New York, ready or not, the Onion

Graphic from the current issue of
'The Onion'

New York, ready
or not, the Onion

Quirky Midwestern humor title going big time

By Jamie L. Jones

    As the glistening summer sun turns to the gold of the coming autumn, as media people begin the long migration back from area beaches, a question dangles in the minds of some: Is New York City quite grown up enough to appreciate the special humor of the Onion?
    The Onion, as our readers know, hails from Wisconsin, and for a long time there's been talk that it would make its way east to New York. It is already distributed in Chicago, Denver and Milwaukee, having branched out from Madison, where it was birthed what seems like a coon's age ago.
    Curious New Yorkers will soon learn the answer to their question.
    On Sept. 27, the Onion will begin publication in New York, distributing 70,000 copies across the city at no charge.
    Most publications trumpet their launches, but the Onion is being amazingly mum, its PR hacks giving out little more than name and serial number.
    The only real confirmation of the New York launch appears to come from an internal memo from publisher Peter Haise, published earlier this week on DotComScoop.com and FuckedCompany.com.
     "Come what may, the Onion is on the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn starting the last issue of September 2001," writes Haise in the memo.
    The New York edition will carry the same editorial as the other editions but will also carry local entertainment listings.
    It's been 14 years now since the paper was founded by two University of Wisconsin students, and though growth has been slow and profitability elusive, the paper has developed a cult following for its uniquely Midwestern humor--sophomoric some call it--as well as some nods from the literati at The New Yorker and the 1999 Thurber Prize for American Humor.
    The move to New York has been a long time coming.
    In January, the editorial staff was transplanted to New York from Madison, Wisc. Business and sales staff still operate in Chicago, Madison and Milwaukee.
    Some worry that the move to New York may reduce the magazine’s critical distance from the objects of satire, though, and that the Onion will suffer from a high profile and big city surroundings.
    The Onion has earned its popularity by satirizing politics, technology and especially suburban life in a deadpan, dead-on newspaper style.
    Recent headlines include:
--"John Ashcroft Frolics in Secret Vault of Winnie-The-Pooh Toys"
--"Best-Laid Plans of Mice And Men Faulted in 747 Crash"
--"Bush Actually President, Nation Suddenly Realizes"
--"Newly Unearthed Time Capsule Just Full of Useless Old Crap"
--"Everything in Entire World Now Collectible"
     The online edition of the Onion gets four million unique visitors per month, and Haise’s memo also reveals that the Onion will write and produce a movie with David Zucker for Fox/Regency Films. In February, it entered a deal with Miramax Films for first-look movie rights.
     And September will see the release of the Onion’s third book: "Dispatches from the Tenth Circle: The Best of the Onion."
     Still, given the poor ad climate, the Onion may not be picking the best time to launch a new edition. Plagued by poor ad sales, the Onion considered putting itself up for sale about a year ago, and Haise's memo indicates that a sale is still a possibility.
    But Haise also reveals that the Onion has found a backer in New York businessman David Schafer.
    "Raising money for a company that is losing money in a bad economy and a weak advertising market (and a weaker internet advertising market) is not exactly easy," writes Haise.
    "This was the single toughest and most pressured task I’ve ever attempted in all my days. And I have a fine case of the hives to prove it. However, some things for the Onion just seem to happen in due time."

-Jamie L. Jones is a staff writer for Media Life.

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