'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens

Last updated

Home page of The Onion on May 25, 2022, following the Robb Elementary School shooting, featuring 21 instances of the article, one for each victim killed in the incident. The Onion Homepage 05252022.png
Home page of The Onion on May 25, 2022, following the Robb Elementary School shooting, featuring 21 instances of the article, one for each victim killed in the incident.

"'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens" is the recurring title of articles published by the American news satire organization The Onion after mass shootings in the United States. The articles satirize and lament the country's failure, unique among developed countries, to prevent gun violence. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Each article is about 200 words long, detailing the location of the shooting and the number of victims, but otherwise remaining essentially the same. A fictitious resident—usually of a state in which the shooting did not take place—is quoted as saying that the shooting was "a terrible tragedy", but "there's nothing anyone can do to stop them." The article ends by saying that the United States is the "only economically advanced nation in the world where roughly two mass shootings have occurred every month for the past eight years," and that Americans view themselves and the situation as "helpless". [4] [5]

Background

The article was first published on May 27, 2014, following the Isla Vista killings. The Onion has since republished the article after dozens of mass shootings, changed only to reflect the specifics of each shooting. [1] [2] [3] In 2017, Marnie Shure, the managing editor for The Onion, said: "By re-running the same commentary, it strengthens the original commentary tenfold each time....In the wake of these really terrible things, we have this comment that really holds up." [6]

After The Onion republished the article on February 14, 2018, following the Parkland high school shooting, Jason Roeder, the writer of the original 2014 article, wrote that he "had no idea it would be applied to the high school a mile from [his] house". [7] On May 25, 2022, after the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, The Onion featured all 21 versions of the article they had written since 2014 on the home page of their website and on their Twitter feed. [8] [9] [10] The homepage feature was repeated after the July 4 Highland Park shooting, when the article count had increased to 25. [11] [12] As of December 2024, it has been published 38 times.

Reception

The New York Times wrote in 2017 that "with each use, [the headline] seemed to turn from cheeky political commentary on gun control into a reverberation of despair". [1] Mashable wrote that "nothing captures that feeling of frustration and powerlessness" following major mass shootings as well as The Onion articles, adding that "there's no shortage of brilliant Onion pieces, but none have resonated—or been as tragically prescient—like the 'No Way' post." [13]

The Washington Post wrote that The Onion "appears to capture the frustration and futility felt by so many people" following mass shootings, noting the increased Internet traffic the articles draw and how popular they are on social media. [2] The Huffington Post said the articles have become "a staple of the social media response to mass shootings", citing how widely shared they are on Facebook and Twitter. [3]

The Daily Beast mentioned the articles in a piece titled "How The Onion Became One of the Strongest Voices for Gun Control". [14] Similarly, Wired mentioned it in an article discussing the power of The Onion's satire in the face of gun violence, titled "Only The Onion Can Save Us Now". [15]

List

As of December 2024, The Onion has published the article 38 times, each in response to a mass shooting in the United States.

Instances of the article being published
No.Publication dateShooting
1 [i] May 27, 2014 Isla Vista, California
2 [ii] June 17, 2015 Charleston, South Carolina
3 [iii] October 1, 2015 Roseburg, Oregon
4 [iv] December 3, 2015 San Bernardino, California
5 [v] October 2, 2017 Las Vegas, Nevada
6 [vi] November 5, 2017 Sutherland Springs, Texas
7 [vii] February 14, 2018 Parkland, Florida
8 [viii] May 18, 2018 Santa Fe, Texas
9 [ix] September 13, 2018 Bakersfield, California
10 [x] October 29, 2018 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
11 [xi] November 8, 2018 Thousand Oaks, California
12 [xii] June 1, 2019 Virginia Beach, Virginia
13 [xiii] August 4, 2019 El Paso, Texas
14 [xiv] August 4, 2019 Dayton, Ohio
15 [xv] February 26, 2020 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
16 [xvi] March 17, 2021 Atlanta, Georgia
17 [xvii] March 23, 2021 Boulder, Colorado
18 [xviii] April 16, 2021 Indianapolis, Indiana
19 [xix] May 26, 2021 San Jose, California
20 [xx] May 16, 2022 Buffalo, New York
21 [xxi] May 25, 2022 [a] Uvalde, Texas
22 [xxii] June 2, 2022 Tulsa, Oklahoma
23 [xxiii] June 6, 2022 Chattanooga, Tennessee
24 [xxiv] June 6, 2022 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
25 [xxv] July 4, 2022 [b] Highland Park, Illinois
26 [xxvi] October 14, 2022 Raleigh, North Carolina
27 [xxvii] November 20, 2022 Colorado Springs, Colorado
28 [xxviii] November 23, 2022 Chesapeake, Virginia
29 [xxix] January 23, 2023 Monterey Park, California
30 [xxx] January 24, 2023 Half Moon Bay, California
31 [xxxi] February 14, 2023 East Lansing, Michigan
32 [xxxii] March 27, 2023 Nashville, Tennessee
33 [xxxiii] April 10, 2023 Louisville, Kentucky
34 [xxxiv] May 8, 2023 Allen, Texas
35 [xxxv] July 5, 2023 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
36 [xxxvi] October 26, 2023 Lewiston, Maine
37 [xxxvii] September 4, 2024 Winder, Georgia
38 [xxxviii] December 16, 2024 Madison, Wisconsin

See also

Notes

  1. On this date, The Onion's homepage also featured all 20 previously published articles. [8] [10]
  2. On this date, The Onion's homepage also featured all 24 previously published articles. [11] [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Atlantic Treaty</span> 1949 treaty forming the basis of NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty, also known as the Washington Treaty, forms the legal basis of, and is implemented by, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949.

<i>The Onion</i> American satire news organization

The Onion is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is currently based in Chicago, but originated as a weekly print publication on August 29, 1988, in Madison, Wisconsin. The Onion began publishing online in early 1996. In 2007, they began publishing satirical news audio and video online as the Onion News Network. In 2013, The Onion stopped publishing its print edition and launched Onion Labs, an advertising agency. The Onion was then acquired three times, first by Univision in 2016, which later merged The Onion and its several other publications into those of Gizmodo Media Group. This unit was sold in 2019 to Great Hill Partners, forming a new company named G/O Media. Then, in April 2024, G/O Media sold The Onion to Global Tetrahedron, a firm newly created by former Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson, which revived the print edition in August that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold</span> American mass murderers (1981–1999)

Eric David Harris and Dylan Bennet Klebold were two American high school seniors and mass murderers who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, in Columbine, Colorado. Harris and Klebold killed 12 students and one teacher and wounded 24 others. After killing most of their victims in the school's library, they died by suicide. At the time, it was the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history.

<i>InfoWars</i> American far-right conspiracy theory and fake news website

InfoWars is an American far-right conspiracy theory and fake news website created by Alex Jones. It was founded in 1999, and operated under Free Speech Systems LLC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tor (network)</span> Free and open-source anonymity network based on onion routing

Tor is a free overlay network for enabling anonymous communication. Built on free and open-source software and more than seven thousand volunteer-operated relays worldwide, users can have their Internet traffic routed via a random path through the network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass shooting</span> Firearm violence incident

A mass shooting is a violent crime in which one or more attackers use a firearm to kill or injure multiple individuals in rapid succession. There is no widely accepted specific definition, and different organizations tracking such incidents use different criteria. Mass shootings are generally characterized by the targeting of victims in a non-combat setting, and thus the term generally excludes gang violence, shootouts and warfare. Mass shootings may be done for personal or psychological reasons, such as by individuals who are deeply disgruntled, seeking notoriety, or are intensely angry at a perceived grievance; though they have also been used as a terrorist tactic, such as when members of an ethnic or religious minority are targeted. The perpetrator of an ongoing mass shooting may be referred to as an active shooter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AR-15–style rifle</span> Class of semi-automatic rifles

An AR-15–style rifle is a lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on or similar to the Colt AR-15 design. The Colt model removed the selective fire feature of its predecessor, the original ArmaLite AR-15, which is a scaled-down derivative of the AR-10 design. It is closely related to the military M16 rifle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting</span> 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, U.S.

On December 14, 2012, a mass shooting occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, United States. The perpetrator, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot and killed 26 people. 20 of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and the other 6 were adult staff members. Earlier that day, before driving to the school, Lanza fatally shot his mother at their Newtown home. As first responders arrived at the school, Lanza killed himself with a gunshot to the head.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass shootings in the United States</span> Incidents involving multiple victims of firearm violence

Mass shootings are incidents involving multiple victims of firearm related violence. Definitions vary, with no single, broadly accepted definition. One definition is an act of public firearm violence—excluding gang killings, domestic violence, or terrorist acts sponsored by an organization—in which a shooter kills at least four victims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thoughts and prayers</span> English-language phrase used when offering condolences

"Thoughts and prayers" is a phrase commonly used by officials and celebrities, particularly in the United States, as a condolence after a deadly event such as a natural disaster or mass shooting. The phrase "thoughts and prayers" is often criticized or used sarcastically by political activists, who say the phrase is a replacement for direct action such as gun control or counter-terrorism legislation.

Incel is a term associated with an online subculture of people who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one, and blame, objectify and denigrate women and girls as a result. The movement is strongly linked to misogyny. Originally coined as "invcel" around 1997 by a queer Canadian female student known as Alana, the spelling had shifted to "incel" by 1999, and the term later rose to prominence in the 2010s, following the influence of misogynistic terrorists Elliot Rodger and Alek Minassian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christchurch mosque shootings</span> 2019 terrorist attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand

Two consecutive mass shootings took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 15 March 2019. They were committed by a single perpetrator during Friday prayer, first at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton, at 1:40 p.m. and almost immediately afterwards at the Linwood Islamic Centre at 1:52 p.m. Altogether, 51 people were killed and 89 others were injured; including 40 by gunfire.

G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company that owns and operates the digital media outlets Kotaku, The Root, The Inventory, and Quartz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 El Paso Walmart shooting</span> Mass shooting in El Paso, Texas

On August 3, 2019, a mass shooting occurred at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, United States. The gunman, 21-year-old Patrick Wood Crusius, killed 23 people and injured 22 others. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime. The shooting has been described as the deadliest attack on Latinos in modern American history.

<i>Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery</i> 2022 film by Rian Johnson

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is a 2022 American mystery film written and directed by Rian Johnson, and produced by Johnson and Ram Bergman. It is a standalone sequel to the 2019 film Knives Out, and the second installment in the Knives Out film series. The movie stars Daniel Craig reprising his role as master detective Benoit Blanc as he takes on a new case revolving around tech billionaire Miles Bron and his closest friends. The ensemble cast also includes Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Atlanta spa shootings</span> Shooting spree in metro Atlanta, Georgia

On March 16, 2021, a shooting spree occurred at two spas and a massage parlor in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Eight people were killed and a ninth was wounded. A suspect, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, was taken into custody later that day. Long pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Boulder shooting</span> Mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado

On March 22, 2021, a mass shooting occurred at a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Ten people were killed, including a local on-duty police officer. The shooter, 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Al-Issa, was arrested after being shot in the right leg. He was temporarily hospitalized before being moved to the county jail. After undergoing mental evaluations during the legal proceedings, Al-Issa was found mentally incompetent to stand trial in December 2021 and in April 2022. On August 23, 2023, prosecutors announced that Al-Issa was mentally competent to stand trial; a judge ruled as such on October 6 of that same year. On September 23, 2024, Al-Issa was found guilty in the shooting and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The Uvalde school shooting was a mass shooting on May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, United States, where 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a former student at the school, fatally shot 19 students and 2 teachers, while injuring 17 others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point</span> 2018 satirical article published by ClickHole

"Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point" is an article by the satirical website ClickHole, published in February 2018. The article is written in second-person, describing a situation in which the reader's archetypically hated coworker makes a logical argument during a political debate, much to the chagrin of the reader. After publication, the article's headline and stock photo became an Internet meme used to mock otherwise disliked figures when they make statements that users nonetheless agree with.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ember, Sydney (October 3, 2017). "The Onion's Las Vegas Shooting Headline Is Painfully Familiar" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on October 5, 2017. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Rosenberg, Eli (October 3, 2017). "Why this Onion article goes viral after every mass shooting" . The Washington Post . Archived from the original on September 15, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Varagur, Krithika (December 3, 2015). "How Many Times Will The Onion Have To Repost This Article?". The Huffington Post . Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  4. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion . May 27, 2014. Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  5. Sanders, Sam (October 3, 2015). "#MemeOfTheWeek: That Article From The Onion About Mass Shootings". NPR . Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  6. Gillespie, Katherine (September 4, 2017). "Area Woman Interviews Editor of 'The Onion'". Vice . Archived from the original on February 2, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  7. Koning Beals, Rachel (February 15, 2018). "Onion writer's routinely recycled mass-shooting headline hits close to home". MarketWatch . Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
    - Roeder, Jason [@jasonroeder] (February 15, 2018). "When I wrote this headline, I had no idea it would be applied to the high school a mile from my house" (Tweet). Retrieved May 29, 2022 via Twitter.
  8. 1 2 "'The Onion' front page". The Onion . May 25, 2022. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. Treisman, Rachel (May 25, 2022). "'The Onion' has republished a grim headline about mass shootings 21 times since 2014". NPR. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  10. 1 2 Cantor, Matthew (May 27, 2022). "'No way to prevent this': why the Onion's gun violence headline is so devastating". The Guardian . Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  11. 1 2 Spangler, Todd (July 5, 2022). "After July 4th Mass Shooting, The Onion Depressingly Reprises 'No Way to Prevent This' Homepage Takeover". Variety. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  12. 1 2 "'The Onion' front page". The Onion . July 5, 2022. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. Abbruzzese, Jason (October 3, 2017). "'The Onion' keeps publishing the same mass shooting story, because we're all stuck". Mashable . Archived from the original on February 17, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  14. Suebsaeng, Asawin (April 13, 2017). "How 'The Onion' Became One of the Strongest Voices for Gun Control". The Daily Beast . Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  15. Raftery, Brian (June 15, 2016). "Only The Onion Can Save Us Now". Wired . Archived from the original on June 15, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2022.

Bibliography

  1. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. May 27, 2014. Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  2. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. June 17, 2015. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  3. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. October 1, 2015. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  4. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. December 3, 2015. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  5. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. October 2, 2017. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  6. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. November 5, 2017. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  7. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. February 14, 2018. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  8. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. May 18, 2018. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  9. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. September 13, 2018. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  10. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. October 29, 2018. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  11. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. November 8, 2018. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  12. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. June 1, 2019. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  13. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. August 4, 2019. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  14. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. August 4, 2019. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  15. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. February 26, 2020. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  16. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. March 17, 2021. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  17. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. March 23, 2021. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  18. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. April 16, 2021. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  19. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. May 26, 2021. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  20. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. May 16, 2022. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  21. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. May 25, 2022. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  22. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. June 2, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  23. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. June 6, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  24. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. June 6, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  25. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. July 4, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  26. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  27. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. November 20, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  28. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  29. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  30. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  31. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. February 14, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  32. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. March 27, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  33. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. April 10, 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  34. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. May 8, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  35. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. July 5, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  36. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  37. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. September 4, 2024. Archived from the original on September 5, 2024. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  38. "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens". The Onion. December 16, 2024. Retrieved December 16, 2024.