Need a laugh?
With the slogan “satire for Bluejays, by Bluejays,” The CreightOnion—a new satire site based on, but not affiliated with, The Onion—promises to entertain the Creighton community with a healthy dose of satire specific to Creighton.
Since the website and Twitter handle launched Tuesday, Feb. 11, the satire site has grown in popularity with new Twitter followers every day.
New daily content, like Creighton faculty members and their celebrity look-alikes, has spurred this growth and delivered on the site’s promise to provide laughs from the everyday Creighton experience.
Contributors for the CreightOnion agreed to speak anonymously to The Creightonian about the new satire site.
Q: The CreightOnion has a website and a growing number of people follow the Twitter handle @creightonion. How did it all begin?
A: The idea blossomed in some form years ago, but it was only recently that we realized the domain name creightonion.com was available and cheap.
Q: Why launch a satirical news site for Creighton?
A: Most major universities have a satire newspaper in some form, whether it be digital or paper. While it is certainly more popular at state schools, we feel the Creighton community would benefit from having a comedic outlet like a good, fun satire site.
Q: What is the focus of the stories on the CreightOinion? Is this Creighton’s own version of The Onion?
A: Our coverage is rather limited. Some schools have satire sites that are large enough to cover national news. We simply do not have the time nor the staff to do such stories, and so our reach and audience is somewhat limited as well. Our site delivers stories that are written from thin air. The sources are almost entirely made up besides the names of some of our favorite teachers, and the accompanying quotes are intended to be utterly ridiculous and fake. Like it says on our site, we are not associated with The Creightonian (or The Onion) or Creighton University in any formal way; we provide satire for Bluejays by Bluejays.
Q: What is the goal of the CreightOnion?
A: Our goal is to provide a timely satirical news site for Creighton students, faculty and alumni. In the words of one of our contributors, “we are just here to ruffle some feathers.” In the end, we just want to maintain a site that is popular for its ability to provide some good fun and easy laughs.
Q: What has the response been to the CreightOnion?
A: So far the response has been entirely positive. We have had support from faculty departments, individual teachers and plenty of students. We are happy to say we have received no complaint emails yet, only story ideas.
Q: Looking ahead, what is the future vision for the CreightOnion? Will there be print issues?
A: There won’t be a print edition unless the Creightonian is interested in some sort of collaboration, although we might print some bumper stickers in the future. At other schools, printing is made possible by advertisements from bars or businesses that neighbor the university – while we aren’t planning on it, nothing’s out of our reach.
Q: Being a satire news site, The CreightOnion’s content must be under the microscope for ridicule or derogatory remarks towards a specific individual or organization. How do you balance providing laughs and not crossing the line?
A: Primarily, we ensure that our writers are not using our site as a vehicle for ridicule instead of thoughtful satire. We don’t print anything overtly offensive towards an individual (unless they are a public figure). We aren’t associated with the university or any moderation other than ourselves at this point.
Q: How can new people contribute?
A: New people can contribute by sending us story ideas or even completed stories (that we edit and check for content) to our email [email protected]
The CreightOnion, not affiliated with Creighton or The Creightonian and based on The Onion, provides timely comedic relief for students.