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Why do newspapers love The Onion?

Published Sunday, August 15, 2004 by seanlmccarthy | E-mail this post

Trick question. Us media types fawn over The Onion and Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, in part because they are mocking us and we love the attention, and in part because when they mock the news, they're saying things mainstream journalists wish they could put into print or on the air. But someone from the business side of the newspaper (typically avoided by the news side like the proverbial plague) should remind the journalists that when The Onion comes to Minneapolis, Chicago and your market, it'll be another reason for young readers and the advertisers who love them to avoid picking up your two-bit rag -- which may, in fact, cost four bits. Check your local listings.

NOTE: Both the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Chicago Tribune require registration for online readers. But one of my favorite sites, bugmenot.com, "liberates" sites like these for you. Some of you may need to click there first. Some of you may want to click there first, though, just for the sheer enjoyment of liberation. Is this how the Iraqis were supposed to feel when we "liberated" them? We have liberated them, right?