Onion Peels Into Greeting Card Business

New book Our Front Pages explores the evolution

(NEWSER) - The Onion's writers have a backward way of generating stories: They come up with the headlines first. The staff devotes the first two days of each week to rejecting headlines like “Quick and Painless Overthrow of Taliban Enters Eighth Year” in favor of “US Continues Quagmire-Building Effort in Afghanistan.” New book Our Front Pages explores the evolution of such heads over the paper’s 21-year history; New York Times reporter Eric Konigsberg took a peek at it, and the operation. Fun tidbits: More»

Edwart's no vamp, he just has nosebleeds, but don't tell Belle

(NEWSER) - She's a klutzy transplant to the Oregon town of Switchblade who falls for a computer geek with nosebleeds named Edwart. “Looking into his eyes I felt waves of electricity, currents of electrons charging towards me. Was this how it felt to be in love ... for robots?” Yes, it's Belle, but this is Twilight as reimagined by the wits at the Harvard Lampoon—four current students who undertook Nightlight, the Lampoon's first satire of a novel since Bored of the Rings 40 years ago. More»

(NEWSER) - Not even satirical daily paper the Onion can escape the woes of the print industry—it's shutting down its San Francisco and Los Angeles editions tomorrow, a source tells Gawker’s Ryan Tate. The Onion launched the editions in 2005 and 2006, respectively, well into the newspaper crisis, notes Tate, banking on the fact that it could ride out the storm by luring advertisers with its attractively young readership. More»

Publishing giant aims to save periodicals with new device

(NEWSER) - Hearst Corporation aims to do for periodicals what the Kindle's doing for books with a new electronic reader, CNN reports. The company—which publishes an array of magazines and newspapers, including Cosmopolitan, Esquire and the San Francisco Chronicle—hopes the device will help cushion revenues in light of sinking ad revenue and rising paper and delivery costs. More»

The Onion feeds the public's need for satiric news coverage

(NEWSER) - As newspapers lay off workers and struggle to survive, the Onion is adding staff and circulating in new markets, the Washington Post reports. Riding the crest of America's love for Jon Stewart-style satirical news, the 20-year-old paper pays writers well and holds down a New York City office. "It's scary," the paper's editorial manager says. "It's a little terrifying that real news is crashing while fake news is growing." More»