The Onion
The Onion is an American news satire organization that publishes fictional articles parodying journalism, politics, and current events.
Satire: Satire uses humor, irony, or exaggeration to expose and criticize people, institutions, or social norms. The Onion’s fictional reporting uses satire to make real-world targets recognizable.
University of Wisconsin–Madison: A public research university in Madison, Wisconsin, founded in 1848. The Onion began as a student publication at this university.
The Onion News Network: The Onion News Network is a satirical television and web-video project presented as a fictional news broadcaster. It extends The Onion’s newspaper parody into broadcast-news formats.
The Onion’s 2013 Supreme Court amicus brief: The Onion’s 2013 amicus brief in a Supreme Court case argued satirically for broad First Amendment protection of parody. The filing brought the publication’s comic voice into a real legal debate.
Deadpan comedy: Deadpan comedy delivers absurd or humorous material in a deliberately serious, unemotional manner. The Onion’s straight-faced delivery makes implausible stories resemble ordinary news.
Tim Keck: Tim Keck is an American publisher who co-founded The Onion in 1988. He helped establish the paper with fellow University of Wisconsin student Christopher Johnson.
ClickHole: ClickHole is a satirical website that parodies viral content, clickbait headlines, and online publishing. The Onion created it to target the attention-seeking conventions of digital media.
Clickbait: Clickbait is online content designed chiefly to attract clicks, often through sensational or incomplete headlines. ClickHole’s parody drew attention to clickbait’s incentives and style.
Parody: Parody imitates the style of a work or genre to produce comic or critical effect. Its articles copy the language and formats of journalism.
Christopher Johnson: Christopher Johnson is an American publisher who co-founded The Onion in 1988. He launched the publication with Tim Keck while they were students.