South Park Creators Rename Show to South America to Satirize Donald Trump
5 sources across 5 countries
Who reported this
- Folha de S.Paulo
- Le Monde
- Der Spiegel
- Telex
- MS NOW
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.
Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.
The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the animated series South Park, announced that the show will be renamed South America ahead of the premiere of its 29th season on September 16. The decision is a satire of President Donald Trump's efforts to rename various geographic locations. Specifically, the creators are mocking Trump's executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America, as well as his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and his suggestions to rename the state of New Mexico to New America.
In a statement, Parker and Stone sarcastically credited the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google, as both tech companies updated their map services to reflect the new name of Lake Ontario. The creators also targeted their parent company, Paramount, referring to it as a Skydance capitulation. This is a reference to the merger between Paramount and Skydance, led by David Ellison, who is described by several sources as being close to Donald Trump.
Outlets with a center lean focused on the satirical nature of the name change and the specific geographic targets of Trump's orders. Sources with a center left lean emphasized the show's history of black humor and the political context of Trump's second term. Reports from a left lean outlet highlighted the specific legal and regulatory context of the Paramount Skydance merger and the White House's previous outrage over the show's raunchy depictions of the president.
How each side framed it
- Left
- Emphasized the corporate and regulatory connections between the show's parent company and the Trump administration.
- Centre-left
- Highlighted the show's history of biting humor and the broader context of Trump's second term policies.
- Centre
- Framed the event as a standard instance of the show's irreverent satire targeting political figures.
Sources
- Centre-left Der Spiegel: "South Park" and Donald Trump: How the series mocks Trump's renamings
- Centre Folha de S.Paulo: 'South Park' satirizes Trump and changes name to 'South America'
- Centre-left Le Monde: "South Park" renamed "South America": the satirical series mocks the name changes wanted by Donald Trump
- Left MS NOW: South Park rebrands to ‘South America,’ mocking Trump over Lake Ontario executive order
- Centre Telex: The two creators of South Park would mockingly rename it Trump
100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.