In The Know: Should We Be Shaming Obese Children More?

"In The Know: Should We Be Shaming Obese Children More? | The Onion - America's Finest News Source." Home | The Onion - America's Finest News Source. 28 Mar. 2009 . This is a video clip on The Onion website which is associated with the joke newspaper. This clip discusses the merits of shaming obese children into losing weight. It satirizes the idea that American children are fat because our society is too nice or accepting of it. The material consists mainly of “experts” (including a professor from American University) discussing their opinions and experience with the effects of the use of shame as a corrective device. They specifically mention the effectiveness of making shaming a fat child a family activity, and the role of the media in this problem by allowing fat characters to be considered witty or to get dates. Also, being in association with the newspaper, this clip satirizes the news media more generally by discussing this issue on a mock news show. The newspaper and this clip of its associated news show is designed to mock the trivial topics covered by real news media. It satirizes the lack of depth in news coverage and this specific clip especially deals with the callousness, ignorance and hypocrisy seen in the news media. The audience for this piece would be mostly young American adults who read or are at least familiar with The Onion newspaper and who "get" the joke.