Rodríguez-Díaz, R. (Orgs.). (2020). Estudos do agendamento: Teoria, desenvolvimentos e desafios — 50 anos depois. LabCom. https://labcom.ubi.pt/estudos-do-agendamento-teoria-desenvolvimentos-e-desafios-50-anos-depois/
Cardoso, G., Baldi, V., Quintanilha, T., & Paisana, M. (2020, julho). Pandemia e consumos mediáticos. Obercom. https://obercom.pt/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Final_Pandemia_media_Geral.pdf
Cardoso, G., & Moreno, J. (2016). Os desafios da sociedade em rede. In G. Cardoso, C. Magno, T. M. Soares, & M. Crespo (Eds.), Modelos de negócio e comunicação social (pp. 113–135). Almedina.
Charaudeau, P. (2006) Des catégories pour l’humour. Questions de communication: humor et média. Dé finitions, genres et cultures, 10, 19–41. https://doi.org/10.4000/questionsdecommunication
Dijkstra, R., & van der Velde, P. (2022). Humour in the beginning. https://doi.org/10.1075/thr.10
Dokuchaev, V. A., & Derenchuk, O. V. (2024). The attitude to humor as a pedagogical tool in the period of antiquity. Russian Journal of Education and Psychology, 15(3), 241–256. https://doi.org/10.12731/2658-4034-2024-15-3-517
Feldman, L. (2007). The news about comedy: Young audiences, The Daily Show, and evolving notions of journalism. Journalism, 8(4), 406–427. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884907078655
Furnari, S., Crilly, D., Misangyi, V. F., & Greckhamer, T. (2020). Capturing causal complexity: Heuristics for configurational theorizing. Academy of Management Review, 45(4), 645–667. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2017.0435
García, J., & Ángel C. (2014). El humor en los medios de comunicación: estudio de los guiñoles y sus efectos en las opiniones políticas. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/tesis?codigo=56901
Iyengar, S., Kinder, D. R. (1987). News that matters: Television and American opinion. University of Chicago Press.
Kowalewski, J. (2012). Does humor matter? An analysis of how hard news versus comedy news impact the agenda-setting effects. 28(1), 1–29. https://journals.tdl.org/swecjmc/index.php/swecjmc/article/view/53
Lecheler, S., Vreese, C. H. (2019). News framing and public opinion: A mediation analysis of framing effects on political attitudes. Journal of Communication, 69(3), 303-324. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqz019
Luhmann, N. (1971). Politische Planung: Aufsätze zur Soziologie von Politik und Verwaltung. Westdeutscher Verlag.
Mayuuf, H. H., & Nashaat, O. O. (2021). A semantic-syntactic study of ambiguity in humorous contexts. Ilkogretim Online, 20(5), 574–580. https://www.ilkogretim-online.org/index.php/io/article/download/1199/index.php?mno=54658
McCombs, M. E., Shaw, D. L. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176–187. https://doi.org/10.1086/267990
Meier, M. R. (2023). The history of stand-up: From Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle. Studies in American Humor, 9(2), 298–301. https://doi.org/10.5325/studamerhumor.9.2.0298
Mendez García de Paredes, E. (2014). La parodia informativa como frivolización del discurso político. Círculo de Lingüística Aplicada a la Comunicación, 59(59), 61–91. https://doi.org/10.5209/REV_CLAC.2014.V59.46709
Meraz, S. (2009). Is there an elite hold? Traditional media to social media agenda setting influence in blog networks. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 86(3), 548–564. https://doi.org/10.1177/107769900908600307
Noelle-Neumann, E. (1974). The spiral of silence: A theory of public opinion. Journal of Communication, 24(2), 43–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1974.tb00367.x
Pariser, E. (2011). The filter bubble: What the Internet is hiding from you. Penguin Press.
Renascença. (n.d.). Extremamente desagradável [programa de rádio]. Rádio Renascença. https://rr.pt/extremamente-desagradavel
Rezeki, T. I., Sagala, R. W., & Rabukit, R. (2024). From humor to impact: Internet memes in political discourse through (de)legitimization. Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture. 8(1), 746-762. https://doi.org/10.70082/esiculture.vi.788
Salgado, A. (2011). Actualidad, humor y entretenimiento en los programas de televisión: de la terminologia a la realidad profesional. Tripodos, 27, 59–73. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=5840467
Shaw, D. L., & McCombs, M. (1994). The emergence of American political issues: The agenda-setting function of the press. West Publishing Company. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL4554113M/The_emergence_of_American_political_issues
Shoemaker, P. J., & Vos, T. P. (2009). Gatekeeping theory. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203931653
Surahmat, S., & Wijana, I. D. P. (2023). Humor as a political act: Study of Indonesian presidents’ humor. Journal of Language and Literature, 23(1), 125–139. https://doi.org/10.24071/joll.v23i1.5097
Takovski, A. (2019). Coloring social change: Humor, politics, and social movements. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 1(4), 485–511. https://doi.org/10.1515/HUMOR-2019-0037
Tavadze, L. (2024). Irony, analysis and text interpretation. The Eurasia Proceedings of Educational & Social Sciences, 33, 261–265. https://doi.org/10.55549/epess.823
Temes, D. B. (2023). Efekt humorystyczny w dowcipach werbalnych z perspektywy lingwistyki kognitywnej. Rozważania teoretyczne i analiza empiryczna. https://doi.org/10.18276/978-83-7972-645-5
Weisfeld, G. E., & Weisfeld, C. C. (2024). Humor (pp. 543–564). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197544754.013.23
Yuldoshev, U. R. (2017). The usage of stylistic devices: Metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole in Uzbek and English humorous texts. Science, Philosophy and History, 8(1), 84–92. https://doi.org/10.24044/SPH.2017.1.12
Zhang, Y. (2023). Political comedy and the public sphere. [Dissertação de doutoramento, Northeastern University]. Digital Repository Service. https://doi.org/10.17760/d20467298
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Comunicação Pública

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Os conteudos da Comunicação Publica estão licenciados com uma licença Creative Commons - Atribuição-NãoComercial 4.0 Internacional.