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Author Topic: Not funny "satire" news sites Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 01-02-2015 02:13 AM                     The Onion used to do a great job of making funny news articles that were blatantly fake. In recent years it seems they have lost their touch by throwing in relentless cursing to help readers realize the stories are fake (and because apparently it's funny when a news article is nothing but cursing). But lately it seems like the amount of "satire" news sites is really getting out of control, and what's sad is they aren't making the articles outrageous enough so that most of the general public seem to understand that it's a joke. Am I alone here in this opinion, or are other people tiring of seeing these stupid news stories appear on facebook, in emails and so forth? They are nothing but click bait for advertising revenue and a total waste of time. Here is a list I found on the internet. I doubt by any means it is a complete list: Alternet.org BeforeItsNews.com Christwire.org Chronicle.su ConsciousLifeNews.com CounterPsyOps.com CSGlobal.com DailyCurrant.com DailyPaul.com DCClothesline.com DownTrend.com Duffleblog.com EagleRising.com English.ruvr.ru EUTimes.net Examiner.com FederalistPress.com FreedomOutpost.com FreePatriot.org FromTheTrenchesWorldReport.com GlobalResearch.ca GonzoGlobe.com GovtSlaves.com GulagBound.com GulagBound.com HangTheBankers.com HealthImpactNews.com InfoWars.com IntelliHub.com InternetChronicle.su ItMakesSenseBlog.com LewRockwell.com LibertyDigest.com MrConservative.com NationalReport.net NaturalCuresNotMedicine.com NaturalNews.com Newsmax.com PalookavillePost.com PoliticalBlindSpot.com PrisonPlanet.com RandPaulReview.com RealFarmacy.com RedFlagNews.com SouthWeb.org TheCommonSenseShow.com TheControversialFiles.net TheDailySheeple.com TheLastGreatStand.com TheOnion.com TheRightPlanet.com TopInfoPost.com UndergroundHealth.com USAHitman.com VeteransToday.com VineOfLifeNews.com WesternJournalism.com WhyDontYouTryThis.com WorldNewsDailyReport.com WorldTruth.tv  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 01-02-2015 05:57 AM                     IMHO, The Onion jumped the shark a few years ago, parody and satire usually works best without an in-your-face approach. Maybe they've realized this themselves, because they're apparently for sale as of last November. I've checked a few of the sites above, but at least some of them don't really strike me as satirical, but rather more like a one-issue or propaganda news site. Some of them open popup windows and some of them even don't work anymore and I tried just a mere handful.  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-02-2015 09:26 AM                        Not sure how all of those names got on as satire sites, unless it's because they sometimes run "humorous" stories. The very first one, Alternet, is a liberallish site that is mostly a news aggregator which does a few stories on its own. As such, it runs political humor columns (Will Durst comes to mind) and plenty of click bait. I suspect most of the sites on the list are also aggregators. Even if everyone were a full blown satire site like The Onion, it would still be pretty sparse given the size of the internet. As it is, the internet needs a whole lot more funny. Odd the Funny or Die is not on the list.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-02-2015 11:45 AM                        I agree about the Onion jumping the shark. They have fallen into the trap of just sticking in a bunch of profanity to make something read funnier -- which is great on a limited basis, but not so great when it's overused. It sort of reminds of the little hillbilly girl in "Christmas Vacation." She says "Shittin' bricks" and Chevy Chase says, "You shouldn't say that word" and she says "Sorry....shittin' rocks." That's funny, but if the kid had cursed her way through the whole movie it would have diluted the humor. They've become like SNL -- bits of genius surrounded by large piles of junk.  |  IP: Logged Jarod Reddig Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 513 From: Hays, Ks Registered: Jun 2011 posted 01-02-2015 11:49 AM                     Exactly Mike. Nice SNL comparison. I use to really love The Onion and me and my friends would always share stories and get a big kick out of it. It just sucks now. I don't even pay attention to such sites.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-02-2015 12:54 PM                     If the old lady in Blazing Saddles said, "Up yours, N-word" one more time, it would have ruined the whole movie. If Gene Wilder had said, "Blucher!" one more time... N-E-I-G-H! It would have ruined the joke. The secret to comedy-TIMING-is knowing when to STOP telling jokes. There's a saying, "Third time is a charm." The first time you hear a joke, it's funny. The second time you hear a joke, you think, "Oh, there's that funny joke I heard." The third time you hear the same joke, you think... "I've heard that one before."  |  IP: Logged Jarod Reddig Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 513 From: Hays, Ks Registered: Jun 2011 posted 01-02-2015 01:05 PM                     Most agreed Randy  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 01-02-2015 02:55 PM                        Hmmm... The Bad News Bears franchise comes to mind...  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 01-02-2015 03:43 PM                        Many of the articles are indistinguishable from real news stories. It often takes fact checking to be sure they are not real stories. However, I do think it's hilarious when someone shares one of the stories in an outrage because the horrible thing is happening.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-02-2015 04:29 PM                     It's really funny when a news organization, particularly a big cable TV news network, gets stung by running a story from The Onion as real news. They should know better since The Onion is pretty well known and has been around for, well, a lot longer than all those "me too" web sites. While I have The Onion bookmarked, I don't look at it nearly as often as I did years ago. quote: Martin McCaffery Odd the Funny or Die is not on the list. Funny Or Die isn't a fake news humor site. It just has all sorts of humorous articles, videos, animated GIFs, etc. Cracked is one of my favorite humor sites. Their various list-based articles are often hilarious and eye opening. I really loved its examination of the Alien movies and the man-rape undertones in it.  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-02-2015 04:57 PM                        Of course, we all could have just outgrown it. Here's something I remember from High School. National Lampoon taking it to Mad Magazine for having lost its satirical edge: Nat Lamp v Mad  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-02-2015 07:08 PM                        quote: Martin McCaffery Of course, we all could have just outgrown it. That's true. I used to subscribe to Mad Magazine, and one year my wife gave me one of those CD sets that has all the issues on it. While a lot of it is still funny, I can't believe I thought some of that stuff was hilarious. (I still love the "43-Man Squamish" article though!) I also still like "Nixon was the one in '68...he'll be a BIGGER one in '72!"  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 01-02-2015 07:48 PM                        The Onion has always had cussin'. Not sure if it's increased or not lately, but I know one of their best headlines ever was "Holy Fucking Shit! Man Walks on the Fucking Moon!!" and that was nearly a decade ago if not more (it was actually in their print edition). But with the other "satire" sites like the ones Brad listed, humor seems to be a concept they don't fully understand. They seem to be more about tricking people. I can't even count the amount of times someone posts an article from one of those sites thinking it's true. There's no attempt at humor in the headlines or the article whereas The Onion makes it pretty obvious. Haven't read The Onion lately, however.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-02-2015 07:53 PM                     I subscribed to Mad when I was a kid. Moving around from one military base to another made maintaining subscriptions a pain, but I managed to buy issues regularly up into my 20's. In later years it was about buying the issues more for the artwork. Some really amazing talent has worked at Mad over the years. quote: Joe Redifer The Onion has always had cussin'. Not sure if it's increased or not lately, but I know one of their best headlines ever was "Holy Fucking Shit! Man Walks on the Fucking Moon!!" and that was nearly a decade ago if not more (it was actually in their print edition). Perhaps my favorite profanity laden bit from The Onion was this video news piece about Sony releasing a new piece of shit that doesn't fucking work. I still laugh at that piece. I really like the bit at the end where the spokesman is clicking the remote repeatedly, saying "fuck" louder and louder in exasperation.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 01-03-2015 02:37 PM                        That one's a classic! I love the dude in front of Best Buy "I love bullshit like this. I'll buy anything I see in an ad."  |  IP: Logged

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