Regardless, this passage describing 2001’s “Area Man Likes To Think Of Own Past As Sordid” is an excellent reminder of how The Onion used to resemble a local newspaper: I mainly blame the economic devastation of print’s demise - by moving from print to online, The Onion had to create many times more jokes for a fraction of the revenue. I think there’s merit to this argument, although I’d argue that The Onion’s challenges would still exist if Trump never ran. There’s a Substack I recently read that blamed The Onion’s decline on Donald Trump, social media and progressive politics. I don’t envy The Onion this challenge, but it’s undeniable that the publication has changed. If anything, it’s trying to keep up with the rage-inducing social media cycle. The Onion of the past 10 years is still very good, but it’s no longer tethered to that news-writing structure. “… the old Onion was in many ways the world’s most precisely crafted, warped replica of the stereotypical local newspaper, and therefore must change.” The only problem? How can you parody local newspapers when they’re all dying? I called this out 10 years ago : Even if you’ve never read a physical newspaper, you might still recognize (even subconsciously) that the article format is part of the joke. The tone, the structure, the alternating of facts and quotes from experts and witnesses - all of this was familiar to readers. One of The Onion’s great strengths in the 1990s and 2000s was its pitch-perfect parody of newspaper stories.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |