Comic Relief, Telling Unwanted Truth to Power and Ethical Journalism: Satire Writing in Print Media in Lesotho

Satire writing in news comes in with a lot of humour yet and a lot of truth telling. In Lesotho newspapers, Lesotho Times has the Scrutator column and The Post has Muckracker. These are the columns that play the role of providing commentary on any issue trending in the news, more like the editorial but go further to tell the truth but in a manner that lacks seriousness due to the name calling and banter. This study sought to establish the real reason behind satire writing from the point of view of the journalists, newspaper editors, journalism scholars, and consumers of news in Lesotho. The study also sought to explore satire writing in newspaper news in relation to journalism ethics as name calling and labeling is one of the characteristics of satire writing in newspapers. Information was gathered, presented, and analysed qualitatively. Face to face and telephone interviews were carried out with print journalists and their editors as well as with journalism lecturers, journalism students, and newspaper reading citizens. The findings reflect that satire writing is understood differently by society with others regarding it as controversial and others liking it for truth telling. News producers and scholars appreciate it for the license it provides to tell truth outside the straight jacket strictures of political correctness guiding news production.