News satire

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News satire, also called fake news, 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 what we consider journalism, but it is particularly popular on the web, where it is relatively easy to mimic a credible news source and stories may achieve wide distribution from nearly any site. Generally, the goal of news satire is to make social commentary in a form that provides entertainment. Because news satire relies heavily on irony and deadpan humor, it is occasionally mistaken for real news.

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[edit] News satire in history

Over a hundred and forty years ago, a young newspaper reporter for the Virginia City (Nevada) Territorial Enterprise newspaper began earning a name for himself as a satirist by publishing occasional spoof articles. The reporter, Samuel Clemens (AKA Mark Twain), was eventually obliged to depart from his post in Nevada, and later from another newspaper in San Francisco, because his "hoaxes" were so successful. Then, as now, many readers failed to perceive the satire. It was because of these early experiences, no doubt, that he came to the conclusion that "a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."

Newspapers still print occasional news satire features, in particular on April Fool's Day (April 1). These news are specifically identified somewhere in the paper or in the next day as a joke.

In 1934, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released a series of ten one-reel theatrical shorts called Goofy Movies, which included "Wotaphony Newsreel," a newsreel parody that paired actual footage with a mocking, deadpan narration.

Also in 1934, halfway through a Kraft Music Hall radio show, Dean Taylor ("Others collect the news, Dean makes it!) narrated a fake newsreel which began with a report on the New York Giants and Philadelphia Phillies being cancelled due to bad weather, and baseball season being rescheduled to when farmers need rain. (34 minutes into clip)

Kraft Music Hall 1934-04-19

Kraft Music Hall, April 19, 1934 - 15 MB, 1 hour
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[edit] Television news satire

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News satire has been prevalent on television since the 1960s, when it enjoyed a renaissance in the UK with the Satire Boom, led by such luminaries as Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, David Frost, Eleanor Bron and Dudley Moore and the television programme That Was The Week That Was. In the United States, the NBC network adapted this program and also produced its own content, from the "news" segment of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, to the still-running Saturday Night Live mock newscast segment "Weekend Update".

“ If other fake news sources, like Fox News, are going after it then we have to respond. It’s just the responsibility we have. ”

—Sean Mills, President of The Onion, on news parody of tragedies., <[1]

Cable television got into the act with Home Box Office's Not Necessarily the News in the mid 1980s. Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's The Colbert Report are currently very popular in the United States. Ironically, a 2004 Annenberg survey found that Daily Show viewers were better informed than those who relied solely on conventional network news. Some have even compared the trust and influence Stewart enjoys today to that of CBS anchor Walter Cronkite in the 1970s.

Comedy Central has also announced that in 2007 they will be launching another spin-off of The Daily Show starring popular Daily Show correspondent and comedian Lewis Black traveling the red states of America called The Red State Diaries.

Fox News launched a news satire program in February 2007 with the title of The Half Hour News Hour. Its creator describes it as "The Daily Show for conservatives", but it was cancelled within a few months.

In Britain, several news satires have been created, most famously the works of Chris Morris. Show such as the radio series On the Hour and its television version The Day Today parodied news programs very accurately, so they were almost believable and could have been confused with actual news programs, if it was not for the fake stories reported. Morris went on to continue this and several other themes in Brass Eye, one of the most controversial series on British television, especially after one episode broadcast mocked the way the news covered stories about pedophilia.

Currently, British news satire is similar to shows such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. The Late Edition with Marcus Brigstocke, on digital station BBC Four, is heavily influenced by The Daily Show. News Knight with Sir Trevor McDonald parodied news differently, by using an actual newsreader as the host. Other news satires include Broken News, which featured several sketches of different news channels blending into each other.

Currently, Canadian news satire is similar to shows such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. This Hour Has 22 Minutes is an ensemble fake news show with four anchors on CBC. The Rick Mercer Report is a spin-off of 22 Minutes with former anchor Rick Mercer, and is also shown on CBC.

[edit] News satire on the web

People have been posting news satire on the web almost since its inception, but few would contest that The Onion is foremost among recognized news satire sites due to its enduring and profitable business model. The website, which started in 1996, has become virtually synonymous with online satire; its content is syndicated through mainstream media sites such as CNN and CNET. Today there are literally hundreds of news satire sites online. Sometimes people publish news satire articles in blogs. Sites such as The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs and the parody blog network News Groper contain fake blogs written by humorists in first person, taking on the identity of notable famous people. Other satire sites attempt to emulate a genuine news source of some sort (however, these sites now take a variety of forms).

Because interesting stories are often emailed and can quickly become separated from their point of origin, it is not uncommon for news satire stories to be picked up as real by the media. Wikpedia contains a list of articles published by The Onion that have been taken seriously by a variety of new outlets. Additionally, a parody post on Al Sharpton's parody News Groper blog was quoted as if real by MSNBC. And, most recently, a new satire publication, The Giant Napkin, published an article about a man literally fighting his house fire with more fire, a story taken seriously by several social networking sites. The fact that Google News accepts news satire sources helps contribute to this phenomenon; while Google News does mark such stories with a "satire" tag, not all readers notice the tag; moreover sometimes satirical sources may not carry the tag. At least one site, thespoof.com, relies on user-generated content in a Web 2.0 manner.

Several sites aggregate headlines from satire news sites, such as About.com. However, there is a community of selected news satire sites which runs its own satire news feed on HumorFeed. HumorFeed is notable for its relatively high standards of admission and active community involvement. At present, over 60 sites are contributing members, at least 8 of which have published books and 2 of which publish regular hard-copy periodicals. Several HumorFeed members also run Check Please!, an online journal devoted to the serious examination of online satire, ranging from its role in relation to actual journalism to practical considerations of producing an online satire site.

[edit] References

  1. ^ An interview with The Onion, David Shankbone, Wikinews, November 25, 2007.
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[edit] See also