The Onion

Lore & Background

The Onion was founded in 1988 as a weekly print newspaper for satirical news by University of Wisconsin–Madison students Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson. In 1989, Keck and Johnson sold the paper to Scott Dikkers; Peter Haise, their advertising manager; and Jonnie Wilder, their typesetter, for $16,000 ($19,000 according to some sources). Dikkers claimed he was de facto editor by the third issue and became The Onion's longest-serving editor-in-chief (1988–1999, 2005–2008). In the summer of 1993, Stephen Thompson founded and became editor of the paper's genuine entertainment section, which was dubbed The A.V. Club in 1995.

In response to other websites copying Onion print articles without attribution, graphic designer Jack Szwergold launched an online version of The Onion in May 1996. The Onion previously ran The A.V. Club, a non-satirical entertainment and pop culture publication founded in 1993, and ClickHole, a satirical website founded in 2014 which parodies clickbait websites. ClickHole was acquired by Cards Against Humanity in February 2020 while The A.V. Club was acquired by Paste magazine in March 2024.

Reader's Guide

The Onion's articles cover real and fictional current events, parodying the tone and format of traditional news organizations with stories, editorials, and street interviews using a traditional news website layout and an editorial voice modeled after that of the Associated Press. The publication's humor often depends on presenting mundane, everyday events as newsworthy, surreal, or alarming, such as 'Rotation Of Earth Plunges Entire North American Continent Into Darkness'. In 1999, comedian Bob Odenkirk praised the publication as 'the best comedy writing in the country'.

Did You Know?

• The Onion's name may come from newspaper slang for a juicy, multi-layered story, according to early comic contributor Scott Dikkers.
• The Onion's website won its first Webby Award in March 1999 in the category of 'Humor'.
• In 1996, Ben Karlin and Scott Dikkers collaborated with Robert Smigel and Dana Carvey to create four short Onion news segments for The Dana Carvey Show, though only one segment aired.