The Onion
Encyclopedia
The Onion is an American news satire
organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical
articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club
. It claims a national print circulation of 400,000 and says 61 percent of its web site readers are between 18 and 44 years old. Since 2007, the organization has been publishing satirical news audios and videos online, as the "Onion News Network". Web traffic on theonion.com amounts to some 7.5 million unique visitors per month.
The Onions articles comment on current events, both real and fictional. It parodies such traditional newspaper features as editorial
s, man-on-the-street
interviews, and stock quotes on a traditional newspaper layout with an AP
-style editorial voice. Much of its humor depends on presenting everyday events as newsworthy and by playing on commonly used phrases, as in the headline "Drugs Win Drug War
."
A second part of the newspaper is a non-satirical entertainment section called The A.V. Club that features interviews and reviews of various newly released media, as well as other weekly features. The print edition also contains restaurant reviews and previews of upcoming live entertainment specific to cities where a print edition is published. The online incarnation of The A.V. Club has its own domain, includes its own regular features, A.V. Club blog
s and reader forums, and presents itself as a separate entity from The Onion itself.
Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson, juniors at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
, founded The Onion there in 1988. The following year, they sold it to Editor-in-Chief Scott Dikkers
and Advertising Sales Manager Peter Haise for less than $20,000 ($16,000, according to the Washington Post; a 2003 Business 2.0
article reported the figure was $19,000). Reportedly, it was Chris Johnson's uncle, Wm. Nels Johnson, who came up with the idea to name the paper The Onion. "People always ask questions about where the name The Onion came from," said former President Sean Mills in an interview with Wikinews
; "and, when I recently asked Tim Keck, who was one of the founders, he told me...literally that his uncle said he should call it The Onion when he saw him and Chris Johnson eating an onion sandwich. They had literally just cut up the onion and put it on bread." According to former Editorial Manager, Chet Clem, their food budget was so low when they started the paper that they were down to white bread and onions.
At first, The Onion was a success in a limited number of cities and towns, notably those with major universities (e.g. Madison
, Milwaukee, Chicago
). Originally the entire bottom three inches of the paper could be cut off for coupons to local Milwaukee and Madison establishments, such as inexpensive student-centered eateries and Four Star Video Heaven.
The creation of its website in 1996 allowed it to receive national attention. In 2000, as the publication had broken through to the mass market, The Onion was approached by Comedy Central
for a buyout that would broaden the scope and reach of The Onions brand of satire into other forms of media. In early 2001, the company relocated its offices to New York City. The paper continues to make occasional Madison references, placing odd stories in surrounding towns or running photographs of local landmarks to illustrate stories set elsewhere. In April 2007, The Onion launched The Onion News Network, a web video sendup of 24-hour
TV news.
The paper's founders went on to become publishers of other alternative weeklies
: Keck of the Seattle weekly The Stranger
and Johnson of the Albuquerque Weekly Alibi
.
Scott Dikkers is The Onion's longest-serving Editor-in-Chief (1988–1999, 2005–2008).
In January 2009, President Sean Mills left the company explaining that "the time has come for a new challenge."
In April 2009, The Onion was awarded a Peabody Award
that noted "the satirical tabloid's online send-up of 24-hour cable-TV news
was hilarious, trenchant and not infrequently hard to distinguish from the real thing."
In July 2009, various news outlets began reporting rumors of an impending sale of The Onion to a large media company. A further rumor indicated that such a sale would be announced on Monday, July 20, 2009. The purported sale was ultimately revealed as fictional Publisher Emeritus T. Herman Zweibel stating he'd sold the publication to a Chinese company, resulting in a week-long series of Chinese-related articles and features throughout the Onion website and publications. On Wednesday, July 22, 2009, The Onion Editor Joe Randazzo
clarified the issue on National Public Radio's All Things Considered
, saying: "I'm sure there are many Chinese conglomerates out there that would love to buy The Onion," he says. "We are, in fact, still a solvent independently owned American company."
In August 2011, The Onion's website began testing a paywall model requiring a $2.95 monthly or $29.95 annual charge from non-U.S. visitors who want to read more than about five stories within 30 days. "We are testing a meter internationally as readers in those markets are already used to paying directly for some (other) content, particularly in the UK where we have many readers," said Onion, Inc. chief technology officer Michael Greer. This new attempt at a paywall comes 6 years after the removal of the ill received Onion Premium paywall which launched in 2004 and was taken down in 2005.
In September 2011, it was announced that The Onion would move its entire editorial operation—including print & Onion News Network—to Chicago by the summer of 2012. The news of the move has left many of the writers—who moved with the publication from Madison, WI to New York City in 2000—“blindsided” putting them in a position to decide whether to uproot themselves from New York City and follow the publication to Chicago or not. Chicago is already home to the company's corporate headquarters. At a comedy show on Tuesday September 27, 2011 current editor-in-chief Joe Randazzo
announced that he would not be joining the staff in Chicago.
, Milwaukee
, New York City
, Chicago
, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver
/Boulder
, Austin
, Omaha
, Santa Fe
, Washington, D.C.
, Philadelphia, Toronto, Ontario
and Columbus
. It is also sold in bookstores worldwide, including the United Kingdom
, and is available by mail through paid subscription.
From 2005 to 2009, Los Angeles
and San Francisco
editions were published but discontinued in May 2009 because of a lack of advertising revenue.
In October 2010, The Onion announced four new business partnerships with media organizations across the U.S. including The Denver Post
, Austin American-Statesman
, St. Paul Pioneer Press
, and Wisconsin State Journal
. Under the terms of the agreements The Onion maintains complete creative control while the four partnering media companies assume business management responsibilities for the newspaper's local distribution. Shortly thereafter, The Onion announced a similar deal with The Philadelphia Inquirer
that brought the paper to Philadelphia for the first time, increasing the total number of markets where The Onion is printed and distributed to ten.
Regular features of The Onion include:
Snapshots" The "Infograph" (a.k.a. "Infographic"), with a bulleted list of items on a theme.
Point-Counterpoint
Guest opinion pieces and regular columnists
Bizarre horoscope
s
"News in Photos", a feature with photographs of seemingly common or inconspicuous things labelled with captions revealing a hidden thing about it; the photos may also be of people, both famous and anonymous.
"The ONION in History": A front page produced in the style/format of newspapers of an earlier era, from the book "Our Dumb Century
"
"In the News" photograph and caption with no accompanying story (such as "Frederick's
of Anchorage Debuts Crotchless Long Underwear
", "National Association Advances Colored Person", and "Owls Are Assholes")
"American Voices" (formerly called "What Do You Think?"), a mock vox populi
survey
on a topical current event. There are three respondents, down from the original six, for each topic, who seem to have been chosen intentionally to represent a diverse selection of ages, races, and socio-economic classes. Although their names and professions change daily, photos of the same six people are always used. One of them is often described as a systems analyst
.
An editorial cartoon
drawn by "Kelly", a fictional character; the cartoons are actually the work of Ward Sutton
. The comic—the most controversial feature in The Onion—is a deadpan parody of conservative cartoons, as well as editorial cartoon conventions in general. Roughly half of the cartoons feature the Statue of Liberty
, usually shedding a single tear.
The website was redesigned in 2005:
The Onion website is updated every day, most significantly (and historically before the move to daily updates) on Wednesday afternoons; and The Onion newspaper is distributed on Thursdays.
A genuine Personals Service is also offered by the website.
; and the writing staff is Joe Garden
, Todd Hanson
, John Harris, Chris Karwowski, John Krewson, Chad Nackers, Seth Reiss, Baratunde Thurston
, Will Tracy, Dave Kornfeld, and Jason Roeder. Past writers have included Mark Banker, Max Cannon
, Amie Barrodale, Rich Dahm
, Mike DiCenzo, Megan Ganz
, Dan Guterman, Janet Ginsburg, Tim Harrod
, David Javerbaum
, Ben Karlin
, Peter Koechley, Carol Kolb
, Tom Scharpling
, Maria Schneider
, Robert D. Siegel
and Jack Szwergold
. Colin Tierney is the Editorial Graphic Designer & Michael Faisca and Nick Gallo are the Graphic Editors. The Onion does not accept unsolicited freelance contributions. The Onion News Network is produced by Will Graham
, Julie Smith and Claudina Del Guidice. It is directed by Will Graham and J.J. Adler and the head writer is Carol Kolb
, former Editor-in-Chief of The Onion. The other Staff Writers are Dan Mirk, Jack Kukoda, Sam West, Lang Fisher, and Chris Kelly.
The Onion News Network In March 2007, The Onion launched The Onion News Network, a daily web video broadcast that had been in production since mid-2006, with a story about an illegal immigrant taking an executive's $800,000-a-year job for $600,000 a year. The Onion has reportedly invested about $1 million in the production and has hired 15 new staffers to focus on the production of this video broadcast. Carol Kolb
, former Editor-in-Chief of The Onion, is the ONN's head writer; Will Graham is the showrunner and Executive Producer. On February 3, 2009, The Onion launched a spin-off of the ONN, the Onion Sports Network.
In a Wikinews
interview in November 2007, former Onion President Sean Mills said the ONN has been a huge hit. "We get over a million downloads a week, which makes it one of the more successful produced-for-the-Internet videos," said Mills. "If we’re not the most successful, we’re one of the most. It is a 24 hour news network. We have a new show that is part of the platform, but we also have a Sunday morning talk show that’s called In The Know and we just launched a morning show this last week called Today Now. It has been really exciting; we’ll have some new shows, show some archive footage and do some more in sports over the next year."
In January 2011, The Onion launched two TV shows on cable networks. "Onion SportsDome
" premiered January 11 on Comedy Central. Onion News Network
premiered January 21 on IFC
.
In March 2011, IFC officially announced the renewal of the "Onion News Network
" for a second season.
In June 2011, Comedy Central officially announced the cancellation of "Onion SportsDome
".
In August 2011, the Writers Guild of America
, East, AFL-CIO
announced the unionization of the "Onion News Network
" writing staff, averting a potential strike which hinged on pay and benefits. It is also not the first time Onion, Inc. has been criticized for the way it treats its employees: In June 2011 "A.V. Club
" Philadelphia city editor Emily Guendelsberger was the victim of an attack, and according to the Philadelphia Daily News, her job did not provide health insurance to cover hospital bills. According to the WGA, "ONN" was the only scripted, live-action program that had employed non-union writers. "The ONN writers stood together and won real improvements", said WGAE Executive Director Lowell Peterson. “We welcome them into the WGAE and we look forward to a productive relationship with the company.” Peterson noted that more than 70 Guild members from all of the New York-based comedy shows signed a letter supporting the ONN writers, and hundreds of Guild members sent emails to the producers.
's Today show and ABC
's Good Morning America
. Hosted by Jim Haggerty (in actuality, former New York City TV anchor Brad Holbrook) and Tracy Gill (portrayed by Tracy Toth), the style is typical of the breezy style often found in morning network television shows, with the presenters either uncritical or completely oblivious to the subject matter presented, regardless of the absurdity of the subject (e.g., Haggerty's earnest question about whether or not an omelet recipe strictly requires a metal shoe-horn to measure the butter into the pan).
After a commercial, each item is capped off by a teaser featuring a headline joke. The news reports also have a news crawl
filled with joke headlines.
The Onion Radio News is an audio podcast featuring P. S. Mueller
as fictional newscaster Doyle Redland.
film written by then-Onion editor Robert Siegel and writer Todd Hanson and directed by music video directors Tom Kuntz and Mike Maguire.
Created in 2003, Fox Searchlight Pictures
was on board to release the movie, originally called The Untitled Onion Movie, but at some point in the process, directors Tom Kuntz and Mike Maguire and writer Robert Siegel walked away from the project.
In 2006, New Regency Productions
took over the production of the troubled project. After two years of being in limbo
, the film was released on DVD on June 3, 2008. It is now credited as being directed by James Kleiner but still written by Hanson and Siegel.
" website as "proof" that gay people were indeed actively trying to "recruit" others.
republished, in the international news page of its June 3 edition, translated portions of the article "Congress Threatens To Leave D.C. Unless New Capitol Is Built". The story discusses the U.S. Congress's threats to leave Washington for Memphis
, Tennessee
; Charlotte
, North Carolina
; or even Toronto
, Canada
unless Washington, D.C.
built them a new Capitol building
with a retractable dome. The article is a parody of U.S. sports franchises' threats to leave their home city unless new stadiums are built for them. Evening News initially stood by the story, demanding proof of its falsehood. It later retracted the article, responding that "some small American newspapers frequently fabricate offbeat news to trick people into noticing them with the aim of making money."
, Grant M. Dixton, wrote a cease-and-desist letter to The Onion, asking the paper to stop using the presidential seal, which is used in an online segment poking fun at the President through parodies of his weekly radio address. The law governing the Presidential Seal is contained in :
By Executive Order, President Richard Nixon specifically enumerated the allowed uses of the Presidential Seal, which are more restrictive than the above title , but which allows for exceptions to be granted upon formal request.
The Onion has responded with a letter asking for formal use of the Seal in accordance with the Executive Order, while still declaring that the use is legitimate under . However, since Executive Order 11649 permits use of the Seal in the manner used by The Onion only with authorization of the Counsel to the President, use of the Seal by The Onion would imply that the required authorization had been obtained, and therefore doing so without such authorization would convey "a false impression of ...approval by the Government of the United States."
The letter written by Rochelle H. Klaskin, The Onion' s lawyer, is quoted in the New York Times as saying "It is inconceivable that anyone would think that, by using the seal, The Onion intends to 'convey... sponsorship or approval' by the president," referring to , but then went on to ask that the letter be considered a formal application asking for permission to use the seal.
Approval has not been given.
for "You are stupid").
In 1896 Zweibel's 20-year-old grandson, T. Herman Zweibel became editor, a position he supposedly holds to this day despite being over a century old and largely senile. For much of the 20th century the paper was highly reactionary
and parodied the yellow journalism
and sensationalism
prevalent in print media during the early part of the century. It violently opposed every social reform the century brought forward, from women's suffrage
to married characters sleeping together in the same bed on television. T. Herman Zweibel penned a weekly commentary until 2000, when he was rocketed into space toward the Andromeda galaxy
, ostensibly leaving The Onion in the joint control of Bernard Baruch
and Aunt Jemima
.
In recent Onion Radio News releases, beginning December 15, 2008, the concluding ad for Our Dumb World has stated: "For over 350 years The Onion has given you the day's news...".
The Onion publishes several columns by (fictional) regular and guest writers, including:
Former contributors include:
In addition, The Onion has some recurring characters in its news stories, such as Don Turnbee, a 41-year-old from Erie
who frequents fast-food establishments. Starting in 1997, reports of Turnbee's experiences describe his difficulties negotiating an all-you-can-eat buffet
, food island etiquette, beverage top-ups, condiment sachet accumulation, and chronic indigestion. Headlines typically describe Turnbee as an "Area Man".
News satire
thumb|right|220px|[[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]] is a news satire program.News satire, also called fake news , is a type of parody presented in a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content...
organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
. It claims a national print circulation of 400,000 and says 61 percent of its web site readers are between 18 and 44 years old. Since 2007, the organization has been publishing satirical news audios and videos online, as the "Onion News Network". Web traffic on theonion.com amounts to some 7.5 million unique visitors per month.
The Onions articles comment on current events, both real and fictional. It parodies such traditional newspaper features as editorial
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
s, man-on-the-street
Vox populi
Vox populi , a Latin phrase that literally means voice of the people, is a term often used in broadcasting for interviews with members of the "general public".-Vox pop, the man on the street:...
interviews, and stock quotes on a traditional newspaper layout with an AP
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
-style editorial voice. Much of its humor depends on presenting everyday events as newsworthy and by playing on commonly used phrases, as in the headline "Drugs Win Drug War
War on Drugs
The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
."
A second part of the newspaper is a non-satirical entertainment section called The A.V. Club that features interviews and reviews of various newly released media, as well as other weekly features. The print edition also contains restaurant reviews and previews of upcoming live entertainment specific to cities where a print edition is published. The online incarnation of The A.V. Club has its own domain, includes its own regular features, A.V. Club blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s and reader forums, and presents itself as a separate entity from The Onion itself.
History
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
, founded The Onion there in 1988. The following year, they sold it to Editor-in-Chief Scott Dikkers
Scott Dikkers
Scott Dikkers is a United States comedy writer and filmmaker. He was the founding editor of The Onion, and the leading creative force behind the publication's rise from a local college newspaper to an internationally acclaimed humor brand name...
and Advertising Sales Manager Peter Haise for less than $20,000 ($16,000, according to the Washington Post; a 2003 Business 2.0
Business 2.0
Business 2.0 was a monthly magazine publication founded by magazine entrepreneur Chris Anderson, Mark Gross, and journalist James Daly in order to chronicle the rise of the "New Economy"...
article reported the figure was $19,000). Reportedly, it was Chris Johnson's uncle, Wm. Nels Johnson, who came up with the idea to name the paper The Onion. "People always ask questions about where the name The Onion came from," said former President Sean Mills in an interview with Wikinews
Wikinews
Wikinews is a free-content news source wiki and a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. The site works through collaborative journalism. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has distinguished Wikinews from Wikipedia by saying "on Wikinews, each story is to be written as a news story as opposed to an...
; "and, when I recently asked Tim Keck, who was one of the founders, he told me...literally that his uncle said he should call it The Onion when he saw him and Chris Johnson eating an onion sandwich. They had literally just cut up the onion and put it on bread." According to former Editorial Manager, Chet Clem, their food budget was so low when they started the paper that they were down to white bread and onions.
At first, The Onion was a success in a limited number of cities and towns, notably those with major universities (e.g. Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, Milwaukee, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
). Originally the entire bottom three inches of the paper could be cut off for coupons to local Milwaukee and Madison establishments, such as inexpensive student-centered eateries and Four Star Video Heaven.
The creation of its website in 1996 allowed it to receive national attention. In 2000, as the publication had broken through to the mass market, The Onion was approached by Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
for a buyout that would broaden the scope and reach of The Onions brand of satire into other forms of media. In early 2001, the company relocated its offices to New York City. The paper continues to make occasional Madison references, placing odd stories in surrounding towns or running photographs of local landmarks to illustrate stories set elsewhere. In April 2007, The Onion launched The Onion News Network, a web video sendup of 24-hour
24-hour news cycle
The 24-hour news cycle arrived with the advent of television channels dedicated to news, and brought about a much faster pace of news production with increased demand for stories that can be presented as news, as opposed to the day-by-day pace of the news cycle of printed daily newspapers...
TV news.
The paper's founders went on to become publishers of other alternative weeklies
Alternative weekly
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper, that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Their news coverage is more...
: Keck of the Seattle weekly The Stranger
The Stranger (newspaper)
The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...
and Johnson of the Albuquerque Weekly Alibi
Weekly Alibi
The Weekly Alibi is a free weekly newspaper published in Albuquerque, New Mexico.The Alibi's strongest points are its "I saw you" personals, film reviews, entertainment guide and Albuquerque's first "alternative personals." Their yearly "Best of Burque" awards, which cover everything from "Best...
.
Scott Dikkers is The Onion's longest-serving Editor-in-Chief (1988–1999, 2005–2008).
In January 2009, President Sean Mills left the company explaining that "the time has come for a new challenge."
In April 2009, The Onion was awarded a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
that noted "the satirical tabloid's online send-up of 24-hour cable-TV news
United States cable news
Cable news refers to television channels devoted to television news broadcasts, with the name deriving from the proliferation of such networks during the 1980s with the advent of cable television. In the United States, early networks included CNN in 1980, Financial News Network in 1981, and CNN2 ...
was hilarious, trenchant and not infrequently hard to distinguish from the real thing."
In July 2009, various news outlets began reporting rumors of an impending sale of The Onion to a large media company. A further rumor indicated that such a sale would be announced on Monday, July 20, 2009. The purported sale was ultimately revealed as fictional Publisher Emeritus T. Herman Zweibel stating he'd sold the publication to a Chinese company, resulting in a week-long series of Chinese-related articles and features throughout the Onion website and publications. On Wednesday, July 22, 2009, The Onion Editor Joe Randazzo
Joe Randazzo (comedian)
Joe Randazzo , is an American comedy writer, stand-up comedian, and improvisational comedian. He is currently the editor of the satirical newspaper, The Onion. In addition to performing stand-up, Randazzo has been a guest host of the improv comedy show ASSSSCAT 3000 at New York City's Upright...
clarified the issue on National Public Radio's All Things Considered
All Things Considered
All Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
, saying: "I'm sure there are many Chinese conglomerates out there that would love to buy The Onion," he says. "We are, in fact, still a solvent independently owned American company."
In August 2011, The Onion's website began testing a paywall model requiring a $2.95 monthly or $29.95 annual charge from non-U.S. visitors who want to read more than about five stories within 30 days. "We are testing a meter internationally as readers in those markets are already used to paying directly for some (other) content, particularly in the UK where we have many readers," said Onion, Inc. chief technology officer Michael Greer. This new attempt at a paywall comes 6 years after the removal of the ill received Onion Premium paywall which launched in 2004 and was taken down in 2005.
In September 2011, it was announced that The Onion would move its entire editorial operation—including print & Onion News Network—to Chicago by the summer of 2012. The news of the move has left many of the writers—who moved with the publication from Madison, WI to New York City in 2000—“blindsided” putting them in a position to decide whether to uproot themselves from New York City and follow the publication to Chicago or not. Chicago is already home to the company's corporate headquarters. At a comedy show on Tuesday September 27, 2011 current editor-in-chief Joe Randazzo
Joe Randazzo (comedian)
Joe Randazzo , is an American comedy writer, stand-up comedian, and improvisational comedian. He is currently the editor of the satirical newspaper, The Onion. In addition to performing stand-up, Randazzo has been a guest host of the improv comedy show ASSSSCAT 3000 at New York City's Upright...
announced that he would not be joining the staff in Chicago.
Distribution
The Onions print edition is distributed free in MadisonMadison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
/Boulder
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Philadelphia, Toronto, Ontario
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. It is also sold in bookstores worldwide, including the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and is available by mail through paid subscription.
From 2005 to 2009, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
editions were published but discontinued in May 2009 because of a lack of advertising revenue.
In October 2010, The Onion announced four new business partnerships with media organizations across the U.S. including The Denver Post
The Denver Post
-Ownership:The Post is the flagship newspaper of MediaNews Group Inc., founded in 1983 by William Dean Singleton and Richard Scudder. MediaNews is today one of the nation's largest newspaper chains, publisher of 61 daily newspapers and more than 120 non-daily publications in 13 states. MediaNews...
, Austin American-Statesman
Austin American-Statesman
The Austin American-Statesman is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is an award-winning publication owned by Cox Enterprises. The Newspaper places focus on issues affecting Austin and the Central Texas region....
, St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul Pioneer Press
The St. Paul Pioneer Press is a newspaper based in St. Paul, Minnesota, primarily serving the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Circulation is heaviest in the eastern metro region, including Ramsey, Dakota, and Washington counties, along with western Wisconsin, eastern Minnesota and Anoka County,...
, and Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin State Journal
The Wisconsin State Journal is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin...
. Under the terms of the agreements The Onion maintains complete creative control while the four partnering media companies assume business management responsibilities for the newspaper's local distribution. Shortly thereafter, The Onion announced a similar deal with The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
that brought the paper to Philadelphia for the first time, increasing the total number of markets where The Onion is printed and distributed to ten.
Regular features
- "STATshot", an illustrated statistical snapshot which parodies "
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
Snapshots"
Horoscope
In astrology, a horoscope is a chart or diagram representing the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, the astrological aspects, and sensitive angles at the time of an event, such as the moment of a person's birth. The word horoscope is derived from Greek words meaning "a look at the hours" In...
s
Our Dumb Century
Our Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News Source is a satirical humor book written by the staff of The Onion and published by Three Rivers Press in 1999. The chief editor of the book was Scott Dikkers, with specific sections edited by Robert D. Siegel,...
"
Frederick's of Hollywood
Frederick's of Hollywood is a well-known retailer of women's lingerie in the United States, with stores in many modern shopping malls across the USA....
of Anchorage Debuts Crotchless Long Underwear
Long underwear
Long underwear, also called long johns, Granny pantys, or thermal underwear, is a style of two-piece underwear with long legs and long sleeves that is normally worn during cold weather. It offers an advantage over the one-piece union suit in that the wearer can choose to wear either the top,...
", "National Association Advances Colored Person", and "Owls Are Assholes")
Vox populi
Vox populi , a Latin phrase that literally means voice of the people, is a term often used in broadcasting for interviews with members of the "general public".-Vox pop, the man on the street:...
survey
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
on a topical current event. There are three respondents, down from the original six, for each topic, who seem to have been chosen intentionally to represent a diverse selection of ages, races, and socio-economic classes. Although their names and professions change daily, photos of the same six people are always used. One of them is often described as a systems analyst
Systems analyst
A systems analyst researches problems, plans solutions, recommends software and systems, and coordinates development to meet business or other requirements. They will be familiar with multiple variety of programming languages, operating systems, and computer hardware platforms...
.
Editorial cartoon
An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration containing a commentary that usually relates to current events or personalities....
drawn by "Kelly", a fictional character; the cartoons are actually the work of Ward Sutton
Ward Sutton
Ward Sutton is an American illustrator, cartoonist and writer born in Minneapolis and based in New York City. His comic strip, "Sutton Impact" , was published in The Village Voice from 1995 to 2007....
. The comic—the most controversial feature in The Onion—is a deadpan parody of conservative cartoons, as well as editorial cartoon conventions in general. Roughly half of the cartoons feature the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
, usually shedding a single tear.
The website was redesigned in 2005:
- All archives were returned to being free; and Onion Premium, a failed attempt at a paid-subscriber model section of the site, was discontinued.
- "What Do You Think?" became "American Voices," with the question updated every weekday, and only three responders for each question, instead of six.
- "In the News" was retitled "From the Print Edition"
- The Onion began publishing web-only content on a daily basis, such as a daily fictional stock marketStock marketA stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
analysis titled "Stock Watch" (one of which appears in the print edition every week), a web opinion pollOpinion pollAn opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
titled "QuickPoll" (since discontinued), "National News Highlights" of three regional stories, the cover of The Onion Weekender (a parody of PARADE magazineParade (magazine)Parade is an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 500 newspapers in the United States. It was founded in 1941 and is owned by Advance Publications. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., Parade has a circulation of 32.2 million and a readership of nearly 70...
) The Onion Magazine (a parody of The New York Times MagazineThe New York Times MagazineThe New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
), and OSN The Magazine (a parody of ESPN The MagazineESPN The MagazineESPN The Magazine is a bi-weekly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut in the United States. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998....
) and The President's Weekly Radio Address. - The nationally syndicated Onion Radio News, a brief audio clip read by anchor Doyle Redland, became a daily feature. In early 2006, Onion Radio News podcast was launched, and quickly shot to #1 on the iTunes list of top podcasts.
- A sports section was introduced, having archival material from old issues in addition to new articles (such as "Matt LeinartMatt LeinartMatthew Stephen Leinart , is an American professional football quarterback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League...
Wins Beauty Portion of 2006 NFL Draft2006 NFL DraftThe 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with additional coverage offered by ESPNU and, for the first time, by...
") and rotating headlines such as "New York RangersNew York RangersThe New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
Honor Proud Madison Square GardenMadison Square GardenMadison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
Tradition by Losing".
The Onion website is updated every day, most significantly (and historically before the move to daily updates) on Wednesday afternoons; and The Onion newspaper is distributed on Thursdays.
A genuine Personals Service is also offered by the website.
Reporters and editors
The current Editor of The Onion is Joe RandazzoJoe Randazzo (comedian)
Joe Randazzo , is an American comedy writer, stand-up comedian, and improvisational comedian. He is currently the editor of the satirical newspaper, The Onion. In addition to performing stand-up, Randazzo has been a guest host of the improv comedy show ASSSSCAT 3000 at New York City's Upright...
; and the writing staff is Joe Garden
Joe Garden
Joe Garden is an American comedy writer. He is currently a features editor at The Onion, where he created the characters Jim Anchower and Jackie Harvey....
, Todd Hanson
Todd Hanson (writer)
Todd Hanson is a writer and voice actor, best known for his work as a writer and editor at The Onion. Hanson also voices the character Dan Halen on the Adult Swim program Squidbillies.-As writer:...
, John Harris, Chris Karwowski, John Krewson, Chad Nackers, Seth Reiss, Baratunde Thurston
Baratunde Thurston
Baratunde Rafiq Thurston is an American comedian based in Boston and New York City. He is a graduate of Sidwell Friends School and a cum laude graduate of Harvard University....
, Will Tracy, Dave Kornfeld, and Jason Roeder. Past writers have included Mark Banker, Max Cannon
Max Cannon
Max Cannon is author and creator of the independent comic strip Red Meat.Cannon began producing the strip in 1989 for the Arizona Daily Wildcat, the student newspaper of the University of Arizona . The strip was later picked up by the Tucson Weekly, and it now appears in over 75 alternative weeklies...
, Amie Barrodale, Rich Dahm
Rich Dahm
Richard Dahm is an American comedy writer from Wisconsin. A Co-Executive Producer and Head Writer for The Colbert Report, he has also written for Dennis Miller Live and Da Ali G Show....
, Mike DiCenzo, Megan Ganz
Megan Ganz
Megan Ganz is an American comedy writer and former associate editor of The Onion. She serves as a writer on the NBC series Community.-Early life and career:Ganz graduated from Hackett Catholic Central High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2002....
, Dan Guterman, Janet Ginsburg, Tim Harrod
Tim Harrod
Tim Harrod is an American comedy writer. He has written for The Onion, The Late Show With David Letterman, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien....
, David Javerbaum
David Javerbaum
David Javerbaum is an American comedy writer and former executive producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He was hired as a staff writer there in 1999, promoted to head writer in 2002 and attained EP status at the end of 2006. He has won 11 Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, two Peabody Awards...
, Ben Karlin
Ben Karlin
Ben Karlin is an American television producer. He is an eight time Emmy-winning American writer and executive producer best known for his work in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. He is one of three co-creators of The Colbert Report along with Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart...
, Peter Koechley, Carol Kolb
Carol Kolb
Carol Kolb is an American comedy writer. She is a former managing editor and, later, editor-in-chief of The Onion and the current head writer for the Onion News Network.-External links:* , The Onion* , Charlie Rose...
, Tom Scharpling
Tom Scharpling
Tom Scharpling is an American radio host, comedian, television writer, producer and music video director. He is best known for hosting the weekly freeform radio call-in comedy program The Best Show on WFMU and for acting as a writer/executive producer for the TV show Monk.Scharpling is also noted...
, Maria Schneider
Maria Schneider (cartoonist)
Maria Schneider is an American humorist, cartoonist and illustrator best known for her work with the satirical online newspaper The Onion and her comic strip Pathetic Geek Stories....
, Robert D. Siegel
Robert D. Siegel
Robert D. Siegel is an American screenwriter for The Onion Movie and The Wrestler, as well as the writer and director of Big Fan.The Wrestler won the Golden Lion at the 2008 Venice Film Festival and has earned several Best Picture nominations....
and Jack Szwergold
Jack Szwergold
Jack Szwergold is a comedy writer and the Webby-Award-winning first webmaster for the news parody publication The Onion.Szwergold convinced The Onion Editor and Publisher Scott Dikkers that a Web site would increase readership, and The Onions site launched in May 1996...
. Colin Tierney is the Editorial Graphic Designer & Michael Faisca and Nick Gallo are the Graphic Editors. The Onion does not accept unsolicited freelance contributions. The Onion News Network is produced by Will Graham
Will Graham
Will Graham is a fictional character and the main protagonist in Thomas Harris' 1981 novel Red Dragon. He is an FBI profiler responsible for the original capture of the serial killer Hannibal Lecter and the man who is assigned to locate killer Francis Dolarhyde.Although successful, Graham is...
, Julie Smith and Claudina Del Guidice. It is directed by Will Graham and J.J. Adler and the head writer is Carol Kolb
Carol Kolb
Carol Kolb is an American comedy writer. She is a former managing editor and, later, editor-in-chief of The Onion and the current head writer for the Onion News Network.-External links:* , The Onion* , Charlie Rose...
, former Editor-in-Chief of The Onion. The other Staff Writers are Dan Mirk, Jack Kukoda, Sam West, Lang Fisher, and Chris Kelly.
The Onion News Network In March 2007, The Onion launched The Onion News Network, a daily web video broadcast that had been in production since mid-2006, with a story about an illegal immigrant taking an executive's $800,000-a-year job for $600,000 a year. The Onion has reportedly invested about $1 million in the production and has hired 15 new staffers to focus on the production of this video broadcast. Carol Kolb
Carol Kolb
Carol Kolb is an American comedy writer. She is a former managing editor and, later, editor-in-chief of The Onion and the current head writer for the Onion News Network.-External links:* , The Onion* , Charlie Rose...
, former Editor-in-Chief of The Onion, is the ONN's head writer; Will Graham is the showrunner and Executive Producer. On February 3, 2009, The Onion launched a spin-off of the ONN, the Onion Sports Network.
In a Wikinews
Wikinews
Wikinews is a free-content news source wiki and a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. The site works through collaborative journalism. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has distinguished Wikinews from Wikipedia by saying "on Wikinews, each story is to be written as a news story as opposed to an...
interview in November 2007, former Onion President Sean Mills said the ONN has been a huge hit. "We get over a million downloads a week, which makes it one of the more successful produced-for-the-Internet videos," said Mills. "If we’re not the most successful, we’re one of the most. It is a 24 hour news network. We have a new show that is part of the platform, but we also have a Sunday morning talk show that’s called In The Know and we just launched a morning show this last week called Today Now. It has been really exciting; we’ll have some new shows, show some archive footage and do some more in sports over the next year."
In January 2011, The Onion launched two TV shows on cable networks. "Onion SportsDome
Onion SportsDome
Onion SportsDome is a parody sports television show from the makers of The Onion. The show premiered on Tuesday, January 11, 2011, at 10:30 p.m. EST on Comedy Central in the United States. It is seen in Canada on The Comedy Network....
" premiered January 11 on Comedy Central. Onion News Network
Onion News Network
Onion News Network is a parody television news show. The show premiered its ten-episode first season on January 21, 2011, at 10:00 p.m. EST on IFC....
premiered January 21 on IFC
Independent Film Channel
The Independent Film Channel is an American cable TV network that airs independent film and related programming. IFC programming includes commercially interrupted feature-length films, original documentaries, shorts, animated series, original series, acquired series, and content exclusively for...
.
In March 2011, IFC officially announced the renewal of the "Onion News Network
Onion News Network
Onion News Network is a parody television news show. The show premiered its ten-episode first season on January 21, 2011, at 10:00 p.m. EST on IFC....
" for a second season.
In June 2011, Comedy Central officially announced the cancellation of "Onion SportsDome
Onion SportsDome
Onion SportsDome is a parody sports television show from the makers of The Onion. The show premiered on Tuesday, January 11, 2011, at 10:30 p.m. EST on Comedy Central in the United States. It is seen in Canada on The Comedy Network....
".
In August 2011, the Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
, East, AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
announced the unionization of the "Onion News Network
Onion News Network
Onion News Network is a parody television news show. The show premiered its ten-episode first season on January 21, 2011, at 10:00 p.m. EST on IFC....
" writing staff, averting a potential strike which hinged on pay and benefits. It is also not the first time Onion, Inc. has been criticized for the way it treats its employees: In June 2011 "A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
" Philadelphia city editor Emily Guendelsberger was the victim of an attack, and according to the Philadelphia Daily News, her job did not provide health insurance to cover hospital bills. According to the WGA, "ONN" was the only scripted, live-action program that had employed non-union writers. "The ONN writers stood together and won real improvements", said WGAE Executive Director Lowell Peterson. “We welcome them into the WGAE and we look forward to a productive relationship with the company.” Peterson noted that more than 70 Guild members from all of the New York-based comedy shows signed a letter supporting the ONN writers, and hundreds of Guild members sent emails to the producers.
Cast
- Joe Amato as Glen Bannon and Michael Bannon
- Michele Ammon as Jean Anne Whorton
- Bobbie BattistaBobbie BattistaBarbara Ann "Bobbie" Battista is an American journalist and a former prominent newscaster with the Cable News Network . During her 20-year career with the cable news company, Battista anchored numerous programs on CNN, CNN Headline News and CNN International...
as herself - Beau Baxter as Reggie Greengrass
- Jeremy Beiler as Jason Copeland
- Bob Bowdon as Brian Scott
- Julie Brister as LauraLee Hickock
- Todd Alan Crain as Jeff Tate
- Esther David as Jane Carmichael
- Dorothi Fox as Nancy Fichandler
- Kyla Grogan as Andrea Bennett
- Lori Hammel as Leslie Hillerman
- Brad Holbrook as Jim Haggerty
- Brian Huskey as Duncan Birch
- George Riddle as Joad Cressbeckler
- Bobby Rivers as Robert Haige
- Tracy Toth as Tracy Gill
- Jennifer Dorr White as Julianna McKannis
- Suzanne SenaSuzanne SenaSuzanne Sena is an American television host, anchor, and actress. She plays the character Brooke Alvarez on IFC's series Onion News Network, which launched January 2011. From 2006 to 2008, she was a primetime and late night breaking news anchor for Fox News Channel...
as Ana Gentry and Brooke Alvarez
Continuing series
To further invoke the atmosphere of a 24-hour network, The Onion News Network video series includes items lifted from what are ostensibly ONN news shows and continuing reports:- Today Now!:
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Today show and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
. Hosted by Jim Haggerty (in actuality, former New York City TV anchor Brad Holbrook) and Tracy Gill (portrayed by Tracy Toth), the style is typical of the breezy style often found in morning network television shows, with the presenters either uncritical or completely oblivious to the subject matter presented, regardless of the absurdity of the subject (e.g., Haggerty's earnest question about whether or not an omelet recipe strictly requires a metal shoe-horn to measure the butter into the pan).
- In The Know with Clifford Banes: A parody of Sunday morning pundit shows, ITK is hosted by Clifford Banes, who never actually appears on his own program due to a continuous succession of absurd or improbable circumstances, and is led by a guest host who explains why Mr. Banes cannot attend (e.g., "... filling in for Clifford Banes who is wandering along I-97 in a bathrobe with no memory of who he is"). An Onion-style current political event is examined earnestly by ITK's pundit panel from every angle regardless of how odd it might seem. In one 2011 skit, Clifford Banes apparently appeared. The actor playing Clifford Banes, however, was a woman (Julianna McKannis), who was "wearing a perfect latex mask".
- Beyond The Facts: A parody of evening news channels' news magazine programs. "BTF" is hosted by ONN's Jean Anne Whorton (a Diane Sawyer parody played by actress Michele Ammon); a former ONN prime-time anchor, known for her compassionate interviewing skills and her "great hair". Whorton has received three Gracie Awards (American Women in Radio and Television National Awards), and goes in-depth, exploring the soft underbelly of issues while nodding thoughtfully at the real story behind the headline.
- War For The White House: ONN's continuing coverage of Election '08, opening with a dramatic video apparently depicting Air Force One and a squadron of fighter planes seemingly attacking the White House, mocking the intense, over-the-top style that seems to have become typical in straight news coverage. Notable for its consistent use of military terminology (e.g. "Election Analysis Bunker") and deadpan style.
- O-SPAN: O-SPAN parodies the thoroughgoing coverage of Congress provided by C-SPANC-SPANC-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
, including spoof bill-readings on the House floor and spoof committee meetings.
- ONN-International: A parody of CNN-International, ONNI debuted November 2008. Boasting coverage in 152 languages over 811 countries and with 9 billion viewers, ONN-International presents news from around the world often with subtitles such as this story from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- OSN: A reference to ESPN, OSN usually features clips from SportsDome, a parody of ESPN's SportsCenter. The clips usually focus on specific parodies of SportsCenter segments such as the Budweiser Hot Seat, which becomes The Steam Room on OSN. Hosts present in the jocular style synonymous with ESPN and sportscasters on sets that are near-identical knockoffs of the SportsCenter studios. On January 11, 2011, cable network Comedy CentralComedy CentralComedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
launched the "Onion Sportsdome", an off-shoot of the OSN feature, marking the first time an ONN feature became a full-fledged television series.
- News Room: Is a parody of breaking newsBreaking newsBreaking news, also known as a special report or news bulletin, is a current event that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming and/or current news in order to report its details. Many times, breaking news is used after the news network has already reported on this story...
segments that appear during commercial breaks or replays on 24-hour news networks. News Room, anchored by Andrea Bennett and Glen Bannon (a name check to Jeff GannonJeff GannonJames Dale Guckert is a conservative columnist better known by the pseudonym Jeff Gannon. Between 2003 and 2005, he was given credentials as a White House reporter. He was eventually employed by the conservative website Talon News during the latter part of this period...
of Talon NewsTalon NewsTalon News is an American website which became newsworthy in January 2005 because alleged irregularities in the background of its chief correspondent, known as Jeff Gannon, came to light. Gannon, born James Dale Guckert, resigned from Talon on February 8, 2005...
) is set in the fictional 24-hour24-hour news cycleThe 24-hour news cycle arrived with the advent of television channels dedicated to news, and brought about a much faster pace of news production with increased demand for stories that can be presented as news, as opposed to the day-by-day pace of the news cycle of printed daily newspapers...
cable newsUnited States cable newsCable news refers to television channels devoted to television news broadcasts, with the name deriving from the proliferation of such networks during the 1980s with the advent of cable television. In the United States, early networks included CNN in 1980, Financial News Network in 1981, and CNN2 ...
television networkTelevision networkA television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
's news room with TV's and switchboards in the background.
- Raw Justice: A parody of news channels' popular documentaries on attention-grabbing crimes. It looks into ordinary crimes, although the reporter always finds a way to relate a story to the culprit's sexual actions such as "Man had sex with wife thousands of times before killing her".
- The Cressbeckler Stance: A parody of prime-time news commentary shows such as HannityHannityHannity is a television show on the Fox News network, a replacement to the long-running show Hannity & Colmes. It is hosted by conservative political pundit Sean Hannity....
and HuckabeeHuckabeeHuckabee is a TV political commentary program on Fox News hosted by former Republican Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. It premiered September 27, 2008, at 8 PM EDT.- Schedule :...
. Features commentary on political issues by former prospectorProspectingProspecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...
Joad Cressbeckler, a character first introduced as a third-party presidential candidate, an even more "grizzled and ornery" alternative to John McCainJohn McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, in a War For The White House segment.
After a commercial, each item is capped off by a teaser featuring a headline joke. The news reports also have a news crawl
News ticker
A news ticker resides in the lower third of the television screen space on television news networks dedicated to presenting headlines or minor pieces of news. It may also refer to a long, thin scoreboard-style display seen around the front of some offices or public buildings...
filled with joke headlines.
The Onion Radio News is an audio podcast featuring P. S. Mueller
P. S. Mueller
Pete S. Mueller is an American cartoonist and voice actor. His cartoons have appeared in the New Yorker, Chicago Reader, Reader's Digest, and Funny Times, among other publications....
as fictional newscaster Doyle Redland.
Film
The Onion Movie is a direct-to-videoDirect-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
film written by then-Onion editor Robert Siegel and writer Todd Hanson and directed by music video directors Tom Kuntz and Mike Maguire.
Created in 2003, Fox Searchlight Pictures
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Fox Searchlight Pictures, established in 1998, is a film division of Fox Filmed Entertainment alongside the larger Fox studio 20th Century Fox...
was on board to release the movie, originally called The Untitled Onion Movie, but at some point in the process, directors Tom Kuntz and Mike Maguire and writer Robert Siegel walked away from the project.
In 2006, New Regency Productions
New Regency Productions
New Regency Productions is a production company founded in 1991 by Arnon Milchan and a subsidiary of Regency Enterprises.It is located on the 20th Century Fox lot, and Fox is the current distributor of Regency releases since 1998, but is a wholly independent company. Warner Bros. Pictures was the...
took over the production of the troubled project. After two years of being in limbo
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
, the film was released on DVD on June 3, 2008. It is now credited as being directed by James Kleiner but still written by Hanson and Siegel.
The Onion taken seriously
Upon occasion, the straight-faced manner in which The Onion reports non-existent happenings has resulted in third parties mistakenly citing The Onion stories as real news.- In 1998, Fred PhelpsFred PhelpsFred Waldron Phelps, Sr. is an American pastor heading the Westboro Baptist Church , an independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas...
posted
Westboro Baptist Church
The Westboro Baptist Church is an independent Baptist church known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities, which include picketing funerals and desecrating the American flag. The church is widely described as a hate group and is monitored as such by the...
" website as "proof" that gay people were indeed actively trying to "recruit" others.
- On June 7, 2002, ReutersReutersReuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
reported that the
Beijing Evening News
Beijing Evening News is a Chinese language newspaper in the People's Republic of China from Beijing. It was founded on March 15, 1958. Mao Zedong wrote the title for it in 1964....
republished, in the international news page of its June 3 edition, translated portions of the article "Congress Threatens To Leave D.C. Unless New Capitol Is Built". The story discusses the U.S. Congress's threats to leave Washington for Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
; Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
; or even Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
unless Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
built them a new Capitol building
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
with a retractable dome. The article is a parody of U.S. sports franchises' threats to leave their home city unless new stadiums are built for them. Evening News initially stood by the story, demanding proof of its falsehood. It later retracted the article, responding that "some small American newspapers frequently fabricate offbeat news to trick people into noticing them with the aim of making money."
- In late March 2004, Deborah NorvilleDeborah NorvilleDeborah Norville is an American television broadcaster and journalist. Since 1995 she has been host of the syndicated American television program Inside Edition...
of MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
presented as genuine an article titled "Study: 58 Percent Of U.S. Exercise Televised".
- In 2006, the DanishDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
television station TV 2TV 2 (Denmark)TV 2 is a publicly owned television station in Denmark based in Odense. The station began broadcasting on 1 October 1988, thereby ending the television monopoly previously exercised by the Danmarks Radio ....
posted a story on the gossip section of its website that took seriously The Onion article titled "Sean Penn Demands To Know What Asshole Took SeanPenn@gmail.com"
- An article on Harry PotterHarry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
inciting children to practice witchcraftWitchcraftWitchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
was the subject of a widely forwarded email which repeated the quotes attributed to children in the article. Columnist Ellen Makkai and others who believe the Harry Potter books "recruit" children to SatanismSatanismSatanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...
have also been taken in by the article, using quotes from it to support their claims.
- In September 2009, two BangladeshBangladeshBangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i newspapers, The Daily Manab Zamin and The New Nation, published stories translated from The Onion claiming Neil ArmstrongNeil ArmstrongNeil Alden Armstrong is an American former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, United States Naval Aviator, and the first person to set foot upon the Moon....
had held a news conference claiming the moon landing was an elaborate hoax. Neither realized The Onion was not a genuine news site. Both of the newspapers apologized to their readers for not checking the story.
- In October 2009, the Russian news site Russia.ru repackaged clips from The Onion video piece "New Anti-Smoking Ad Warns Teens 'It's Gay to Smoke'" as legitimate news.
- In February 2010, among others the online newspapers Il Corriere della Sera (Italy) and AdresseavisenAdresseavisenAdresseavisen is a regional newspaper published daily, except Sundays, in Trondheim, Norway. It is an independent, conservative newspaper with a daily circulation of approximately 85,000. It is also informally known as Adressa. The newspaper covers the areas of Trøndelag and Nordmøre.Adresseavisen...
(Norway) repackaged clips from The Onion video piece "Denmark Introduces Harrowing New Tourism Ads Directed By Lars Von TrierLars von TrierLars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....
" as legitimate news.
- In June 2010, the soccer website Sofoot.com (France) mistook for real news the article "Nation's Soccer Fan Becoming Insufferable", picked up the story and translated it partially on their own website under the title "La solitude du supporter ricain" ("The Yankee supporter's loneliness"). The article even ends with a kind word for the fake fan, telling him to be brave and to hang on.
- In November 2010, The Fox NationThe Fox NationThis article is about the news website. For the Fox Native American nation, see Meskwaki.Fox Nation is a conservative news website operated by the Fox News Channel that began operation on March 30, 2009....
website, a part of the Fox News network, mistook The Onions article about President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
writing a 75,000 word e-mail complaining about America as a genuine report.
- In April 2011, the New York Times took an article that was several years old seriously. The article talks about President Obama on the cover of the magazine Tiger BeatTiger BeatTiger Beat is an American fan magazine marketed primarily to adolescent girls. It is currently published by Laufer Media, Inc. of Los Angeles, California, which also produces its sister publication, Bop....
with an image of the magazine inside.
- The blog Literally Unbelievable (started 2011) showcases posts from FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
users who take various Onion articles seriously.
- In September 2011, United States Capitol PoliceUnited States Capitol PoliceThe United States Capitol Police is a federal police force charged with protecting the United States Congress within the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its territories.-History:...
investigated reports coming from The Onion's TwitterTwitterTwitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account claiming that US congressmen were holding twelve children hostage.
U.S. Presidential Seal dispute
In September 2005, the assistant counsel to President George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, Grant M. Dixton, wrote a cease-and-desist letter to The Onion, asking the paper to stop using the presidential seal, which is used in an online segment poking fun at the President through parodies of his weekly radio address. The law governing the Presidential Seal is contained in :
By Executive Order, President Richard Nixon specifically enumerated the allowed uses of the Presidential Seal, which are more restrictive than the above title , but which allows for exceptions to be granted upon formal request.
The Onion has responded with a letter asking for formal use of the Seal in accordance with the Executive Order, while still declaring that the use is legitimate under . However, since Executive Order 11649 permits use of the Seal in the manner used by The Onion only with authorization of the Counsel to the President, use of the Seal by The Onion would imply that the required authorization had been obtained, and therefore doing so without such authorization would convey "a false impression of ...approval by the Government of the United States."
The letter written by Rochelle H. Klaskin, The Onion
Approval has not been given.
Books
- Our Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News SourceOur Dumb CenturyOur Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News Source is a satirical humor book written by the staff of The Onion and published by Three Rivers Press in 1999. The chief editor of the book was Scott Dikkers, with specific sections edited by Robert D. Siegel,...
(1999, ISBN 0-609-80461-8) - The Onion's Finest News Reporting, Volume 1 (2000, ISBN 0-609-80463-4)
- Dispatches from the Tenth Circle: The Best of The Onion (2001, ISBN 0-609-80834-6)
- The Onion Ad Nauseam: Complete News Archives Volume 13 (2002, ISBN 1-4000-4724-2)
- The Onion Ad Nauseam: Complete News Archives Volume 14 (2003, ISBN 1-4000-4961-X)
- "Fanfare for the Area Man": The Onion Ad Nauseam Complete News Archives Volume 15 (2004, ISBN 1-4000-5455-9)
- "Embedded in America": The Onion Ad Nauseam Complete News Archives Volume 16 (2005, ISBN 1-4000-5456-7)
- "Homeland Insecurity": The Onion Ad Nauseam Complete News Archives, Volume 17 (2006, ISBN 0-307-33984-X)
- Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of the Planet EarthOur Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of the Planet EarthOur Dumb World is a parody of the standard desk atlas created by the staff of The Onion and published by Little, Brown and Company on October 30, 2007...
(Oct. 2007, ISBN 0-316-01842-2) - Our Front Pages: 21 Years of Greatness, Virtue, and Moral Rectitude from America's Finest News Source (2009, ISBN 978-1439156926)
History and founding
Officially, the paper purports to be over 250 years old, having originally published in the mid 18th century. It was named the "Mercantile Onion" because those were the only two English words the paper's immigrant founder, Friedrich Siegfried Zweibel, knew at the time. ( is German for "onion".) The newspaper's motto was originally (LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for "You are stupid").
In 1896 Zweibel's 20-year-old grandson, T. Herman Zweibel became editor, a position he supposedly holds to this day despite being over a century old and largely senile. For much of the 20th century the paper was highly reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
and parodied the yellow journalism
Yellow journalism
Yellow journalism or the yellow press is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism...
and sensationalism
Sensationalism
Sensationalism is a type of editorial bias in mass media in which events and topics in news stories and pieces are over-hyped to increase viewership or readership numbers...
prevalent in print media during the early part of the century. It violently opposed every social reform the century brought forward, from women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
to married characters sleeping together in the same bed on television. T. Herman Zweibel penned a weekly commentary until 2000, when he was rocketed into space toward the Andromeda galaxy
Andromeda Galaxy
The Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Andromeda. It is also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224, and is often referred to as the Great Andromeda Nebula in older texts. Andromeda is the nearest spiral galaxy to the...
, ostensibly leaving The Onion in the joint control of Bernard Baruch
Bernard Baruch
Bernard Mannes Baruch was an American financier, stock-market speculator, statesman, and political consultant. After his success in business, he devoted his time toward advising U.S. Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt on economic matters and became a philanthropist.-Early life...
and Aunt Jemima
Aunt Jemima
Aunt Jemima is a trademark for pancake flour, syrup, and other breakfast foods currently owned by the Quaker Oats Company of Chicago. The trademark dates to 1893, although Aunt Jemima pancake mix debuted in 1889. The Quaker Oats Company first registered the Aunt Jemima trademark in April 1937...
.
In recent Onion Radio News releases, beginning December 15, 2008, the concluding ad for Our Dumb World has stated: "For over 350 years The Onion has given you the day's news...".
Chronology
- 1756: Friedrich Siegfried Zweibel founded the Mercantile-Onion
- 1783: First edition of The Onion News-Paper, purporting to be the first newspaper to carry advertisements (namely for The King of Broil'd MeatsBurger KingBurger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
and John Jameson's Miracle ConcoctionJameson Irish WhiskeyJameson is a single distillery Irish whiskey produced by a division of the French distiller Pernod Ricard. Jameson is similar in its adherence to the single distillery principle to the single malt tradition, but Jameson combines malted barley with unmalted or "green" barley...
), is released. - 1850: F. Siegfreid's son, Herman U., took over the company.
- 1888: T. Herman Zweibel, assumes editorial directorship
- 1892: Onion 24-Hour Television News Network (ONN) founded, preceding the advent of television. It can now be seen in 811 countries around the world by over 9 billion people.
- 1896: T. Herman Zweibel, F. Siegfried's grandson, took over the company, upon death of Herman U. Zweibel.
- 1922: Onion Radio founded.
- 1958: Zweibel was court-ordered to retire.
- 2000: Zweibel left Earth itself (The Final Frontier, T. Herman Zweibel).
- 2009: The Onion and all corporate holdings sold to a Chinese conglomerate, Yu Wan Mei Amalgamated Salvage Fisheries and Polymer Injection Corporation.
- 2009: The Chinese conglomerate, Yu Wan Mei Amalgamated Salvage Fisheries and Polymer Injection Corporation, having felt misled in its acquisition of The Onion, has placed The Onion up for sale less than one week after purchasing the paper.
Contributors and editors
The Onions fictional editor is T. Herman Zweibel (Zwiebel is German for onion, and also close to the name Zweifel (German for "doubt"), a family closely associated with the Madison newspaper The Capital Times), who has "held the position since 1901" and is rather insane.The Onion publishes several columns by (fictional) regular and guest writers, including:
- Jim Anchower, an upbeat but aimless slackerSlackerThe term "slacker" is used to refer to a person who habitually avoids work. Slackers may be regarded as belonging to an antimaterialistic counterculture, though in some cases their behavior may be due to other causes ....
and stoner who freely discourses upon his difficulties with his over-accessorized, under-serviced Ford FestivaFord FestivaThe Ford Festiva is a subcompact car that was marketed by the Ford Motor Company between 1986 and 2002. Built by Mazda in Japan and Kia Motors in South Korea, the Festiva was sold in Japan, the Americas, and Australasia...
and with finding and maintaining regular accommodation and McJobMcJobMcJob is slang for a low-paying, low-prestige dead end job that requires few skills and offers very little chance of intracompany advancement...
s. - Jean Teasdale, an overweight, occasionally employed, married but childless woman age around 40. Jean appears to be oblivious to her husband's alcoholism and philandering. Instead, she masks her depressing parochial life with a relentlessly upbeat attitude and delights in cheap kitschKitschKitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
collectibles and sentimental, Hallmark-style movies. Her column is called "A Room of Jean's Own" (a reference to A Room of One's OwnA Room of One's OwnA Room of One's Own is an extended essay by Virginia Woolf. First published on 24 October 1929, the essay was based on a series of lectures she delivered at Newnham College and Girton College, two women's colleges at Cambridge University in October 1928...
by Virginia WoolfVirginia WoolfAdeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
). - Smoove B, a smooth talking ladies' man whose columns are directed toward his girlfriendGirlfriendGirlfriend is a term that can refer to either a female partner in a non-marital romantic relationship or a female non-romantic friend that is closer than other friends....
s or potential datesDating (activity)Dating is a form of courtship consisting of social activities done by two persons with the aim of each assessing the other's suitability as a partner in an intimate relationship or as a spouse...
. He is known for describing his planned dates in extreme detail, often straying from the romanticRomantic loveRomance is the pleasurable feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.In the context of romantic love relationships, romance usually implies an expression of one's love, or one's deep emotional desires to connect with another person....
to the mundane. The structure of the comedy consists of a series of romantic come-on lines, featuring cliched enticements such as cognac, chocolates, and massages, followed by a blunt sexual reference. - Roger Dudek, an inept humor columnist whose feature, "Write On The Funny!", contains nonstop clumsy puns and similes, while demonstrating a casually abusive attitude towards members of his family
- Jackie Harvey, a parody of a celebrity-spotting gossip columnist, notable for incompetently spelling celebrity names
- Amber Richardson, a white, uneducated single mother who writes in African-American Vernacular English about her many misadventures in raising her illegitimate children including visiting the health clinic, constantly changing jobs as well as lovers, and defending her questionable qualifications in childrearing.
- Larry Groznic, an overweight, confrontational "fanboy" whose disagreements with friends over obscure nerd trivia are documented in hostile letters typically demanding conversion to his point of view. Groznic bears a resemblance to Comic Book GuyComic Book GuyComic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The...
of The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, in both appearance and personality. - Gorzo the Mighty, the Emperor of the Universe, villain in the style of Ming the MercilessMing the MercilessMing the Merciless is a fictional character who first appeared in the Flash Gordon comic strip in 1934. He has since been the main villain of the strip and its related movie serials, TV shows and film adaptation.- First appearance :...
. - Department Head Rawlings, the mysterious head of an unnamed organization of international spies.
Former contributors include:
- Herbert Kornfeld, accounts receivableAccounts receivableAccounts receivable also known as Debtors, is money owed to a business by its clients and shown on its Balance Sheet as an asset...
a geeky-looking, supervisor, an accountant who was raised on the streets and spoke in gangsta rap-ismsGangsta rapGangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
and ebonicsAfrican American Vernacular EnglishAfrican American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
. He had an ongoing feud with the members of accounts payable. Killed on April 30, 2007. - Arch Danielson, an elderly man who wrote "The Silver Screen", a series of rambling, non-sensical movie reviews that often diverted towards random topics. His persona was retired around 1998, in favor of Jackie Harvey.
In addition, The Onion has some recurring characters in its news stories, such as Don Turnbee, a 41-year-old from Erie
Erie
Erie is a city in Pennsylvania, United States.Erie may also refer to:*Erie , a tribe of Native Americans-Places:*Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes of North America*Erie Canal, a canal running from the Hudson River to Lake Erie...
who frequents fast-food establishments. Starting in 1997, reports of Turnbee's experiences describe his difficulties negotiating an all-you-can-eat buffet
Buffet
A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners generally serve themselves. Buffets are offered at various places including hotels and many social events...
, food island etiquette, beverage top-ups, condiment sachet accumulation, and chronic indigestion. Headlines typically describe Turnbee as an "Area Man".
See also
Similar satirical newspapers and magazines exist in many countries, including:- The ChaserThe Chaser (newspaper)The Chaser was a newspaper, published in Australia by political satire group The Chaser from 1999 to 2005.The newspaper, first published on 9 May 1999, was The Chaser team's most famous enterprise. Among other things, they have published Australian Prime Minister John Howard's private, unlisted...
(Australia) - FrankFrank (magazine)Frank is a bi-weekly Canadian scandal or satirical magazine published since 1987 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.A separate publication in Ottawa, Ontario, of the same name was published from 1989 to 2004 and then revived from 2005 to 2008...
(Canada) - The ClinicThe ClinicThe Clinic is a Chilean satirical/investigative newspaper founded by Patricio Fernández Chadwick in November 1998. The name was inspired by Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet's October 1998 arrest in Britain at The London Clinic, which bears the name The Clinic on its façade...
(Chile) - Le Canard enchaînéLe Canard enchaînéLe Canard enchaîné is a satirical newspaper published weekly in France. Founded in 1915, it features investigative journalism and leaks from sources inside the French government, the French political world and the French business world, as well as many jokes and humorous cartoons.-Early...
(France) - TitanicTitanic (magazine)Titanic is a German monthly satirical magazine based in Frankfurt. It has a circulation of approximately 100,000.- History :Titanic was founded in 1979 by former contributors and editors of Pardon, a satirical monthly, which the group had left after conflicts with its publisher...
(Germany) - Faking NewsFaking NewsFaking News is an Indian news satire website that publishes fake news reports containing satire on politics and society of India. The website also publishes occasional serious articles related to television journalism in India...
(India) - The PhoenixThe Phoenix (magazine)The Phoenix is Ireland's best selling political and current affairs magazine. Inspired by the British magazine Private Eye, and a source of investigative journalism in Ireland...
(Ireland) - Inimigo Publico (Portugal)
- Academia CatavencuAcademia CatavencuAcademia Caţavencu is a Romanian satirical magazine founded in 1991 and made famous by its investigative journalism. Academia Caţavencu also owns Radio Guerrilla , an FM radio station with national coverage ; Tabu, a women's magazine, Superbebe, a magazine for new parents, Aventuri la pescuit, a...
(Romania) - Moskovskaya KomsomolkaMoskovskaya KomsomolkaMoskovskaya Komsomolka was a satirical newspaper published weekly in Russia . The newspaper had a fixed 32 page layout.-Presentation:...
(Russia) - El JuevesEl Juevesis a Spanish satirical weekly magazine published in Barcelona. Its complete title is ""...
(Spain) - Grönköpings VeckobladGrönköpings VeckobladGrönköpings Veckoblad is a Swedish satirical monthly magazine. The name translates as "The Grönköping Weekly", Grönköping being a fictional Swedish town. Founded in 1902 by Hasse Zetterström as a supplement to Söndags-Nisse, it became an independent magazine in 1916...
(Sweden) - Private EyePrivate EyePrivate Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
(UK) - NewsBiscuitNewsBiscuitNewsBiscuit is a British satirical news website. It was founded in September 2006 to create a new outlet for British humour on the internet by a group consisting mainly of comedy writers including John O'Farrell.- Content :...
(UK) - The St Neots CitizenSt Neots CitizenThe St Neots Citizen is a British satirical local news service based in St Neots, Cambridgeshire.-History:The St Neots Citizen was first published in 2001 as part of the , comprising at the time the Whitley Bay Citizen, Geordie Citizen, Showbiz Citizen and many others...
(UK) - The Daily MashThe Daily MashThe Daily Mash is a British satirical website providing parodic commentary on current affairs and other news stories. Neil Rafferty and Paul Stokes , created the website in 2007 and remain the lead writers...
(UK) - The ReporterThe ReporterThe Reporter is the local newspaper based in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and owned by Gannett. It serves primarily Fond du Lac and northern Dodge County in East Central Wisconsin....
(US) - KokqepaKokqepaKokQepa is a Albanian satirical website providing parodic commentary on current affairs and other news stories related to Albania and Albanians.- History :...
(Albania) - Njuz.net (Serbia)