World Wide Web publications poke fun at news

Headlines such as "America Online To Build Three Million Home Pages For The Homeless" and "President of Penn State Stuns Nation: 'Irate Pillsbury Doughboy Rampages Penn State!" would not appear in a typical newspaper.

Unless that newspaper is one of a growing breed of on-line satirical newspapers.

On-line satirical newspapers poke fun at what is happening in the news. One internationally popular satirical newspaper is The Onion, (http://www.theonion.com). There is also a new on-line satirical newspaper exclusively about the University called The Voice of Reason, (http://www.vor.com).

Claiming itself to be "America's Finest News Source," The Onion updates its editions every Wednesday, which include stories about current events, as well as off-the-wall features, infographics and opinions.

"We take the news and twist it to be absurd," Peter Haise, publisher and president of Onion Inc., said.

Their wacky news stories attract a lot of attention from a variety of different people.

"We don't write for a target audience," Haise said. "Our readers are intelligent people with a good sense of humor from all locations and age groups."

The University is among The Onion's top sources of readership, Haise said. Last week, Penn State ranked 25th on their list of places that access the site most often, he said, adding that the ranking continuously fluctuates.

Cat Crandall (sophomore-history) said she reads The Onion religiously.

"The Onion takes a dark, satirical look at society," Crandall said. "People put too much emphasis on little things, and it makes you see how ridiculous everything can be."

It is often said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. If that is so, then The Onion has been complimented in this way most recently by Penn State students.

The Voice of Reason was inspired by The Onion, and often attempts to imitate The Onion's style of writing.

Founder and chief writer of The Voice of Reason, J.D. Fekula (senior-chemistry), said he started the on-line newspaper because he enjoys reading The Onion and he wanted to write satirical stories about the University.

Whereas The Onion has established international success with about 5.5 million viewers per month, The Voice of Reason is rapidly gaining University students' interest with more than 500 viewers in its first month of existence.

"We use easy targets," Fekula said, referring to some of their stories' subjects, such as the University's fraternity and sorority systems, the Undergraduate Student Government and University President Graham Spanier.

"The stories are so ridiculous that everyone knows it's a joke," Fekula said, adding that he is just trying to get readers to laugh.

Crandall said she is also a fan of The Voice of Reason.

"It's funny the way they satirize the entire community here," she said. "It gives you a fresh look at issues here."

Although the satirical stories are meant to be funny and harmless, Fekula said he sometimes tries to show an underlying message of things that he thinks are wrong on campus, such as a disproportionate amount of emphasis on the Greek community.

"We use fake names, unless it is about a high-profile person," Fekula said. "But we don't have an agenda; we're not out to get anybody."

They do not want to offend anyone, he said, but added that the story headlining "Sorority Girl Has Intelligent Thought!" received the most positive feedback from its viewers.

The Onion also hopes not to offend its readers, Haise said, adding that the writers do an immense amount of research and leave nothing to chance.

"I think most people understand what we do," he said. "Offense is only taken when they don't understand."

With a publication as large as The Onion, however, it is impossible to keep everyone happy.

"People still get mad," Haise said. "I can't give them a sense of humor."