24-hour fake news network

Anyone who's heard The Onion Radio News knows that The Onion's ingenious brand of fake print news doesn't always translate well to a verbal spoken medium. The format is pitch-perfect on the page but, when you listen to it, the stories' scripted nature make them come across more like a comedy sketch and less like a news story.

With the folks at The Onion starting a 24-hour online fake news network called The Onion News Network, or ONN, the same problem occurs. The Onion's president, Sean Mills, told Variety, with tongue apparently planted firmly in cheek, that ONN is not trying to be like The Daily Show or "Weekend Update" on SNL. "Those are parody shows, and this is serious news," said Mills. "There's no studio audience, and no one's in on the joke. What we are trying to create is a broadcast-quality newscast on the Internet."