The Onion is growing a documentary for America’s 250th anniversary, referred to as Beginning of a Nation, a mission CEO Ben Collins says displays the corporate’s rising focus past satire articles and headlines.
“For the 250th anniversary of America, we’re making a documentary referred to as Beginning of a Nation, which is nice,” Collins mentioned onstage on the Quick Firm Most Progressive Firms Summit, in a dialog with Jill Bernstein.
The documentary is considered one of a number of tasks underway at The Onion, following its acquisition by Collins and a bunch of traders in 2024.
Earlier than shopping for the publication, Collins spent years at NBC Information overlaying extremism and misinformation on-line.
“I used to be overlaying neo-Nazis and psychopaths, aka, like, america authorities, for NBC Information,” Collins mentioned. “It was a tiresome factor to do.”
Collins mentioned he left NBC Information shortly earlier than Christmas in 2023, intending to put in writing a e book, earlier than seeing an AdWeek report that The Onion was on the market.
“We are able to’t lose this,” he recalled considering. “We’re shedding the whole lot. We are able to’t lose this.”
Inside weeks, Collins had assembled traders, together with Twilio founder Jeff Lawson, and bought the publication.
Transferring away from low-quality advert income
On the time of the acquisition, Collins mentioned The Onion was producing about $1.5 million yearly, a lot of it by low-quality promoting networks.
After the acquisition, the corporate as a substitute centered on subscriptions, print merchandise, and viewers assist.
In keeping with Collins, The Onion now has round 80,000 paying subscribers, greater than 3 million YouTube subscribers, and a digital viewers of roughly 30 million folks.
“We needed to make a case to everyone else within the media that should you do really double down on the stuff that your readers like and also you don’t capitulate and attempt to browbeat and suck as much as energy, left and proper . . . it’s higher for you,” Collins mentioned.
The Onion’s bid for InfoWars
The Onion has additionally drawn consideration for its effort to buy InfoWars, the political conspiracy platform based by Alex Jones.
The bid got here throughout Jones’s chapter proceedings associated to the Sandy Hook defamation judgments towards him.
“So when it was up for chapter 9 days after the 2024 election, the 2 folks to bid on it have been Alex Jones’s proxy, in all probability his child, and us,” Collins mentioned.
The Onion received the public sale, although Jones has continued interesting the method.
“We’re silly individuals who picked a battle with an terrible man,” Collins joked. “However we’re virtually there.”
As soon as the deal closes, Collins mentioned The Onion plans to satirize conspiracy influencers and web personalities throughout social media platforms.
“We’re going to start out off going in any case these things in your TikTok and Instagram account that you simply’re like, how is there not any individual making enjoyable of this particular person?” Collins mentioned. “We’re going to make enjoyable of that particular person.”
“Comedy has devolved into racist roasts”
Collins additionally criticized the present state of comedy, arguing that a lot of it has shifted away from extra layered satire.
“Comedy has devolved into racist roasts and nothing else, and I’m simply exhausted by it,” he mentioned.
A part of The Onion’s technique now could be creating area for comedy writers and creators fascinated about completely different sorts of labor, together with tasks involving comic Tim Heidecker.
Collins additionally mentioned The Onion doesn’t use AI-generated editorial content material.
“We additionally don’t use AI, and you’ll inform,” Collins mentioned. “The stank of AI could be very profound proper now, and it’s deeply unpopular.”
Collins mentioned he sees The Onion as providing readers a way of recognition throughout a troublesome political and media setting.
“Success for us is actually like, we wish folks to really feel catharsis,” he mentioned. “We would like folks to really feel seen on this world, the place the media has been completely captured by a bunch of individuals with some actual bizarre perversions.”
