23 Sep 2024 - Life is but a meme

The place to go for conversations about the news

G’day… Claire Kimball here. 

Everywhere I turned last week, I ran into something about the memeification of politics, the news, and events online. That’s probably not true - it just felt like it, much like when you notice a particular car model for the first time, and then you see it everywhere. 

As a heavy consumer of information on the internet, memes can be a ray of light in a sea of blerg. Designed to tap into the cultural zeitgeist, the good ones often leave us appreciating the creator’s wit, humour and insight. For example, what some people made of Raygun’s appearance at the Paris Olympics had me chuckling.

But this year, there’s also an ongoing conversation about their use in political campaigns to convey information to the public and influence votes. Since the US presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris earlier this month, this has been a hot topic as it relates to the former president’s unsubstantiated claims about migrants eating pets in the Ohio town of Springfield. 

We’re also not immune from it here in Australia as we turn the corner towards a federal election. Labor’s already used memes to counter the Coalition’s nuclear energy push - a move that was criticised by some. 

As I say a lot (ie probably more than I should…) - this is a thing. And it’s a thing to be aware of because, like me, I suspect you’re going to see discussion on this point pop up quite a bit if you dig a little below the surface to interrogate how important messages are being communicated. 

So for this week’s Club Picks: 

1. If you want to start with Memes 101, this explainer is for you. There are experts whose whole job is to decipher memes and interpret what they say about our culture. As one said in this piece, memes are just the internet taking “what is already naturally occurring in the way that we communicate and supercharged it by making it global and simple.” 

2. There’s a complex story behind Team Trump’s claims about what is happening in Springfield. This episode of The Daily from the New York Times breaks it down and reflects on the weaponisation of memes to elevate an issue. 

3. On the Republican side, Trump’s running mate JD Vance has been central in the cat meme war. As this article from Politico highlights, a couple of weeks ago, he said: “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.” 

Sorry if I’ve made memes un-fun for you… To balance the ledger, I offer you these baby pygmy hippo memes that are so hot right now. We do offer a wide news diet here at The Squiz, after all… 

Your friend in news

Claire Kimball

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