The Onion News Network is on the air! (and by “air” we mean “web”)
The Onion has had a great run. A great run. It was a significant influence on my comedic sensibilities during my formative years. I remember when Our Dumb Century came out my senior year how my friends and I would pass it back and forth in classes for weeks. During the late 90s and early 00s you could always start a conversation with “Did you see The Onion this week?” Almost a decade later, however, the fake news outlet has lost a bit of its cache. I still pick up the hard copy each week and read the headlines, but I’m far more interested in The A/V Club than in the magazine’s comedic offerings (sidebar: The AV Club might be the greatest general interest/criticism site on the web).
When I found out that they were going to start producing video content I was interested but skeptical. After watching the first three uploads on The Onion News Network (which will be posting three videos each week) I have to say I’m impressed. Not that what they’re doing is cutting edge (honestly, who isn’t writing fake news these days?), but they’ve successfully managed to adapt the spirit of their printed stories to video, and in the process have given me a reason to check in each week. They’ve also created a wonderful web interface with ads present but unintrusive (it’s easier to stomach a sponsored clip when it comes after the thing you want to watch — with a 5 second ID before the clip).
Months ago I was having a conversation with a friend about this whole endeavor. He had brought up the fact that what The Onion does is quite different from what The Daily Show or anyone else in the business produces. We’ve seen a real anchor or real reporter covering fake news (SNL’s “Weekend Update”), we’ve seen fake anchors and fake reporters covering real news (The Daily Show/Colbert Report), but The Onion News Network produces pieces with fake anchors and reporters covering fake news stories.
You’ll see what I mean in this clip about Civil War reenactors being sent to fight in Iraq.
All in all, a great change of pace for a very likable company.
