Detail from a front page of The Onion, as featured in "Our Front Pages" (simonandschuster.com).
For two decades and counting now, the satirical news source The Onion has been churning out the headlines that make you laugh or cry or both.
“Amish Give Up.” “Inner Cities to Receive Soothing Heroin.” “Cheney Vows to Attack U.S. If Kerry Elected.” “God Outdoes Terrorists.”
And, the day after last year’s presidential election: “Black Man Given Nation’s Worst Job.”
Oh, my.
It all started as a college humor paper in Madison, Wisconsin. Now, it’s everywhere.
This hour, On Point: Hot headlines and the truth in bleak humor. We’ll peel back The Onion.
You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.
-Tom Ashbrook
Guests:
Joining us from New York is Joe Garden, features editor for The Onion. He joined the staff in 1993, after dropping out of the University of Wisconsin, when the paper was still produced out of Madison. The Onion’s new book is “Our Front Pages: 21 Years of Greatness, Virtue, and Moral Rectitude From America’s Finest News Source.”
Also from New York we’re joined by Seth Reiss, a staff writer for The Onion. He’s been on staff for three years, at the New York base The Onion has had since 2001.
From Pasadena, Calif., we’re joined by Robert Niles, editor at the Online Journalism Review, published by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.
And with us in our studio is star On Point intern Suzanne Merkelson, late, great editor-in-chief of The Colby Echo in Waterville, Maine.
Tags: humor, journalism, media
I’ve been reading the Onion for years and their “new” video productions are first rate.
And, the Onion is timely:
“U.S. Deports Lou Dobbs
CNN Host Had Been Living Illegally In Country Since 1961″
Perfect!
Posted by Richard, on November 12th, 2009 at 10:15 am ESTThe Onion staff have a great sense of humor and a wonderful brainstorming scheme. I enjoy it alot. Sometimes when I type it in at work, there is a piece that makes fun of Presidents Bush or Obama. They often make great points for discussion.
But, I can’t trust them enough to type theonion.com at work. The worst case is when they make light of child porn and sexual abuse. I am already upset that I have to work through that to get to the rest of the site. But if somebody at their job typed it in on their web browser, they could get in real trouble and lose their job.
If they could ramp up their creativity engine, and split the site and have one that is for safe harbor, that could be helpful.
Posted by Dennis Kerr, on November 12th, 2009 at 10:27 am ESTI subscribe to both NPR’s and the Onion’s pages on Facebook. Yesterday afternoon’s Onion headline: “U.S. deports Lou Dobbs.” This morning’s NPR headline: Host Lou Dobbs to Leave CNN.” Coincidence, or … scoop by the Onion?!
Posted by Kathe Roth, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:10 am ESTArea man still reads the onion
Posted by Rex Henry, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:14 am ESTTom:
No denying that this whole model owes its existence to the Onion, but others have not been able to remain even-handed (i.e, Stewart and Colbert) and to avoid the trap of being satirical without becoming angry or nihilistic (i.e, Maher and Lewis Black).
The Onion is the original and still the best!
Joe
Posted by Joe in Boston, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:16 am EST“Nation’s Educators Alarmed By Poorly Written Teen Suicide Notes”
Posted by Len Towers, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:17 am ESTAs a graduate of UW-zero, (Oshkosh) geography, I have forever appreciated the Onion’s full scale fold out map of the world.
Go Onion.
Posted by Richard from FL, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:17 am ESTFavorite headline: “White Men Excited By Release of Windows 98″
Posted by Harris, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:20 am EST56 year old man dreams of writing for the Onion.
Mitch Rothenberg, a 56 year old Cambridge resident prefaces all of his jokes with “there should be an Onion article. . . . Rothenberg tells the Onion that he “is very funny”….
Posted by Mitch, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:20 am EST“Man Bitten by Radioactive Sloth: Does Lying Around All Day of Ten Men”
I’ve had it on my fridge for 6 years and laugh at it every day.
Posted by Brian Tucker, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:20 am ESTCan we hear more about the political significance of The Onion and question the effectiveness of the medium as a “waking up call” to the sleepy masses? Does such a medium play a role in transforming our capitalist society?
Posted by Kenny, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:21 am ESTMy favorite Onion article is thumbtacked to my office cubicle: “Cheney Dunk Tank Raises $800 Billion” with a lovely photo of cheney sitting on a dunk tank. Priceless.
Posted by Beth Bedard, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:22 am ESTMy Favorites???
“Kuwait Deploys Troop”
“Rebels Regret Seizing Power in (???)”
BITING humor(?) in “Our Dumb World” Atlas
Posted by Mike Arnott, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:24 am ESTArea man thinks he’s funny.
Posted by Mitch, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:24 am EST“US Deports Lou Dobbs” LOL!!!!
Thanks for doing this show, Tom. The Onion loosens us up, reminding life is not all doom & gloom.
As someone raised on Mad Magazine, it was a natural for me to embrace The Onion.
Can your guests discuss their regular columnists and features.
Love The Onion,
Posted by jack, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:24 am ESTArea man still thinks he’s funny.
Posted by Mitch, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:27 am ESTMy favorite is:
World Death Rate Holding Steady at 100 Percent.
Posted by Anita, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:27 am ESTAs a New York transplant from Madison, Wisconsin, I couldn’t be more proud of the Onion. Latest favorite, Man Dies after Secret 4-Year Battle with Gorilla. GREAT SHOW!
Posted by Bryan, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:29 am ESTMy favorite Onion headlines ever:
- Bush: ‘Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over’
March 2001
- Obama : Black Guy Asks Nation For Change
March 19, 2008
Also, on the Onion website, there are links to CNN, Slate, Washington Post… What’s up with that?
Laura
Posted by Laura, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:29 am ESTI’m keeping a running list of actual news headlines predicted by The Onion:
http://notestaff.livejournal.com/14376.html
e.g.
The Onion (4-8-98): “Hippocratic Oath ‘Under Review’ By HMO Board”
BBC (6-9-98): ‘I have a duty to treat you – if I can afford it’
Everyone is welcome to contribute!
Posted by Ilya Shlyakhter, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:30 am ESTHello, I love The Onion. My favorite headline read: “Judge denies plea by shooting suspect.
Posted by Fahy Bygate (fay), on November 12th, 2009 at 11:30 am ESTThe Onion all too often is predictive rather than satirical. One article in particular that is constantly referenced on the internet is the”Five Blade” headline about razors:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33930
Also, what happened to the Easter cards from a few years ago?
Posted by Ted Weatherred, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:31 am ESTMy favorite is “Tommy Franks Quits Army to Pursue Solo Bombing Projects”. After the first absurdist laugh, you realize that underneath there is a comment being made about a war fought by private contractors.
Posted by Sam Burton, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:31 am ESTArea man threatens to kill self if submissions not read over radio.
Posted by Mitch, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:31 am ESTI’m looking at an Onion paper from 1993 when I was at school in Madison. I looked forward to each issue. They have always been able to help all of us, whether in the mainstream or fringe, on the left or right, see how idiotic we look and act.
Posted by Steve, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:34 am EST“Earthquake sets Japan back to 2142″
love it
Posted by Clinton, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:34 am EST“Creationists Scientists Refute Theory of Gravity”
Posted by jack, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:35 am ESTYou haven’t mentioned on-air about The Onion’s amazing point of view pieces of inanimate objects. My favorite something to the effect of: “Area traffic Cone not going to take it anymore.”
Posted by Ezra Parzybok, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:39 am ESTI’m from Madison originally. Why did The Onion dump Madison for hot-shot East Coast location?
Margaret
Posted by Margaret, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:41 am ESTUnder “Local,” a photo of a plant pot with one stalk in the middle. Headline: “Plant Died Because of YOU.”
Posted by patteran, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:41 am ESTI hate this show. It’s totally ruining an otherwise perfectly good hour I could have wasted reading The Onion online.
Posted by Hank, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:41 am EST“Organic Sex Diet
Cures Cancer,
Martian Scientists Reveal”
“Onion Staffers Aghast
Posted by George Mack, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:42 am ESTAt Shrinking Foolishness in the Universe”
My favorite is “Professor sees parallels between things, other things”
Posted by Marcus, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:43 am ESTLiked a recent video that indicated A Victim of Fatal Accident was Tragically Not Glenn Beck
Posted by Chuck Latovich, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:43 am ESTWas looking forward to this show, but if there was ever any doubt about the host being a pompous a**, this proved it. Too often he had no clue what the joke was, or took offense. No wonder I rarely listen to this show.
Posted by ralphie, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:45 am ESTMy favorites:
1. Secretary of State Visits Totally F#&@ed Up Country (the article was perfect)
2. You Want a Piece of Me? (An editorial by a cake)
3. Point/Counterpoint: I Want to Be a Fireman When I Grow Up (by a little girl) vs. I want to Be a Six Year Old Girl (by a fireman)
4. Clinton Deploys Very Special Forces to Yugoslavia (the picture of the “short” C-130 hurt me)
Their moon-landing headline in “Our Dumb Century” nearly got me kicked off an airplane, I was laughing so hard.
Posted by Ed, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:47 am ESTMy favorite section is “American Voices”, formerly called “What Do You Think?”: humorous lines on real news stories.
My favorite comment was for “Microsoft Launches New Search Engine”
– “Finally a search engine for the Zune age!”
Genious!
http://www.theonion.com/content/amvo/microsoft_launches_new_search
Posted by Bill Liteplo, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:47 am ESTThe Onion makes me laugh then feel bad that I did as in:
“Area Nursing Home Patient Looking Forward to Going Home Today, Again!”
Posted by Nelson, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:49 am ESTMuch crisper than Voltaire, Jonathan Swift, Douglas Adams or Kurt Vonnegut …
Posted by George, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:51 am ESTMy favorite articles: “fritolaysia Cuts Off Chiplomatic Relations with Snackistan” and “NY Philharmonic to Offer Open Mic Night”
Posted by Megan Quinlan, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:54 am ESTMy favorite headline, which I saw early in the primary campaign:
“Black Man Asks Americans for Change.”
I thought it was wonderful, summing up the whole silliness of racial politics and stereotypes by subtle implication.
Posted by Greg Smith, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:54 am ESTHey Tom! I actually went to BU with Seth and we did a program together at the College of Communications called “peer advising,” in which we helped freshmen majoring in journalism, PR, film and advertising adjust to life at BU. So if you believe it, Seth had an even more direct line in corrupting young minds and hearts.
Posted by Jessica, on November 12th, 2009 at 11:55 am ESTWait, no paeans for Don Turnbee, area man?
Posted by patteran, on November 12th, 2009 at 12:01 pm EST“Man Dies After Long and Painful Battle With Life.”
Posted by patteran, on November 12th, 2009 at 12:21 pm ESTMy favorite:
Posted by Glenn, on November 12th, 2009 at 12:28 pm EST“Man finally put in charge of struggling women’s movement.”
I love Vidalia Onions!
Posted by Kash Hoffa, on November 12th, 2009 at 12:31 pm EST“Why Somebody Always Around Every Time I Drop My Baby?” and any of Amber Richardson’s other columns.
This isn’t a headline, but I’ll always cherish the lede from “P.S. I Love You,” Jean Teasdale’s column about the death of Patrick Swayze:
“So where were you on the night of Sept. 14, when you first heard the news? Were you, like me, sitting at the kitchen table watching E! and building a church out of foam board for your pig bride-and-groom salt-and-pepper shakers?”
Posted by patteran, on November 12th, 2009 at 12:39 pm ESTAll the headlines on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are brilliant, but my favorite, the one that really says it all, is “Arabs, Israelis Sign ‘Screw Peace’ Accord.”
And I can’t resist a pitch: “A**hole Only A**hole Because of Other A**holes.” (Drives an SUV to protect self from crashes with other SUVs, “redshirts” the kids because everyone else is, builds a huge McMansion on top of hill so that no one can build a house that looms over his, and it’s why he originally “went for the money” as a hedge fund manager, etc.)
Posted by patteran, on November 12th, 2009 at 12:44 pm EST“But if somebody at their job typed it in on their web browser, they could get in real trouble and lose their job.”
Dennis, where do you work that you can get in trouble for reading the Onion? I’d like to know so I can never take a job there.
Posted by Whoah, on November 12th, 2009 at 1:05 pm ESTLiked a recent video that indicated A Victim of Fatal Accident was Tragically Not Rachel Maddow
Posted by Twitter this, on November 12th, 2009 at 1:31 pm ESTFat guy mistakenly thought of as strong.
College grad hopes to turn love of data-entry into career.
There was a small stock graph saying something like: Exxon’s stock price surges as investors realize something everyone needs is a pretty safe bet.
Posted by ana, on November 12th, 2009 at 1:43 pm ESTBrings back memories of sitting in class in Madison reading the Badger Herald, Daily Cardinal and of course The Onion! Not surprised that The Onion has done so well.
Posted by Mark, on November 12th, 2009 at 1:49 pm ESTI remember the first Onion headline I ever saw: Area 15-year-old only homosexual in entire world.
Posted by Meredith, on November 12th, 2009 at 3:46 pm ESTNEWS FLASH: Ninjas, Unicorns Call for Onion Boycott
Posted by Tom Byers, on November 12th, 2009 at 4:02 pm ESTHi. My friends and I were smitten when _The Onion_ first came out, and I suppose we still are. We had a good reason: We had multiple underground newspapers when we were in college, and at one point created rival fake underground papers to carry on arcane disputes between academic departments. _The Onion_ relieves us of the requirement to produce this stuff ourselves, and we are very grateful for that. It makes the trip past the newspaper boxes exceptionally and diabolically enjoyable!
Phil
PS I have to stop writing this while you are reviewing your headlines or I will injure myself. Grr.
Posted by Phil, on November 12th, 2009 at 9:56 pm ESTI’ve been reading The Onion since about 1991. My favorite headline/article is, and always has been, the editorial: “Why Can’t I Sell Any Of These F%$&*ing Bibles?” That, and the entirety of the book “Our Dumb Century”
Posted by Mike, on November 13th, 2009 at 8:06 am ESTTwo favorites come to mind:
“Area Wildcat a Real Wildcat in the Sack” (with a picture of a bobcat).
“Bargain Hunter Becomes Bargain Hunted”.
Posted by Danny, on November 13th, 2009 at 10:47 am ESTMarathon Runner Tests Positive for Performance Enhancing Horse
HA!
Posted by msoeden, on November 13th, 2009 at 11:46 am EST(image of adorable kitty staring at camera with that vacuous stare that only cats can achieve)
“KITTEN THINKS OF NOTHING BUT MURDER ALL DAY”
I don’t know why that was so funny, but every time I think of it I crack up.
Posted by Mark S., on November 13th, 2009 at 4:46 pm ESTMy all-time favorite headline: “New device developed that turns grass into meat.”
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