Funny Because It's True: How The Onion Created Modern American News Satire

by Christine Wenc

Overview

The real truth behind the original fake news with this in-depth history of beloved humor publication, The Onion.

In 1988, a band of University of Wisconsin-Madison undergrads set out to publish a free weekly newspaper with no editorial stance other than “You Are Dumb,” and—over the course of twenty years—changed the way we consume both our comedy and our news. The Onion served as a hilarious and brutally perceptive satire of the absurdity and horrors of late twentieth century American life and grew into a global phenomenon. Now, for the first time, the full history of the publication is told by one of its original staffers, author and historian Christine Wenc. Wenc charts The Onion's rise, its position as one of the first online humor sites on the internet, and the way it influenced television programs like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report through dozens of interviews. Funny Because It's True peels back the layers to reveal how a group of young misfits from flyover country unintentionally created a cultural phenomenon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762484430
Publisher:	Running Press Book Publishers
Publication date:	03/18/2025
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Christine Wenc is an independent public historian who’s played central roles in highly regarded projects for Harvard University, National Library of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Johns Hopkins University. She’s also a member of the literary arts team at Arts+Literature Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, and an editor at the University of Wisconsin. Back in the day, she was the editor-in-chief of the Stranger, copy editor/writer/illustrator on the original staff of The Onion, as well as a news announcer on Wisconsin Public Radio. Her work has been published in Orion, Exquisite Corpse, and Alternet. She grew up in rural Spring Green, Wisconsin.