The Onion will quit operations in 2014 : editor in chief says

[Ichingcarpenter]

For nearly 25 years, The Onion has been satirizing American politics and society with unparalleled brilliance. However, the fake news publication – or "America's Finest News Source" – has sadly and stunningly announced that it will cease operations in 2014.

In a press release, The Onion's Editor-In-Chief, Will Tracy, explained what led to the publication's difficult decision:

The Onion has always been recognized as a first-rate satirical publication, making fun of all that is absurd in our socio-political world. However, in today's contemporary political environment, our brand has simply gotten muddled. And I can say with clarity that today's GOP is fully to blame.
[...]

It used to be that political satire was easy. All one had to do was find the absurd buried beneath the surface of a given story and employ satire to highlight that absurdity. To shine a light on it.

Now? Now you have headlines showing up in mainstream publications like "Kansas Republican Actually Opposes the Poor Buying More Food" and "Conservatives Less Likely to Buy Energy Efficient Bulbs if Labeled as Environmentally Friendly."

The absurdity of conservatives in this country has completely destroyed our business. Republicans have ruined us. Period.

New readers to The Onion can't tell anymore that we are a satirical publication. And established readers have been leaving our pages, finding greater absurdity at places like CNN and USA Today.

The Onion apparently considered changing its business model – shifting to become a 'real' news outlet – but eventually decided against it.
Creative Director of the Onion News Network, JJ Shebesta, told The New York Times:

A bunch of us thought that if we wanted to keep doing weird and absurd shit, that we should just start covering the news for real.
But then we were like, Wait, we're just comedy writers, not journalists. We're overqualified!

The Onion will continue operations through the upcoming presidential election, with its last issue set to be published on November 6, 2014. When asked why, Shebesta answered, "What better day for a satirical news outlet to close up shop?"
Indeed.

Rest in peace, The Onion. You will be missed.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/27/1211908/-The-Onion-Calls-it-Quits

[Ichingcarpenter]

1. Satire from Kos.... NOT THE ONION.

I thought it was a good attempt though.

[Tx4obama]

2. So the press release was SATIRE!!! Cause the next presidential election is NOT in 2014 !!! LOL :)

"... Onion will continue operations through the upcoming presidential election, with its last issue set to be published on November 6, 2014 ... "

[defacto7]

3. That's one of their best satire comments yet!

I don't believe a word of it. Maybe... I hope....

[Art_from_Ark]

4. So there's going to be a presidential election in 2014?

That's (Onion) news to me

[Journeyman]

5. Back in the early '80s, Calvin Trillin bemoaned how difficult it was becoming to be a satirist. . .

How could he be expected to be witty and funny and simply absurd, he explained, when reality was far more surreal than anything he could imagine.

Just that week, he complained, the Reagan Administration had been faced with recognizing Soviet troops were stationed in Cuba. In protest, the U.S. had launched a full scale invasion -- of its own base on Cuban soil, Guantanamo.

How could he compete with such absurdity? Trillin exclaimed. It was hopeless, and he saw his only option was to retire his column, Uncivil Liberties.

[siligut]

15. Gershon is no doubt a fan of Trillin

He wrote this at the end:

Author's Note: Yes, I authored this piece, not The Onion -- though if the latter comes calling with a job offer, I have a number in mind.

[Scootaloo]

6. "We're overqualified!"

That made me

[jmowreader]

7. They already announced this last year...

When Romney made a speech without thanking the troops, the Onion tried publishing it, and their editor told them to quit fucking around.

[99th_Monkey]

8. I think that's what's called "working yourself out of a job"

I think one reason they are going out of business is that our so-called "reality"
has increasingly of late become virtually indistinguishable from the Onion's parody
pieces.

[riqster]

9. Walt Kelly expressed similar sentiments back in the 50's

But he wasn't kidding.

[Historic NY]

10. Almost got me......

[Javaman]

11. Responce from the Onion...

"it appears as if our death has been mildly satired".

[Brickbat]

12. Is it, like, Credulous Day today?

[libodem]

13. .

[Nye Bevan]

14. "Voters Slowly Realizing Santorum Believes Every Deranged Word That Comes Out Of His Mouth"

WASHINGTON—As Rick Santorum has emerged to become Mitt Romney's leading opponent for the Republican presidential nomination, the American electorate said Monday it had slowly begun to realize that the former Pennsylvania senator sincerely believes every deranged word that exits his mouth.

Uneasy voters told reporters it was becoming more and more evident that comments from Santorum defending sodomy laws as acceptable restrictions on "wants and passions" and characterizing pregnancy occurring through rape as a "gift" from God were not politically calculated but were, in fact, spoken out of sincere, startling conviction.

"I honestly thought he was just playing up to the far-right voters, because that's what Republicans are supposed to do in the primaries," said Grand Rapids, MI resident Dan Banks, who explained he had dismissed as manipulative campaign rhetoric Santorum's assertion that President Obama would send Christians to the guillotine. "But now it's dawning on me that this guy means it, all of it. Every single thing he says is an accurate depiction of how he sees the world."

"So, when he said that Satan was currently attacking the United States, he meant exactly that," added Banks. "Satan, the devil himself, is attacking the United States. Rick Santorum believes this is a real thing that is actually happening. I…wow. Just wow."

http://www.theonion.com/articles/voters-slowly-realizing-santorum-believes-every-de,27518/

[Arkansas Granny]

16. You just never know what to believe these days. In so many cases, fact is stranger than fiction.