The Poke

Last updated

The Poke
Thepoke-logo.jpg
Type of site
 Comedy
URL https://www.thepoke.com
Launched2002
Current statusActive

The Poke is a British satirical website. It was launched in 2002 as a fanzine distributed at the Edinburgh Festival and independent music shops. The website is known[ by whom? ] for producing viral videos, which are often Auto-Tune edits of British current affairs. [1]

Contents

History

The Poke began as a fanzine with a circulation of 50,000[ citation needed ] that was sold in music shops across the United Kingdom and at the annual Edinburgh Festival. Later becoming an internet-only publication, the website gained some popularity when it was featured as an "Internet pick of the week" by The Guardian , which described it as "a British version of The Onion crossed with Private Eye ". [2] The site was named 'Website of the day' by pocket-lint.com on 19 January 2012. [3]

The red-top look of the site means there have been cases of the site's fictional, satirical news stories being misinterpreted as real news items. In January 2012, a number of French news organisations including Le Parisien and L’Express reported on an August 2011 article by The Poke about a BBC sign language interpreter being fired from her job for 'fabricating news' as a genuine story. French radio broadcasters RTL and France Info also reported the story as real, and television broadcaster Canal+ featuring the fictitious 'scandal' on an evening news programme. [4]

In December 2022, The Poke was acquired by Digitalbox plc. [5]

The Leveson Enquiry musical

The Poke created an Auto-Tuned version of the Leveson Inquiry featuring the sampled testimonies of Rupert Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. The video was featured in the Guardian's Viral Video Chart. [6]

Nick Clegg apology song

An Auto-Tuned remix uploaded in September 2012 to YouTube of Nick Clegg's apology over going back on his promise to oppose a rise in tuition fees saw the website rise to national publicity, with the video becoming an Internet phenomenon. Following a request by the website, Clegg allowed the song to be released as a single, with proceeds donated to the Sheffield Children's Hospital. [7] The track was released on 21 September, and entered the weekly UK singles chart at number 136 two days later. [8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Website links". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  2. ↑ Dee, Johnny (23 October 2010). "Internet picks of the week". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  3. ↑ Hughes, Ian (19 January 2012). "Website of the Day: The Poke". pocket-lint.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2016.
  4. ↑ "The Poke fools France". The Poke. 15 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  5. ↑ Warner, Tom (1 December 2022). "Digitalbox PLC acquires The Poke for undisclosed sum". proactiveinvestors.co.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  6. ↑ Baird, Dugald (18 May 2012). "Guardian Viral Video Chart: Leveson the Musical; kid wakes up to Nirvana". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  7. ↑ "Nick Clegg's musical tuition fee apology goes viral". The Daily Telegraph . 20 September 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "Gangnam Style fails to top UK singles chart". BBC News . 23 September 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
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