Satirical Journalism Deserves Awards Too

Wall Street Journal
April 1, 2009
The Onion Wins a Peabody Without Even Trying

The 68th annual Peabody Awards were announced today, and among the winners are widely praised radio journalists (NPR and This American Life’s “The Giant Pool of Money”), popular TV shows (”Lost,” “Entourage”) and the Onion’s online-video unit, Onion News Network, which is best known for segments like “Prague’s Franz Kafka International Named World’s Most Alienating Airport” and “Congressman Offers Preemptive Apology For Extramarital Affair.”

Another April Fools’ Joke?
“We were afraid people would think that,” says Horace Newcomb, director of the awards, which are given by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
“We think they’re just rather wonderful satires, and as much as we want to reward outstanding journalism,” he says, “we’ve also been quite aware of the kinds of humor that poke fun at, and, in some ways, keep the news organizations on their toes.”

Dr. Newcomb pointed out that other satires have won in the past, including Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” and Stephen Colbert’s “Colbert Report.” Other online winners included YouTube and the New York Times’s video section.

The award came as a surprise to the Onion, since it didn’t submit an entry. The New York-based operation, which also publishes a newspaper and Web site, was notified of its win by the university today.

“The Peabody Board has complete freedom to nominate on its own,” Dr. Newcomb says.
It may also complicate the Onion News Network’s anchor bios page, which is sprinkled with tongue-in-cheek references to Peabody Award recipients. “It’s an odd moment of comedy meeting reality,” says Will Graham, the network’s 28-year-old executive producer.
“But it was incredibly nice of them,” he says. “We weren’t expecting it, but it’s a real honor.”
The video site launched in April 2007 and has a staff of about 20 people. It contains about 200 clips, including regular segments like “Today Now” (a morning-show spoof), “In the Know” (fake “Meet the Press”) and “O-Span” (based on C-Span). Its voice is meant to parody CNN and Fox News “on seriousness steroids,” Mr. Graham says.

Like the Onion’s printed matter, the Onion News Network’s faux-earnest tone sometimes results in its jokes being taken seriously, like a viral hit called “Child Bankrupts Make-A-Wish Foundation With Wish for Unlimited Wishes” that eventually merited its own entry on Snopes, a site that debunks rumors, email hoaxes and other urban myths. And because the Onion’s videos air on the Internet, they tend to get embedded on unaffiliated sites and take on a life of their own, Mr. Graham says.

“We’re the people outside the party making fun of everybody who’s in there,” he adds. “Sort of a cynical, outsider perspective that’s pointing out the things that are terrible in the world, but hopefully in a way that lets you laugh at them.”