Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposing or shaming the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society.
The Onion is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is 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 ceased publishing its print edition and launched Onion Labs, an advertising agency.
Roderick Keith Ogilvy "Rory" Bremner, is a Scottish impressionist and comedian, noted for his work in political satire and impressions of British public figures. He is best known for co-starring with John Bird and John Fortune in the comedy sketch shows Rory Bremner...Who Else? and Bremner, Bird and Fortune, as well as being a team captain on the first two series of comedy panel show Mock the Week.
From 1999 to 2002, and restarted in 2010 SatireWire is a news satire website. Based in Connecticut and founded by Andrew Marlatt, the site aimed its satire at politics, business, the media, and current events, and spawned Marlatt's 2002 book Economy of Errors, which was a parody of the rise and fall of the Internet economy and the stock market.
British humour carries a strong element of satire aimed at the absurdity of everyday life. Common themes include sarcasm, tongue-in-cheek, banter, insults, self-deprecation, taboo subjects, puns, innuendo, wit, and the British class system. These are often accompanied by a deadpan delivery which is present throughout the British sense of humour. It may be used to bury emotions in a way that seems unkind in the eyes of other cultures. Jokes are told about everything and almost no subject is off-limits, though a lack of subtlety when discussing controversial issues is sometimes considered insensitive. Many British comedy series have become successful internationally, serving as a representation of British culture to overseas audiences.
News satire or news comedy is a type of parody presented in a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content. News satire has been around almost as long as journalism itself, but it is particularly popular on the web, with websites like The Onion and The Babylon Bee, where it is relatively easy to mimic a legitimate news site. News satire relies heavily on irony and deadpan humor.
Religious satire is a form of satire that refers to religious beliefs and can take the form of texts, plays, films, and parody. From the earliest times, at least since the plays of Aristophanes, religion has been one of the three primary topics of literary satire, along with politics and sex. Satire which targets the clergy is a type of political satire, while religious satire is that which targets religious beliefs. Religious satire is also sometimes called philosophical satire, and is thought to be the result of agnosticism or atheism. Notable works of religious satire surfaced during the Renaissance, with works by Geoffrey Chaucer, Erasmus and Albrecht Dürer.
Private Eye is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised for its prominent criticism and lampooning of public figures. It is also known for its in-depth investigative journalism into under-reported scandals and cover-ups.
The DailyER, formerly titled The Dailyer Nebraskan and The DailyER Nebraskan, established in 2008, is a satirical newspaper produced monthly during the fall and spring semester at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Although The DailyER has a similar name and is also university-funded, it is not affiliated with UNL's official newspaper, The Daily Nebraskan. The current editor-in-chief is Liam Spieker.
"The UnReal Times" was an Indian satire, spoof, parody and humour portal featuring satirical articles on politics, entertainment, cricket, media, international affairs and society. Founded in 2011, the portal publishes fake news reports, comic strips, mock transcripts, fake Facebook and Twitter conversations among other formats, combining irreverent humour with biting satire in its commentary on current events. The Unreal Times has been referred to as The Onion of India, most notably by tech blog makeuseof.com. The Unreal Times shut down in November, 2016 for unknown reasons.
The Daily Currant was an American satirical news blog that focused on politics, technology, and entertainment. A number of its satirical stories have been mistaken for true news reports by the media.
ClickHole is a satirical website that parodies clickbait websites such as BuzzFeed and Upworthy. It was launched on June 12, 2014, in conjunction with The Onion's decision to stop its print edition and shift its focus exclusively to the internet. According to ClickHole's senior editor, Jermaine Affonso, the website is "The Onion's response to click-bait content" and serves as "a parody of online media". Critics noted that, on a deeper level, ClickHole illustrates the shallow nature of social media content and media sites' desperation to share such content.
Reductress is an American satire website that parodies the style, tone, and perspective of media targeted towards women, especially women's magazines. Founded in 2013 by comedians Beth Newell and Sarah Pappalardo, the site has received praise from reviewers for its satirical pieces including advice columns, news stories, and listicles.
The Mash Report is a British satirical comedy originally broadcast on BBC Two and hosted by Nish Kumar. It featured an array of comedians satirising the week's news. The show continued on Dave as Late Night Mash, hosted by Kumar and then by Rachel Parris.
NewsThump is a British news satire website that publishes spoof articles about current events. It is similar to other British news satire sites such as The Daily Mash.
El Chigüire Bipolar is a comedic journalism and news satire portal, launched on 15 May 2008 by the Venezuelans Elio Casale, Oswaldo Graziani, and Juan Andrés Ravell, who are also the creators of the animated series La isla presidencial. The website and its creators belong to the media group Plop Media, based in Caracas and Miami.
Joe Biden is a recurring fictionalized characterization of the American politician of the same name in satirical online newspaper The Onion. Between 2009 and 2019, The Onion staff consistently portrayed Biden as an outrageous character who shared almost nothing with his namesake besides the title of vice president of the United States. Instead, the publication portrayed Biden as a blue-collar "average Joe", an affable "goofy uncle", a muscle car driver, an avid fan of 1980s hair metal, a raucous party animal, a shameless womanizer, a recidivist petty criminal, and a drug-dealing outlaw. The Biden character became one of The Onion's most popular features during the Obama presidency, garnering critical acclaim and a large readership.
Hard Drive is an American satirical video game news website co-founded in 2017 by the editors of The Hard Times. Due to their similar writing style, Hard Drive is frequently compared to The Onion and was named 'The Onion of video games' by both Vice and Uproxx.
Thud was a satirical media company founded by Ben Berkley, Cole Bolton, and Elon Musk in 2017. The company launched satirical websites and products. After Musk pulled his funding, the company went defunct in May 2019.
