British TV’s tone of light mockery signals and sustains political disengagement

Evidence

British television viewers are unlikely to take much notice of this tone because we take it for granted. Take a step back, however, and it is really rather curious. These ostensibly serious programmes are conducted with an air of light mockery, which Neil, with his perma-smirk and smugly knowing air, personifies. The tone, I believe, tells us something about the widespread disengagement from parliamentary politics in England. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 737

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The BBC’s political coverage encodes unspoken rules suppressing political seriousness — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 738; Mandatory-jokey political TV actively deters the politically engaged audience — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 739; Streaming’s flagship shows blur genre to dissolve politics into tone — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 234 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Mandatory-jokey political TV actively deters the politically engaged audience #expands (0.85) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 739
• Streaming’s flagship shows blur genre to dissolve politics into tone #expands (0.80) — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 234