Showing posts with label the onion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the onion. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The Onion News Network posts a series of online satirical news reports mocking events around the world to prove a deeper point. This particular report touches on the hated thing that shows up in your inbox, “spam.” The report pretending “spam” is an export of a foreign country known as “KOY4GOFF” is a mock economic trade report. It argues how the U.S. government’s sanctions against its Koy4Goff are angering the countries citizens. Looking at the layer 2 argument of this report what does it really mean? Well, the main impression one gets from the piece is how silly some of these spam messages have become. The report quotes multiple citizens of KOY4GOFF who all speak in spam quotes. These people just sound goofy, for lack of a better word. These ads just turn into goofy statements that remind one of the goofy titles that fill one’s trash folder. Therefore, this only makes one wonder, why are the emails still sent out. Everyone knows what they are and only finds them annoying. Who possibly clicks on the penis enlarger pill add? Why do they still flood my inbox?

“Spam Crackdown Threatens Koy4Goff’s Penis enlarger, Free Ipod industry.” Onion News Network. The Onion. Viewed March 30th, 2009. http://www.theonion.com/content/video/spam_crackdown_threatens

Saturday, March 28, 2009

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.

Sony Releases New Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work

"Sony Releases New Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work | The Onion - America's Finest News Source." Home | The Onion - America's Finest News Source. 28 Mar. 2009 . This is a video clip from The Onion website which is associated with the joke newspaper. It is a pretend news show discussing the release of another "piece of shit that doesn't fucking work" by Sony. This is satirizing the recent craze for technology that instead of making our live more simple, just complicates them and frustrates us. The material consists of bogus testimonials of customers, Sony representatives, and gadget experts to discus the story. Also, by taking the voice of a news broadcasting network both The Onion newspaper and their news show clips on the website satirize the news media and their lack of depth in the topics they cover. The audience is mostly American young adults who read The Onion newspaper.

Pentagon's Unmanned Spokesdrone Completes First Press Conference Mission

"Pentagon's Unmanned Spokesdrone Completes First Press Conference Mission | The Onion - America's Finest News Source." Home | The Onion - America's Finest News Source. 28 Mar. 2009 . This is a video clip of The Onion newspaper's news show. It discusses the invention and trial run of a "spokesdrone" by pentagon officials as a way of keeping military personnel safe from reporters' tough questions. This is satirizing the governments overly vague responses regarding the Iraq war as a way of avoiding being held responsible for a costly and unsuccessful war effort. It is also satirizing the portrayal of people who question the legitimacy of the war as threats. The material consists mainly of bogus interview of military officials and others associated with the project. This clip, as part of The Onion news show, is also mocking the news industry in general and their inability to deal with serious issues. The audience for The Onion is mainly American young adults who read the newspaper and therefore understand the criticism.

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

"Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard | The Onion - America's Finest News Source." Home | The Onion - America's Finest News Source. 28 Mar. 2009 . This is a video clip from The Onion's news show. It deals with the release of a new apple lap top that would replace the key board with a single wheel and center button. It is satirizing the craze for cooler-looking rather than helpful technology and the tendency for people to buy base more on company name than the practicality of the product. The material consists mainly of testimonials of people promoting or considering buying the product. Also, as part of The Onion, this fake news broadcast is a satire of the real news media. By taking their voice to cover bogus issues The Onion is mocking their inability to report on serious topics with any real depth. The audience for this video is American young adults who probably read The Onion and are therefore likely to understand the satire.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

The Onion News Network



The Onion News Network is the daily video broadcast from The Onion, a fake news organization established in 1988 that satirizes international, national, sports, business, entertainment and made up news. The Onion News Network (ONN) was launched in 2007 and ever since then has grown to encompass several continuing series that focus on specific subjects, such as Today Now! which mocks morning news shows, In The Know With Clifford Banes, satirizing pundit shows, O-SPAN, which spoofs C-Span and ONN International, whose coverage includes "over 821 countries and 126 languages" lampooning CNN International.

The embedded video comes from the last of these ONN's series and is titled "East Timor's First Female Dictator Hailed as Step Forward For Women." It is a fake news reel, as is ONN's style, that satirizes both the commonality of coups d'estat in developing countries (the video uses East Timor), the behaviour of dictators, and the way that some people could make it seem as if a dictator's take-over is commendable just because the dictator happens to be a woman (the fictional Amivi Gama). Throughout the video, The ONN's also shows comedic captions regarding to Amivi's Gama's capabilities as a dictator and mother ("Gama Juggles Motherhood, Butchering Political Enemies"), and the ticker is continuously broadcasting other fake news (these include: "Lucasfilm Intern Discovers Only Job Responsibility is Fact-Checking Wookiepedia" and "From Lubbock, TX: Battle Between Humans and Armadillos Rages for 6th Consecutive Day.")

The Onion, Onion News Network, accessed Feb. 22, 2009, -http://www.theonion.com/content/video/east_timors_first_female_dictator?utm_source=a-section-