The Onion is an American satirical digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes articles on international, national, and local news. Based in Chicago, the company originated as a weekly print publication on August 29, 1988 in Madison, Wisconsin.[1] In the spring of 1996, The Onion began publishing online. In 2007, the organization began publishing satirical news audio and video online, as the Onion News Network. In 2013, The Onion ceased publishing its print edition and launched Onion Labs, an advertising agency.[3][4]
The Onion's articles cover current events, both real and fictional, satirizing the tone and format of traditional news organizations with stories, editorials, op-ed pieces, and man-on-the-street interviews using a traditional news website layout and an editorial voice modeled after that of the Associated Press. The publicationโs humor often depends on presenting mundane, everyday events as newsworthy, surreal, or alarming (such as "Rotation of Earth Throws Entire North American Continent into Darkness").[5] In 1999, comedian Bob Odenkirk praised the publication, stating, "It's the best comedy writing in the country, and it has been since it started."[6]
The Onion also runs The A.V. Club and ClickHole. Initially created in 1993 as a supplement to the parent publication, The A.V. Club is an entertainment and pop culture publication that contains interviews and reviews of newly released media and other weekly features. ClickHole is a satirical website from The Onion founded in 2014 that parodies clickbait websites such as BuzzFeed and Upworthy.
