Why would a journalism teacher offer a class in news parody? This slideshow explains the traditions of satire, the "why" of parody and offers a few tips on getting started.

1. Lampooning
the Onion
A succinct look at the long history of collegiate satire publications,
which provides justification for learning how to write humor in the
service of presenting news in useful, memorable, engaging ways
followed by an ever-so-brief tutorial with some quick to-the-point
exercises to get you started writing parody journalism as quickly
as a cockroach who uses marijuana medicinally for the arthritis in
his creepy little legs.

2. Harvard Lampoon
• The Harvard Lampoon publication was founded in 1876 by seven
undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
who were inspired by popular magazines like Punch (1841) and
Puck (1871).
• I plagiarized the above line from Wikipedia. It checks out.
• 60 Minutes did a cool piece but I can’t show it to you without
subscribing to CBS All Access.
• Many writers who worked on The Simpsons went to Harvard and
Lampooned it up. Show creator Matt Groening is a Greenie.
(Evergreen State College in Washington.)

3. The Onion’s a comparative whippersnapper
• Founded by University of Wisconsin-Madison students in 1988.
• Won a Peabody in 2009.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Naapgh1LFuA

4. Satire news at California colleges
• University of California, Berkeley Heuristic Squelch
• University of California, Los Angeles The Bruin Roast
• University of California, Los Angeles The Westwood Enabler
• University of California, Los Angeles Satyr
• University of California, San Diego Koala
• University of California, San Diego MQ
• University of California, Santa Barbara Gaucho Marks Magazine
• University of California, Santa Cruz Fish Rap Live!
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_humor_magazines

5. Dumberjack
• At Humboldt State, two
semesters of multimedia
shitstorm.
• https://www.facebook.com/
dumberjack/
• Senior Sapiens

6. What’s the point of satire?
• Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the
powerful. – Columnist Molly Ivins
“Good satire goes beyond the specific point it’s trying to make and
teaches you how to think critically. Even after your favorite
cartoonist retires or [Stephen] Colbert wraps it up, you’re not left
believing everything they’re telling you.” – Aaron McGruder,
creator of “The Boondocks” cartoon
• It's a great time to be doing political satire when the world is on a
knife edge. --John Oliver

7. Satire uses irony to convey the silliness or
absurdity of people, organizations, or situations.
• Irony – “the expression of one's meaning by using
language that normally signifies the opposite,
typically for humorous or emphatic effect.”
• Irony is not a black fly in your chardonnay. That’s
just shitty luck.
• "Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.”
In Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five.”
That’s irony.

8. Getting started – read, watch, filter
• Get addicted to news. Stay current.
• Develop a spidey sense for absurdity.
• Pick a relevant topic/story with parody
potential.
• Research. I know. Actual work.

9. All you know about writing – plus some
• Everything you already know about storytelling
still counts (leads, sexy quotes, transitions,
structure).
• Plus you want people to laugh and learn and
remember.
• This requires more work.

10. Some tricksy stuff
• Use K-words. They’re funny. Krusty the clown. Kombucha. KKK.
• Rule of three. See above. Two realistic or factual bits followed
by something ridiculous.
• Comparisons. As hilarious as the Cleveland Browns winning a
game and predicting a trip to the Superbowl.
• Exaggerations. See above.
• As strange as people burning Nike shoes to protest Kaepernick in
a commercial.
• https://youtu.be/yqrZBfk3lv0?t=1m

11. Creative misdirections
• Creative misdirection—engaging readers by taking them
someplace they don’t expect to go:
• Can you ________ me now? (Insert words that rhyme
with hear.) Girls just wanna ________.
• Boys will be _________.

12. And so much more
• Repetition or the running gag. (All Supreme Court justice
confirmations ever.)
• Plays on words. Puns. (A guy walks into his shrink’s office wearing
plastic wrap for underwear. Doc says: “Well, I can clearly see
you’re nuts.)
• Use the familiar in unfamiliar ways.
• Develop a character: Stephen Colbert. The Yes Men.
Colonal Arran Morad.