No Joke: The Onion Thinks Print Is the Future of Media | The satirical site is hoping a newspaper with fake stories and fake ads will lead to real money.

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• PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  The print edition is part of a variety of perks that the company plans to offer online subscribers, who pay $5 a month, said Ben Collins, the chief executive of The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron. The company plans to offer invites to live events, access to The Onion’s archive of physical papers and sponsorship of ambitious editorial projects, such as a video titled “The Perfect One-Pot, Six-Pan, 10-Wok, 25-Baking-Sheet Dinner,” Mr. Collins said.

  I mean, that’s a decent deal IMO. The Onion is worth keeping around.

  At the same time, The Onion is reducing its reliance on certain kinds of advertising. A month ago, it stopped running digital ads from the company Taboola, a purveyor of attention-grabbing links. Most of the ads in this month’s print edition — for Ashley Madison, WeWork and Chick-fil-A — are fake, but there are some genuine promotions for The Onion. One of the ads: “It’s That Sweater You Clicked On Once. We Found a Way to Follow You Into Print Media, Too.”

  I can respect that. Sign me up.

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• TachyonTele@lemm.ee ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I hope they succeed again!

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  • lolrightythen@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Honestly, I’m in. Nobody talks about the fact that most cell phones go to the restroom with us and don’t get washed like hands do

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    • atlas@sh.itjust.works ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      While I do agree we don’t sanitize phones as much as we probably should, I also don’t wipe my ass with my phone

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• CptEnder@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I get the weekend NYT delivered, and I’m a millennial. I actually like taking the time in the mornings going through the paper, find things I probably wouldn’t have. I actually enjoyed it more weekdays because I’d do the same reading while I start work, but the price for a full week became too much. I’d definitely buy a sub to The Onion, that’s awesome.

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• finley@lemm.ee ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I used to do quite well in print, actually.

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• pete_the_cat@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Now at least Trump can say it’s “fake news!” 🤦‍♂️

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• FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  The owner of the onion is friends with Elon Musk? 🤢

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  • silence7@slrpnk.net ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I don’t think they said that; just that Musk had talked about buying it, and that the two of them didn’t discuss it at all. Per the article:

    Mr. Lawson said he hoped to own The Onion for the rest of his life. The business could be turned around, he said, if it focused first on satisfying its paying customers.

    Mr. Lawson said he hadn’t discussed his purchase of The Onion with Elon Musk — the Tesla chief executive, who at one point discussed a bid for the site — despite their shared love of satire.

    “Unbelievably, not all Silicon Valley people hang out in an evil mountainside lair,” Mr. Lawson said.

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    • FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Ah I read “shared love for satire” as implying they were friends. Perhaps not.

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