The Onion is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishessatirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is currently based inChicago, but originated as a weekly print publication on August 29, 1988, inMadison, Wisconsin.[1]The Onion began publishing online in early 1996. In 2007, they began publishing satirical news audio and video online as theOnion News Network. In 2013,The Onion stopped publishing its print edition and launched Onion Labs, an advertising agency.[3][4]The Onion was then acquired three times, first byUnivision in 2016, which later mergedThe Onion and its several other publications into those ofGizmodo Media Group.[5] This unit was sold in 2019 to Great Hill Partners, forming a new company namedG/O Media.[6] Then, in April 2024, G/O Media soldThe Onion to Global Tetrahedron, a firm newly created by formerTwilio CEO Jeff Lawson, which revived the print edition in August that year.[7][8]
The Onion's articles cover real and fictional current events, parodying the tone and format of traditional news organizations with stories, editorials, and street interviews using a traditional news website layout and an editorial voice modeled after that of theAssociated Press. The publication's humor often depends on presenting mundane, everyday events as newsworthy, surreal, or alarming, such as "Rotation Of Earth Plunges Entire North American Continent Into Darkness".[9] In 1999, comedianBob Odenkirk praised the publication as "the best comedy writing in the country".[10]
The Onion previously ranThe A.V. Club, a non-satirical entertainment and pop culture publication founded in 1993 that contains interviews and reviews of newly released media and other weekly features, andClickHole, a satirical website founded in 2014 which parodiesclickbait websites.ClickHole was acquired byCards Against Humanity in February 2020 whileThe A.V. Club was acquired byPaste Magazine in March 2024.[11][12]
"People always ask questions about where the nameThe Onion came from," said former President Sean Mills in a 2007 interview withWikinews; "and, when I recently asked Tim Keck, who was one of the founders, he told me... Literally that his uncle said he should call itThe 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." Former editorial manager Chet Clem believed this to be plausible, recollecting also in a 2007 interview that their food budget was so low when they started the paper that they were down to white bread and onions. In the sameSpectator News interview, graphic editor Mike Loew forwarded the theory an "onion" was 1930s newspaper slang for a "juicy, multi-layered story".
The onion sandwich theory had been referenced in many news sources when then editor-in-chief Cole Bolton, during a 2021 event at theUniversity of Chicago, called that story "the dumbest explanation" and asserted that it is likely wrong. According to Bolton, the most plausible explanation is thatThe Onion was mocking a campus newsletter calledThe Union.[13][14][15][16]
The Onion was founded as a weekly print newspaper for satirical news in 1988 inMadison, Wisconsin, byUniversity of Wisconsin students Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson.[17][18] In 1989, Keck and Johnson sold the paper toScott Dikkers, who had been contributing cartoons; Peter Haise, a lead advertising rep; and Jonathan Hart Eddy, the IT person, for $16,000[19][17][18] ($19,000 according to some sources).[20][21] After the sale, Keck and Johnson separately became publishers of similaralternative weeklies: Keck ofThe Stranger in Seattle, Washington, and Johnson of theWeekly Alibi in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[22][23][24] Haise leftThe Onion after 15 years and eventually opened a custom framing shop in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.[25] Dikkers, who joined the staff as a cartoonist, said he was de facto editor by the third issue and becameThe Onion's longest-servingeditor-in-chief (1988–1999, 2005–2008).[26]
InThe Onion's earlier years, it was successful in a number of university locations (e.g., University of Wisconsin–Madison andUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign). The publication primarily consisted of a mix of Dikkers's cartoons,Spy magazine-like satire, and short fiction. The bottom three inches were reserved as ad space for coupons that were typically purchased by local, student-centered or inexpensive establishments, such as eateries andvideo rental stores.[24][27]
The June 16, 1993, issue ofThe Daily Iowan ran a profile of Dikkers, in which it stated that "Dikkers still lives in Madison, spending about five hours a week onJim's Journal and the rest of the time as co-owner of a satirical newspaper calledThe Onion".[28]
In a 1994 interview withU. Magazine, Dikkers discussed Onion, Inc.'s plans to create a new sketch comedy show calledThe Comedy Castaways, which they were in the process of pitching toNBC,Fox, andHBO. With apilot[29] and the first two episodes in post-production, Dikkers said, "I think what sets us apart is we've intentionally formed a tightly knit group of funny performers. A lot of these other shows are created by 50-year-olds, written by 40-year-olds and performed by 35-year-olds".[30]
In 1995, Dave and Jeff Haupt sold their shares of Cisco Systems and they cut a deal with then-publisher Peter Haise for rights toThe Onion name for 10 years in exchange for a one-time $25,000 licensing fee to open a franchise in Denver, Colorado. The publication also licensedThe Onion's content for between $200 and $500 a week. According to the Haupts, the staff in the paper's Chicago office were known to smoke marijuana while watchingCubs games on television. But the Haupts and their partner, Dave Rogers, assembled a more business-focused staff. While other editions of The Onion ran pages of stories there weren't enough ads to support, the Haupts cut content to avoid losses. It was a deal many atThe Onion eventually regretted. There were blowups when the Haupts refused to run especially biting headlines or when they made changes to the paper's layout. "We might have been selling humor, but the business behind it was always very serious to us. The rest ofThe Onion was a complete disaster."[31]
In the spring of 1996,Ben Karlin and Dikkers collaborated withRobert Smigel andDana Carvey to create four shortOnion news segments forThe Dana Carvey Show. Smigel said that after being introduced toThe Onion byBob Odenkirk a year earlier, "it jumped out at me as something completely original and great, and I really wanted to use it on the show". Although four fake news segments anchored byStephen Colbert were recorded, only one of the segments actually aired.[32][33]
In 1996, when it was still only a print newspaper, anOnion article titled "Clinton Deploys Vowels to Bosnia" was widely disseminated online without attribution,[34] spurring the creation ofThe Onion's official website (theonion.com) so they could properly claim credit for content that was being passed around online forums such asUsenet and various mailing lists.[35] The publication received expanded global recognition as a result of the website as well.[36][37][38] In a 2002 interview, then-editor in chiefRob Siegel said,[39] "If you look at the breakdown of people who readThe Onion online, it's like Microsoft, Dell Computers, the Department of Justice and then, like, University of Wisconsin. So it's a combination of students and pretty impressive people. I get the feeling that the print version is read by people hanging out in bars".[4][37][38]
In the fall of 1996, Ben Karlin, who had been a writer/editor for the publication since graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1993, moved toLos Angeles and joined other formerOnion staff members to create a pilot for a news parody titledDeadline: Now for the Fox Network. While the 15-minute pilot, which was completed in 1997, was never picked up as a series for production, its creation led to steady writing work for Karlin and other formerOnion staffers, such as writing some episodes ofSpace Ghost Coast to Coast on theCartoon Network. In the wake of Karlin's departure, Siegel[40] took over as editor of the publication.[40][41][42][43][44][45][46]
Sometime afterThe Onion appeared online in 1996, the publication was threatened with alawsuit fromJanet Jackson because of the article "Dying Boy Gets Wish: To Pork Janet Jackson". "We were very nearly sued out of existence by Janet Jackson", said Siegel, adding that in the past he was forbidden to talk about the legal matter and the celebrity involved.[47][48]
On January 27, 1998,MTV premieredVirtual Bill, a collaboration between writers ofThe Onion and 3-D character studio Protozoa. The titular "Virtual Bill" character was a quasi-realisticCGI version ofBill Clinton created by studio Protozoa who introducedmusic videos and told jokes written by the staff ofThe Onion. The voice ofVirtual Bill was provided by then-editor Dikkers. After the initial premiere,Virtual Bill returned to MTV on December 17, 1998, with another TV special and an interactive web special produced by Pulse that ported the 3D data into a web compatible format using Pulse's proprietary plug-in.[49][50][51][52][53]
In January 1999, whenJon Stewart became the host ofThe Daily Show, he tapped formerOnion writer/editor Karlin to behead writer of the newly restructured show. "He had heard about this group of Onion people in L.A. and, in a weird way, I was thede facto ringleader of our group in L.A. I came to New York. Jon and I connected. It was kind of like a slightly awkward, but successful, first date. When I got back to Los Angeles, they offered me the head writer job".[41][42][43][44][45]
On March 18, 1999,The Onion's website won its firstWebby Award in the category of "Humor".[55][56]
On March 23, 1999,The Onion's first fully original book,Our Dumb Century was released. The book featured mocked-up newspaper front pages from the entire 20th century, presented under the premise that the publication had been continuously in print since before 1900.[57][58][59] In the wake of the book's success, networks such asHBO andNBC were in talks to bringThe Onion to TV with a special based onOur Dumb Century.[24]
Despite nearly two years of work spent on conceiving and producingOur Dumb Century, the writers received only bonuses of a few thousand dollars[citation needed], despite the fact that the two-book publishing deal nettedThe Onion $450,000.[24][57][58][59]
In April 2000,DreamWorks Studios optioned two stories from the satirical newspaper, "Canadian Girlfriend Unsubstantiated"—which was to be written by formerOnion editor and writer Rich Dahm—and "Tenth Circle Added to Rapidly Growing Hell" with an eye toward producing the latter as a family comedy. "The story is so dark and hate filled—I was shocked", said head writer Todd Hanson. "It's like an Onion joke. I mean, what are they going to do? Add a sickly-but-adorable moppet?" added editor Robert Siegel. DreamWorks planned for the finished "Tenth Circle Added to Rapidly Growing Hell" to involve animation as well as musical singalongs.[60][61][62][63]
In June 2000, writers and editors ofThe Onion participated inComedy Central panel discussion moderated byJeff Greenfield titled "The State ofThe Onion" during the "Toyota Comedy Festival 2000".[64][65]
In July 2000,The Onion's editor Robert Siegel was named one ofPeople magazine's most eligible bachelors. "If a person is beautiful on the inside", Siegel said, "looks don't really matter".[39][66]
Beginning in the fall of 2000 to early 2001, the company relocated its editorial offices from Madison, Wisconsin, to a renovated warehouse in theChelsea neighborhood of Manhattan (New York City) to raiseThe Onion's profile, expand the publication from being simply a humor newspaper into a full production company, as well as develop editorial content in other media—including books, television and movies—and engage more directly with Internet companies as far as advertising revenue goes.[67][68][69][70][71][72]
In February 2001,Miramax Films headHarvey Weinstein announced they had reached a first-look agreement to develop scripts and features withThe Onion. "As lifelong New Yorkers, we're proud to welcomeThe Onion to our city with this first-look deal", said Harvey Weinstein. "With their witty, sophisticated humor, they will undoubtedly soon be the toast of the town", Weinstein added.[73][74][75]
On September 27, 2001,The Onion debuted its New York City print edition with an issue focused on theSeptember 11 attacks. The popularity, and critical praise, of the issue resulted inThe Onion's website's online traffic nearly doubling in the weeks following the attacks.[76][77]
In November 2002, a humorous op-ed piece inThe Onion that was satirically bylined by filmmakerMichael Bay titled "Those Chechen Rebels Stole My Idea"[78] was removed from the site without explanation. Entertainment industry trade magazineVariety theorized, "It's not clear if Bay—a frequent object ofThe Onion's satire—requested the move."[78][79][80][81]
In 2003,The Onion was purchased by David Schafer, who had previously managed the $2.5 billion investment fund, from previous long-time owners Peter Haise and Scott Dikkers. The sale was a process that had been in the works since July 2001 and according to a memo from then-owner Haise, "[Schafer] understands our quirky company and knows that we need some time to get to a higher level of operations and sales."[77] In a 2003 CNN profile ofThe Onion, Schafer stated with regards to the company and the purchase, "The Onion's strong point was never accounting, financial management, or business. Buying it was a bit of a shot in the dark, but we felt we could get a handle on it." Also in 2003, editor Robert Siegel quit his day-to-day role atThe Onion[47] to focus on writing screenplays full-time.[82][83] "After the 14,000th headline I felt the itch to use a different part of my brain", he said. "You can go mad thinking in headline form." In the wake of his departure, long-time staff writerCarol Kolb[84] took over as editor of the publication.[20][63][82][83][84][19][85][86]
In 2005,The Onion moved its New York City offices from its initial Chelsea location to downtown on Broadway in theSoHo neighborhood of Manhattan.[87]
In 2006,The Onion had reached a print circulation of 549,000; it was distributed for free in several cities.[88] The same year, it launched aYouTube channel, which was structured as a parody of modern American television news programs.[89] In June 2006, it was also announced that Siegel had been tapped by Miramax Films to write the screenplay for a comedy titled "Homeland Insecurity" which was slated to be about a pair of Arab-Americans who are mistaken for terrorists while traveling to Texas.[90] Additionally, rumors of a potential sale ofThe Onion to media conglomerateViacom began appearing in various news outlets during July 2006 withThe New York Times: DealBook expanding on the discussion by stating, "While a source tells DealBook that such a deal has indeed been discussed, it is in very early stages and may never happen."[89][90][91][92][93][94][95]
In April 2007,The Onion launched theOnion News Network, a parody of "the visual style and breathless reporting of 24-hour cable news networks likeCNN."[96]
In 2008 Carol Kolb became thehead writer of the Onion News Network with the role of the publication's editor being taken over by writerJoe Randazzo. Randazzo first became a writer forThe Onion in 2006 and—in his role as an editor—became the first editor of the publication that had no connection toThe Onion during the publication's initial Madison, Wisconsin, era.[17][97][98][99][100]
In April 2009,The Onion was awarded a2008 Peabody Award noting that the publication provides "...ersatz news that has a worrisome ring of truth."[101][102]
In November 2009,The Onion releasedOur Front Pages: 21 Years of Greatness, Virtue, and Moral Rectitude From America's Finest News Source which was notable in not only compiling dozens of front pages from the publication's history as a news parody but also showcasing front pages from the publication's early, more casual campus humor focused era during the 1980s when the publication featured headlines such as, "Depressed? Try Liposuction on that Pesky Head."[103]
In July 2009, various news outlets began reporting rumors of an impending sale ofThe Onion with further details of the sale to be made on Monday, July 20, 2009.[104][105] The purported sale was revealed as fictional Publisher Emeritus T. Herman Zweibel stating he'd sold the publication to a Chinese company—Yu Wan Mei Corporation—resulting in a week-long series of Chinese-related articles and features throughout the publication's website and print editions.[106][107] On Wednesday, July 22, 2009, the publication's editor (Joe Randazzo) clarified the issue onNational Public Radio'sAll Things Considered, stating: "I'm sure there are many Chinese conglomerates out there that would love to buyThe Onion. We are, in fact, still a solvent independently owned American company."[108]
In August 2011,The Onion's website began testing apaywall model, requiring a $2.95 monthly/$29.95 annual charge from non-U.S. visitors who wish 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 the company's CTO Michael Greer.[109][110][111]
In September 2011, it was announced thatThe Onion would move its entire editorial operation to Chicago by the summer of 2012. The news of the move left many of the writers—who moved with the publication from Madison 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, which was already home to the company's corporate headquarters. At a comedy show on September 27, 2011, then editorJoe Randazzo announced that he would not be joining the staff in Chicago.[112][113][114][115][116][117]
With the publication's core editorial staff now based in Chicago, in March 2012 Cole Bolton—aBrown University graduate of business economics, former associate economist at theFederal Reserve Bank of Chicago and research associate atHarvard Business School[118][119]—was named the new editor-in-chief ofThe Onion. "I was never in an improv group, never in a sketch group, never wrote for anOnion parody in college", said Bolton in a 2014 interview with comedy publicationSplitsider.[118] "It was just sort of a decision that I decided, two years out of college, that I didn't like where I was going in my life, and I wanted to do something that I cared about more, so I ended up just sending stuff in toThe Onion."[16][118][119][120]
Additionally, in March 2012 more insight into the internal issues surrounding the Chicago move—including an attempt made by the writers to find a new owner—are explored by articles inThe Atlantic Wire[121] andNew York magazine'sDaily Intelligencer.[122] According to an article in theChicago Tribune,[123] founding editor Scott Dikkers returned to the publication in light of the Chicago move stating that he hopes to find a "younger and hungrier" pool of talent in Chicago than what was available in New York City. "The Onion is obviously always going to draw talent from wherever it is", Dikkers said. "In Madison, people used to just come in off the street [...] and we'd give them a shot.The Onion has always thrived on the youngest, greenest people."[117][121][122][123][124]
In August 2012, it was announced that a group of formerThe Onion writers had teamed up withAdult Swim to create comedy content on a website calledThing X. According to the comedy websiteSplitsider, "The Onion writers had nothing else going on, and AdultSwim.com wanted to take advantage of that. But only because they smelled a business opportunity. Adult Swim is just looking at it from a business standpoint."[125][126] In June 2013, it was announced thatThing X would be shutting down with some staff moving over to parent websiteadultswim.com on June 18, 2013.[127][128] In February 2013The Onion was added toAdvertising Age's "Digital A-List 2013" because the publication "...has not just survived, it's thrived..." since the publication's 2012 move to consolidate operations and staff in Chicago.[129]
In November 2013, the publication announced inCrain's Chicago Business thatThe Onion would move to an all-digital format by December 2013, citing a 30% year-over-year growth in page views to the publication's website. The final print edition was published on December 13, 2013.[2]
In 2013,The Onion received an email fromMichael Cohen claiming that an article published aboutDonald Trump wasdefamation, and demanded that it be removed with an apology.[130][131]
In June 2014,The Onion launched the spinoff websiteClickHole, which satirizes and parodies so-called "clickbait" websites such asBuzzFeed andUpworthy that capitalize on viral content to drive traffic.[132]
In November 2014,Bloomberg News reported thatThe Onion had hired a financial adviser for a possible sale.[133] Additionally, in a memo addressing potential sale rumors provided to Walt Mossberg's tech siteRe/code Onion CEO Steve Hannah states, "We have had follow-up conversations with numerous parties in recent months. Our advisors will continue to have those conversations and, hopefully, they will lead to the right outcome."[134]
In June 2015 Steve Hannah—the publication's CEO since 2004— stepped down from the position with the new CEO role passed onto current president of the organization, Mike McAvoy.[135][136]
On September 21, 2015,StarWipe—a spinoff sister site ofThe A.V. Club centered on celebrity culture—was launched.[137] It was closed on June 17, 2016.[138]
In October 2015, CEO Mike McAvoy announced a restructuring of the organization, layoffs as well as a series of management changes. "But even though we've done well, we have not been able to keep pace with our ambitious goals for Onion Inc." Kurt Mueller—the company's COO—elaborated on the details stating, "We were overstaffed for the non-media-agency part of the business. We have less demand for a ton of new content for a brand. There's demand, but we just overestimated what the demand is."[139]
In January 2016,Univision Communications purchased a 40% stake in Onion, Inc. "As an independent media company, we've always been forced to run a tight financial ship, which has made us smart and lean, but not always ready to invest in the great new ideas that we come up with," Mr. McAvoy said in a memo to staff. "I'm excited to see what we can do with Univision behind us."[140][141] This bringsThe Onion into theFusion Media Group arm of Univision, the same media family as theGizmodo collection of sites (Kotaku, Lifehacker, Deadspin, etc.), which also has led to a consolidated media management platform and aligned content presentation styles with these sister sites.[5]
In January 2017,The Onion partnered withLionsgate Films and production company Serious Business to develop multiple film projects. "We've plotted our takeover of the film industry for some time", said Kyle Ryan, vice president of Onion Studios. "With the help of Serious Business and Lionsgate, we'll make room on our award shelf for some Oscars. To the basement you go, Pulitzers." Serious Business is a production company run by formerUTA Online co-founder Jason U. Nadler,@midnight co-creator Jon Zimelis and writer/producer Alex Blagg.[142]
In September 2017, the site's editor-in-chief Cole Bolton and executive editor Ben Berkley stepped down from their posts. Chad Nackers—The Onion's head writer—took over the role of editor-in-chief. The departures were partially due to disagreements about the direction the site was taking under the ownership of Univision.[143]
In April 2018 the employees of the company unionized with The Writers Guild Of America, East.[144] The union comprises "all of the creative staffs at Onion Inc.:The A.V. Club,The Onion,ClickHole,The Takeout, Onion Labs, and Onion Inc.'s video and art departments."[145][146] and reached a contract agreement with management on December 20, 2018.[147]
In July 2018, rumors of pending layoffs atThe Onion and related websitesClickhole andThe A.V. Club were reported. Corporate parent Univision Communications is said to be looking to reduce the staff of the humor publication by around 15% amidst news of a pending sale ofThe Onion and related websites as well as Gizmodo Media Group assets. As stated an official Univision press release on the topic, "Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) […] today announced that the Company has initiated a formal process to explore the sale of the assets comprising the Gizmodo Media Group (GMG) andThe Onion."[148][149][150][151]
On April 8, 2019, private equity firm Great Hill Partners acquired Gizmodo Media Group—includingThe Onion,The A.V. Club, andClickhole—from Univision for an undisclosed amount.[152] The properties were formed into a new company namedG/O Media Inc.[6][153] In March 2024, G/O sold The A.V. Club toPaste Magazine and was reported to be seeking buyers forThe Onion.[154]
On April 25, 2024, CEO Jim Spanfeller told employees that G/O had soldThe Onion to Chicago firm Global Tetrahedron, which is owned byTwilio founder Jeff Lawson, with former NBC reporterBen Collins serving as CEO.[155] As a condition of the deal, the new owners will retain the website's staff and keep it based in Chicago.[156] The name "Global Tetrahedron" is taken from a "fictional evil megacorporation" that has been the subject of a running gag inThe Onion articles.[7]
On November 14, 2024, through a bankruptcy auction, parent company ofThe Onion, Global Tetrahedron, attempted to purchaseInfoWars, aconspiratorial far-right website founded byAlex Jones, with the intent of turning the site into a parody of Jones's conspiracy theories. The purchase was sanctioned by families of the victims of theSandy Hook Elementary School shooting, who had successfully sued Jones fordefamation.[157] The purchase was initially halted the following day, and on December 10, the bankruptcy judge rejected the sale, concluding that the bidding process was flawed. No date has been set for a new auction, nor is an auction scheduled as of late.[158]
DuringThe Onion print edition's 25-year run—from the publication's initial creation in 1988 to the end of the print edition in 2013—it was distributed for free in various cities across the United States and Canada as well as via paid mail order subscription to subscribers around the world. By the time the print edition ofThe Onion ceased publication in December 2013, it was only available in Chicago, Milwaukee and Providence. At its peak,The Onion had a print circulation of about 500,000 while the publication's websites brought in more than 10 million unique monthly visitors. Below is a list of all of the cities in whichThe Onion was distributed freely at different points from 1988 to 2013.[123][159][160][161]
Slideshows that parody content aggregation sites likeHuffington Post and Buzzfeed, usually accompanied by a "click-bait"-style headline.
"News in Photos" that feature a photograph and caption with no accompanying story.
"American Voices" (formerly called "What Do You Think?"), a mockvox populi survey on a topical current event. There are three respondents—down from the original six—for each topic, who appear to represent a diverse selection of demographics. Although their names and professions change each time they are used, the same six pictures have been reused weekly for over 20 years. The photos belong to people that happened to be near the publication's old office in Madison: one is a Madison community theater actor, one used to work with The Onion's CEO Chad Nackers at a restaurant, one delivered goods for UPS, and one is Mark Danielson's aunt.[162][163]
Aneditorial cartoon drawn by "Kelly", a fictional cartoonist. The cartoons are actually the work of artistWard Sutton and they are a deadpan parody of conservative editorial cartoons, as well as editorial cartoons in general. Many of the cartoons feature theStatue of Liberty, usually shedding a single tear—of joy or anguish—depending on the situation.[15][164]
Since the first publication ofOur Dumb Century in 1999,The Onion has produced various books that often compile already produced material into collected volumes. The 2007 publication ofOur Dumb World and the 2012 publication ofThe Onion Book of Known Knowledge are the only other fully original books content-wise—other thanOur Dumb Century—thatThe Onion has released.[171]
The Onion (November 2014).The Onion Magazine The Iconic Covers That Transformed An Undeserving World. Little, Brown and Company.ISBN978-0-316-25645-2.
The Onion (October 2017).The Trump Leaks: The Onion Exposes the Top Secret Memos, Emails, and Doodles That Could Take Down a President. Harper Design.ISBN978-0062834263.
In April 2007,The Onion launchedOnion News Network—a daily web video broadcast—with a story about an illegal immigrant taking an executive's $800,000-a-year job for $600,000 a year, directed by Dikkers. The publication reportedly initially invested about $1 million in the production and initially hired 15 new staffers to focus on the production of this video broadcast. On February 3, 2009,The Onion launched a spin-off of theOnion News Network called theOnion Sports Network.[96]
In aWikinews interview in November 2007, formerOnion President Mills said theOnion News Network had 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.'[15]
In January 2011,The Onion launched two TV shows on cable networks:Onion SportsDome which premiered January 11 on Comedy Central,[172] and theOnion News Network which premiered January 21 onIndependent Film Channel (IFC).[173] Later in the year IFC officially announced the renewal of theOnion News Network for a second season in March 2011 while Comedy Central officially announced the cancellation ofOnion SportsDome in June 2011.[174][175]
In August 2011, theWriters Guild of America, East,AFL–CIO, announced the unionization of theOnion 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 2011A.V. Club Philadelphia city editorEmily Guendelsberger was the victim of an attack and—according to thePhiladelphia Daily News—her job did not provide health insurance to cover hospital bills. According to the WGA,Onion News Network 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 theOnion News Network writers, and hundreds of Guild members sent emails to the producers.[176][177][178][179][180][181]
In March 2012, IFC officially announced the cancellation of theOnion News Network. After the show's cancellation, a pilot for a new comedy series titledOnion News Empire premiered onAmazon.com in April 2013, which presented as a behind-the-scenes look ofThe Onion's newsroom. The pilot was one of several candidates for production on Amazon, but was not ultimately selected.[182][183][184]
In September 2024,The Onion relaunched theOnion News Network on its YouTube page, starring former MSNBC hostJoshua Johnson as ONN anchor Dwight Richmond.[185]
Onion Film Standard with Peter K. Rosenthal: Movie critic Peter K. Rosenthal (played by Ron E. Rains) presents his views on famous films, both classic and contemporary.[186][187]
In 2008,The Onion launched a series of YouTube videos produced by its 'Onion Digital Studios' division, funded in part by a grant from YouTube and exclusive to the site.[188] Series produced were:
The Onion Movie is adirect-to-video film written by then-Onion editorRobert D. Siegel and writerTodd Hanson and directed byTom Kuntz and Mike Maguire. Created in 2003,Fox Searchlight Pictures was on board to release the movie, originally calledThe Untitled Onion Movie, but at some point in the process, directors Kuntz and Maguire—as well as writer Siegel—walked away from the project. In 2006,New Regency Productions took over the production of the troubled project. After two years of being inlimbo, the film was releaseddirectly on DVD on June 3, 2008. Upon its release it was credited as being directed under thepseudonym of James Kleiner but is still directed by Kuntz and Maguire.[194]
In the spring of 2014, former president, publisher, and CEO ofThe Onion Peter Haise filed a lawsuit Palm Beach County court against the publication's current chairman David K. Schafer regarding a missing "Executive Producer" credit on the failed film. As stated in the lawsuit, "Onion, Inc. has admitted that Haise was involved in and should have been named as an Executive Producer of the Film, and that the omission in the credits listed for the Film was an error."[195]
TheOnion Radio News was an audiopodcast/radio show produced byThe Onion from 1999 and 2009. The core voice of the podcast was that of a fictional newsreader named "Doyle Redland" who was voiced byPete S. Mueller. At its peakOnion Radio News was picked up by theWestwood One radio network as well asAudible.com.[196][197][198]
On February 5, 2018,The Onion published its first podcast, titledA Very Fatal Murder. It was released in six parts and parodies other true crime podcasts such asSerial andMy Favorite Murder. The story follows Onion Public Radio reporter David Pascall (voiced byDavid Sidorov) as he tries to investigate the murder of a 17-year-old girl named Hayley Price in the fictional town of Bluff Springs, Nebraska.[199]
On January 16, 2020,The Onion expanded its podcast formula to includeThe Topical, in a partnership withSony Music.The Topical was a satirical news podcast which parodies the style and format ofNPRdrive-time news broadcasts andThe Daily by theNew York Times.[200][201] It was hosted by a fictional Leslie Price, with its final episode on May 20, 2021.[202]
Occasionally, the straight-faced manner in whichThe Onion reports non-existent events, happenings and ideas has resulted inthird parties mistakenly citingThe Onion stories as real news.
"Congress Passes Americans With No Abilities Act": At various times since the article's initial publication in 1998, variants of the "Americans With No Abilities Act" article and theme have been passed around online including a variant in 2009 that changed the stated U.S. president from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama as well as a 2007 variant that changed the country from the United States of America to Australia.[204]
"Harry Potter Books Spark Rise in Satanism Among Children": Beginning in the year 2000, an article onHarry Potter inciting children to practicewitchcraft 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 theHarry Potter books "recruit" children toSatanism have also been taken in by the article, using quotes directly from it to support their claims.[205][206]
"Congress Threatens To Leave D.C. Unless New Capitol Is Built": On June 7, 2002,Reuters reported that theBeijing Evening News republished and translated portions of the article.[207] The article is a parody of U.S. sports franchises' threats to leave their home city unless new stadiums are built for them.[208] TheBeijing Evening News initially stood by the story, demanding proof of its falsehood but 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."[209]
"Prague's Franz Kafka International Named World's Most Alienating Airport": On the March 24, 2009, broadcast ofLate Night with Jimmy Fallon, Fallon's monologue used the topic of that specificOnion News Network video as a set-up for another joke claiming the report was based on a "study".[210]
"Conspiracy Theorist Convinces Neil Armstrong Moon Landing Was Faked": In September 2009, twoBangladeshi newspapers—The Daily Manab Zamin and theNew Nation—published stories translated fromThe Onion claiming that astronautNeil Armstrong had held a news conference claiming the Moon landing was an elaborate hoax.[211]
"Denmark Introduces Harrowing New Tourism Ads Directed ByLars Von Trier": In February 2010, online newspapers such asIl Corriere della Sera (Italy) andAdresseavisen (Norway) repackaged clips fromThe Onion video piece as legitimate news.[212][213]
"Frustrated Obama Sends Nation Rambling 75,000-Word E-Mail": In November 2010, theFox Nation website presentedThe Onion article as a genuine report.[214]
"Congress Takes Group Of Schoolchildren Hostage": In September 2011,United States Capitol Police investigated a series oftweets coming fromThe Onion's Twitter account claiming that U.S. congressmen were holding twelve children hostage.[215]
"Obama Openly Asks Nation Why On Earth He Would Want To Serve For Another Term": On January 7, 2012,Lim Hwee Hua—a formerSingaporeanMP—posted the article on her Facebook page.[216]
"Gallup Poll: Rural Whites PreferAhmadinejad to Obama": On September 28, 2012, Iran'sFars News Agency copiedThe Onion story verbatim on their website.The Onion updated the original story with the note: "For more on this story: Please visit our Iranian subsidiary organization, Fars", linking to a screenshot of Fars's coverage of the story.[218][219]
"Kim Jong-Un NamedThe Onion's Sexiest Man Alive For 2012": On November 27, 2012, the online version of the Chinese Communist Party newspaperThe People's Daily ran a story onKim Jong-un, citingThe Onion's article as a source and even included a 55-page photo gallery with the article in tribute to theNorth Korean leader.[220][221]
"Fred Phelps, Man Who Forever Stopped March Of Gay Rights, Dead At 84": In March 2014, Ed Farrell—the Vice Mayor ofMaricopa, Arizona—apologized for inadvertently and enthusiastically praising Fred Phelps via a post of the satirical obituary on his Facebook page. In an interview about his Facebook post Farrell apologized for doing it, stating "I had no clue about this guy; he's an idiot. I can't believe that I posted what I posted [...] shame on me."[222][223][224]
"FIFA Frantically Announces 2015 Summer World Cup In United States": In May 2015, the formerFIFA vice presidentJack Warner—who was arrested on corruption charges that same month—drew attention toThe Onion article by reporting it as real news in a video on Facebook.[225]
"Study: Every 10 Seconds A Skyscraper Window Washer Falls To His Death": In September 2018, Serbian presidentAleksandar Vučić made the statement commenting on the death of two workers who died working on theBelgrade Waterfront construction site. He expressed his condolences to the families, but said that "inSerbia, there are proportionally a lot less accidents in dangerous jobs, such as construction. As for the allegations aimed against the state, I want to tell the citizens—even though I did not want to speak about it—that I read some data. Did you know that, in America, every ten seconds one window washer dies doing his job?".[226]
"CIA Issues Posthumous Apology After New Evidence Clears Osama Bin Laden Of Involvement In 9/11 Attacks": On October 13, 2019, former Inspector-General of theRoyal Malaysian PoliceMusa Hassan received criticism after promoting the titled post as real news on Twitter, and then doubling down when other Twitter users pointed out the satirical nature of the site, remarking "Wait for The Onion to deny it. If not, it means that America allows the spreading of fake news."[227]
Several commentators have characterizedThe Onion's satire as overtly political. Noreen Malone characterized the publication as having a left-leaning outlook by stating:
The best op-eds in the country are written by the staff ofThe Onion, though they're often published as news articles. The satirical paper [...] still does plenty of hilarious articles on the mundane [...] but its writing on current events has become increasingly biting.[228]
Malone—like other pundits—specifically noted the publication's sharp take on theSyrian Civil War, withDavid Weigel characterizing the publication's stance as effectively being "…advocacy forintervention in Syria."[229] Weigel attributed the trend toward more news satire—including political news satire—as being a byproduct of the publication's shorter turnaround times after the Internet edition became the main outlet for the publication's voice, endangeringThe Onion of becoming a "…hivemind version ofAndy Borowitz, telling liberals that what they already think is not only true but oh-so-arch."Slate'sFarhad Manjoo similarly attributed the publication's "…faster, bigger, more strident, and, to me, a little inconsistent…" vibe to the exigencies of the Internet.[4][229][230]
Emmett Rensin claimedThe Onion was "the paper most dedicated to the overthrowing capitalism in the United States", and "represents some latent Marxism in our culture", citing examples of what he saw asThe Onion's indictments offalse consciousness,commodity fetishization and valorization of theinvisible hand. Rensin attributes the material to the humorists' need to work from "obvious, intuitive truth—the kind necessary for any kind of broadly appealing humor" rather than a conscious decision to promote Marxism or any "explicit support for a communist solution".[231]
Some of the publication's political impact is unintentional. For example,theOnion's long-running caricature of Joe Biden as a blue-collar "creepy but harmless uncle" character is often believed to have positively affected the realJoe Biden's public image. In May 2019, the formerOnion editorJoe Garden published an op-ed inVice to express his regret over the character, which he felt had distracted from serious concerns about Biden's political record and personal behavior.[232]
In 2017, President Donald Trump expressed confidence that his son-in-lawJared Kushner, whom he had just appointed as an advisor on foreign affairs, could bring peace to the Middle East. An Onion article then made fun of the idealistic way in which Trump treated the long, complicated and bloody conflict as a mere organisational issue he could delegate, reporting that peace between Israel and Arabia was just too big for Kushner to achieve within the already started office week and now had to be shifted into the subsequent week. The article was then passed around by White House staffers who were apparently alienated by Kushner's appointment.[233]
In September 2005, the assistant counsel to PresidentGeorge W. Bush, Grant M. Dixton, wrote acease-and-desist letter toThe Onion, asking the publication to stop using thepresidential seal, which it used in an online parody of Bush.[234]
The Onion responded with a formal request to use the seal in accordance with the executive order, while maintaining that its use was legitimate. The letter stated, "It is inconceivable that anyone would think that, by using the seal,The Onion intends to 'convey... sponsorship or approval' by the president", but then went on to ask that the letter be considered a formal application requesting permission to use the seal.[87][235][236]
During the85th Academy Awards, a post onThe Onion's Twitter account called 9-year-oldBest Actress nomineeQuvenzhané Wallis "acunt". The post was deleted within an hour, but not before hundreds of angry responses.[237] CEO Steve Hannah issued an apology to Wallis and theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, calling the remarks "crude and offensive" and "No person should be subjected to such a senseless, humorless comment masquerading as satire."[238] Scott Dikkers—who was Vice President Creative Development for the publication at the time—said in an interview withNBC 5 Chicago that the publication had sent an apology note to Quvenzhané and her family but also stated, "She's a big star now. I think she can take it."[239] The publication's public apology was denounced by some formerOnion writers, with one stating, "It wasn't a great joke, but big deal."[237][238][239][240]
On June 16, 2017,The Onion featured an article describing professional wrestlerThe Big Show being killed byWWE after a seven-year-old boy wandered into asteel cage during alive event inIndianapolis. The article, meant to lampoon the real-life killing ofHarambe, a gorilla in a Cincinnati zoo, received criticism for satirizing the murder of an actual person as well as leading some fans to believe Big Show was dead.[241][242]
On October 3, 2022,The Onion filed its firstamicus curiae brief with theSupreme Court of the United States in the case ofNovak v. City of Parma.[243][244]The Onion supported thecertiorari petition of Anthony Novak, who was seeking civil damages after having been arrested and unsuccessfully prosecuted over a Facebook page parodying the page of the Parma Police Department.[245]The Onion's brief contained numerous jokes, including a claimed readership of 4.3 trillion,[245] a remark that "the federal judiciary is staffed entirely by total Latin dorks",[243] and a boast regardingJonathan Swift that "its writers are far more talented, and their output will be read long after that hack Swift's has been lost to the sands of time".[246] The brief noted the paper's Latin motto asTu stultus es ("You are stupid").[247]
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^Restuccia, Andrew (May 20, 2018)."How Trump changed everything for The Onion".Politico.Archived from the original on July 9, 2018. RetrievedMay 20, 2018.Cohen was fuming over a satirical article published under Trump's name with the headline, "When You're Feeling Low, Just Remember I'll Be Dead In About 15 Or 20 Years". On Trump's behalf, Cohen demanded that The Onion immediately remove the article and apologize. "This commentary goes way beyond defamation and, if not immediately removed, I will take all actions necessary to ensure your actions do not go without consequence", Cohen wrote, according to a copy of the email provided to POLITICO. "Guide yourself accordingly."
^Rensin, Emmett (February 5, 2014)."The Onion Has Become America's Finest Marxist News Source".New Republic.Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. RetrievedJuly 16, 2014.But only one is breathing new life into a far-left movement mostly vanished since FDR dropped dead. It isn'tThe Socialist Worker. It's notThe Militant, either. And it isn'tMonthly Review,Political Affairs,World Socialist Website, orWorker's Vanguard. Rather, the vanguard of revolution—the paper most dedicated to the overthrowing capitalism in the United States today—is none other thanThe Onion.
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