So, You’d Like To Sell Your Print Issues Of The Onion?
theonion.com>Certain issues of The Onion newspaper are mysteriously missing from our 270-year archive, and you might be able to help us recover them.
I know everything they write is potentially a joke but I got curious when The Onion was founded; apparently it was in 1988, 38 years ago :)
It sounds like their archive contains 270 year old contents, not that they’re 270 year old company
https://theonion.com/about-us/ says:
> Rising from its humble beginnings as a print newspaper in 1756, The Onion now enjoys a daily readership of 4.3 trillion and has grown into the single most powerful and influential organization in human history.
so I'm pretty sure it's just a joke.
Seems legit, I trust them. They even filed an amicus brief with scotus
Here's the amicus brief: https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-293/242292/2022...
Read the whole thing. Lots of onion-type gags in there.
How does that work on the authoring side? Are there staff writers that follow a court document style guide, or are there lawyers on retainer that are a personality match for the org?
Gillis (head writer for the onion) drafted the tone, arguments and jokes. He connected to Novak's lawyer through a friend at the firm. Novak's lawyer then connected Gillis to a former colleague who helped format it and provide relevant legal statute.
I was surprised that they didn't contribute to the jokes, it really does read like it was written by a particularly funny lawyer.
jokes? in america's most trusted news source? i don't think so
Yeah I know, nobody takes The Onion at face value. They like to play with words
TIL from mid-2011 to mid-2012 the print edition of The Onion was actually distributed here in Toronto (https://globalnews.ca/news/125698/the-onion-newspaper-coming... ; https://nmc-mic.ca/2012/07/24/star-media-group-suspends-publ...). Seems I missed out :(
This was a big highlight for me working at Yonge/Dundas at the time. I could go grab a coffee and pick up The Onion from an old school newspaper rack. First time I saw it, I couldn't believe it was free!
They were free in TTC stations.
Area Man has them.
On the night the Onion finally went out of print my friends and I went and took a few of the newspaper boxes they distributed them out of in Madison. One stayed at our friend's house, the other one we used as a distribution box for our own anonymous satirical newspaper we wrote for our high school.
I may actually have some of these. I picked up a bunch of issues in Madison in the early 90's and I'm pretty sure I still have them...somewhere.
I was excited that I may have been able to help, but I just have issues from volumes 36 and 37... Perhaps this is for the best, as it would have deeply fed my pack rat tendencies.
TIL The Onion goes back to at least 1988.
Anyway, I'm a big fan of what their new(ish) management has been doing, especially with infowars. I hope they can get the issues they're looking for.
It started at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. I was an undergrad there at the time and never missed an issue (but unfortunately didn't save them). A few random observations:
* It was a huge hit on campus almost right away, or at least once it found its footing and sensibility - the dry conventions of journalism applied to mundane events.
* The sensibility of The Onion was very midwestern, and specifically "college-town Midwestern slacker". I knew exactly the type of people they had in mind when writing about "Area Man". This article captures that well: https://www.midstory.org/the-onions-midwestern-homecoming/
* I remember thinking that lots of college towns must have a satirical newspaper as good as this. Then when it went national, realizing that it was really something special.
Personally I always picked up an issue to see if the "Drunk of the Week" was someone I knew on campus.
The coupons at the bottom were a great value. "Most biomass for the buck at Cellar Subs."
I wonder what freshmen who didn't know about it thought about that issue in August of '91 when going to their first lecture "University digs mass grave for incoming freshmen." (The foundations of Grainger Hall were being excavated)
Did somebody steal these magazines or are they just being overly dramatic?
I'm guessing they lost their back issues due to neglect and sometimes tragedy. When people are first starting out they often don't think that in 30 years time they will want a physical copy of their joke periodical and warehouse space is always limited. When budgets get tight it is sometimes the storage bill that has to be cut.
They had a mood swing ahead of the 2008 election, and truly hilarious characters like Herbert Kornfeld were canceled.
https://theonion.com/cash-room-bitch-be-havin-my-shortie-181...
Herbert Kornfeld was the GOAT.
It wuz always about tha numbahs…
Sleepless hours and dreamless nights and far aways / Ooo ooo ooo, wishing you were here…
https://theonion.com/it-wuz-always-bout-tha-numbahs-18195843...
And yet, moderH8ers gonna hate.
Could also just be a joke - never know with the Onion ;)
They could have just lost them too, doesn't need to be nefarious.
It was me. Just wait until they find out which of the 1920s issues I took.
Hard to tell if the onion is trying to be funny?
libraries sadly have to destroy old archives all the time
but it's not like a lost Doctor Who episode, it will show up eventually
meanwhile they can keep eerily predicting dystopia like the government televising executions for entertainment a year before it happens
Should have posted the direct link with more details about what they are looking for and how to help.
That's here: https://theonion.com/archivehunt/
Updated, thanks!
Title should actually be "Do you have pre-2014 Onion issues?"
Because they are looking for issues in 2012 and 2013 as well.