Donald Trump likes to describe news he does not like or agree with as
"fake." Long before Donald Trump became our president he was the king of
the New York tabloids. He actually used to make calls to reporters and
pretend he was somebody else calling in stories about himself. Talk
about fake news, that certainly was. I guess he would know?
During that same period, the 1980s, some students at the University of
Wisconsin were trying to come up with ideas for how to make money
without having to do unpleasant jobs. They brainstormed it and decided
to start putting out a weekly newspaper that was entirely news they had
made up. They made it appear like it was real news, but it wasn't. Then
they began selling ads and that was their moneymaking scheme. And it
worked. One of their original writers was a UW student named Christine
Wenc. All these years later she has published a history of this
endeavor, they called it "The Onion," and how it went on to become
hugely successful. And it is still around.
Their motto was "You are Dumb." You have to respect that. So much fun
has been had over the years, often at the expense of people in the real
news. They have had some incredible writers. This is a fascinating
account.
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, Wright Memorial Public Library, and Tipp City Public.
