Stephen Colbert, named as one of TV News’ Ten Most Powerful people (actually, 13 were listed) last week, has long claimed that guest appearances on his Colbert Report get a “bump” in popularity. Now UC San Diego political science professor James Fowler (read his study) has apparently documented the bump as Democrats who appear on the show raise on average 44% more money after appearing than before. Republicans who appear see no change, however.
The late-night satirist made the so-called “Colbert Bump” famous when Republican Mike Hucakabee’s poll numbers jumped from 1% to 3% after an appearance, a “300%” bump according to Colbert (actually, that’s 200%.)
With a loyal audience of 1.3 million viewers called the “Colbert Nation,” Mr. Colbert exerts an even greater influence via the Internet. His ColberNation.com web site is wildly popular, and fans have put up a number of tribute sites including a ColbertBump.com web site, a wikipedia.com satire site called wikiality.com (here’s wikiality’s take on the Colbert bump), and a Bill O’Reilly spoof called the NoFact Zone. A Google search on his name now produces over 2.5 million results (actually, it’s 2,510,000+, and with the publication of this post, one more.)
Last night, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards (video)—that’s three presidential contenders (actually, 2.5)—all appeared on the Report, which has been broadcasting live from Philadelphia all week, demonstrating that Colbert’s influence goes well beyond the size of his TV audience.
Why? There are at least two reasons. First, media research long ago documented the crucial effect of “opinion leaders,” people with expertise or stature who pass on media messages to others in a “two-step flow” of information. With its superior writing, timing, and satirical edge, The Colbert Report includes in its audience the cream of the crop of politicos and political junkies across the country. Second, Colbert is a master at using and manipulating the Internet, where many of the aforementioned opinion leaders surf and troll, routing his gospel to the wired masses.
Is there really a Colbert bump? Newsprism has investigated and found that concerning the performance of politicians in polls, the “bump” is probably a myth, but among authors who are interviewed on the show, it’s as real as it gets. Not surprisingly, liberal authors get the largest bump in book sales, while conservative authors actually seem to lose sales after appearances.
The bottom line: the funniest man in American politics should be taken very, very seriously.
April 18, 2008 at 6:21 pm |
The link to the original article reported by James Fowler (not Mark) is here:
http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/colbert_bump.pdf
April 18, 2008 at 6:55 pm |
Thanks for the link, Professor Fowler.
Stephen Colbert, I know you’re a regular reader of Newsprism. Did you know that celebrities who post at Newsprism have never—not once—failed to get a substantial ratings bump at alexa.com?
November 3, 2008 at 6:11 pm |
Well it is true that Steven Colbert is an influential man. Heck he even tried to get on the election ticket!! Anyways, is it not interesting that a comedian, who originally got his start as a spin off , should be named as a political powerhouse. When did the business of running a country fall into the hand sof simple entertainers!!! Actually the country was founded on the idea that this could happen. BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE! Some may say agree with the long dead founding fathers who said that the government should be ruled by those who are higher in society to minimize the damage that cold be caused by an uneducated individual. Well, you were all over ruled in independence hall by the guys like me who say that “By the People, For the People” stands. Call us radical and stupid but you know what in the end…WE WON!!
March 26, 2009 at 7:16 pm |
first off the stephen colbert show is one of my favorite shows. the way he can make anything funny is awesome. a lot of the people on the show that he interviews most of the time i aint ever heard of. but after the interview i usually start recognizing the names in places i aint ever realized they were or i start noticing books that that person wrote. now because i see and recognize the people after that don’t mean i like em or go out and buy their books cause well i hate reading anyway. i think that there may actually be the “bump” but its just more of an more interested in that person bump rather than a popularity thing.