The Onion buys Infowars

[Marvin the Martian]

The Onion bought Infowars in a bankruptcy auction. Their plans:

The Onion plans to relaunch Infowars in January as a parody of itself, he said, mocking “weird internet personalities” like Mr. Jones who traffic in misinformation and health supplements.​

​

“We thought this would be a hilarious joke,” Mr. Collins said. “This is going to be our answer to this no-guardrails world where there are no gatekeepers and everything’s kind of insane.”​

​

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/14/business/media/alex-jones-infowars-the-onion.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawGi5yZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHel-KJPVvtuET_geZGoj3VM1eLoa8IuEyhoPCg0C1or-zow5ZuK_Rf5qzg_aem_cLzOpfIe0jAb0QjuL-y0Sw

 

[MyTeamIsOnTheFloor]

Whatever happened to National Lampoon?

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

The Onion bought Infowars in a bankruptcy auction. Their plans:

The Onion plans to relaunch Infowars in January as a parody of itself, he said, mocking “weird internet personalities” like Mr. Jones who traffic in misinformation and health supplements.​

​

“We thought this would be a hilarious joke,” Mr. Collins said. “This is going to be our answer to this no-guardrails world where there are no gatekeepers and everything’s kind of insane.”​

​

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/14/business/media/alex-jones-infowars-the-onion.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawGi5yZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHel-KJPVvtuET_geZGoj3VM1eLoa8IuEyhoPCg0C1or-zow5ZuK_Rf5qzg_aem_cLzOpfIe0jAb0QjuL-y0Sw

I don't understand the logic behind this -- at least in the sense of putting any cash into the acquisition. Aside from whatever tangible assets that come with it, what value there is in the enterprise comes from the kook's audience....and I'm sure the kook will just move his kooky harangues to some other platform and his kooky audience will just move there with him.

So it's not going to prevent him from continuing to do the harangues or prevent his cult from listening to the harangues. That'll just happen someplace else. So what The Onion ends up with is the name, the tangible assets, and the ability to satirize it by parody I guess?

It's just such a strange ordeal.

 

[PhyloeBedoe]

Just keep Alex Jones on and tell him to keep on doing his thing.

 

[larsIU]

I don't understand the logic behind this -- at least in the sense of putting any cash into the acquisition. Aside from whatever tangible assets that come with it, what value there is in the enterprise comes from the kook's audience....and I'm sure the kook will just move his kooky harangues to some other platform and his kooky audience will just move there with him.

So it's not going to prevent him from continuing to do the harangues or prevent his cult from listening to the harangues. That'll just happen someplace else. So what The Onion ends up with is the name, the tangible assets, and the ability to satirize it by parody I guess?

It's just such a strange ordeal.

Do the proceeds from the sale go to pay whatever he was hit with in the lawsuits/settlements? If so, a silver lining indeed.

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

Do the proceeds from the sale go to pay whatever he was hit with in the lawsuits/settlements? If so, a silver lining indeed.

Yeah, the liquidation was ordered by the court. And the Sandy Hook families are getting equity as part of that.

I'm just kind of puzzled as to what the end game for it is. The Onion and the families now own the brand, its tangible assets, all of its social media and archives, etc. etc. Now what?

 

[larsIU]

Yeah, the liquidation was ordered by the court. And the Sandy Hook families are getting equity as part of that.

I'm just kind of puzzled as to what the end game for it is. The Onion and the families now own the brand, its tangible assets, all of its social media and archives, etc. etc. Now what?

Launch it into space. It's the only option really.

 

[Ohio Guy]

The Onion bought Infowars in a bankruptcy auction. Their plans:

The Onion plans to relaunch Infowars in January as a parody of itself, he said, mocking “weird internet personalities” like Mr. Jones who traffic in misinformation and health supplements.​

​

“We thought this would be a hilarious joke,” Mr. Collins said. “This is going to be our answer to this no-guardrails world where there are no gatekeepers and everything’s kind of insane.”​

​

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/14/business/media/alex-jones-infowars-the-onion.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawGi5yZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHel-KJPVvtuET_geZGoj3VM1eLoa8IuEyhoPCg0C1or-zow5ZuK_Rf5qzg_aem_cLzOpfIe0jAb0QjuL-y0Sw

I couldn't read the NY Times article you linked, but apparently some of the Sandy Hook families were in on the purchase.

I hope they take what little credibility Alex Jones' legacy has and make a complete and total and worst possible mockery of it.

 

[Ohio Guy]

Yeah, the liquidation was ordered by the court. And the Sandy Hook families are getting equity as part of that.

I'm just kind of puzzled as to what the end game for it is. The Onion and the families now own the brand, its tangible assets, all of its social media and archives, etc. etc. Now what?

I'm not sure. I hope any type of parody they do with it is wildly successful, hilarious, deeply embarrassing and completely obliterating for whatever Jones' legacy/reputation is.

 

[76-1]

Whatever happened to National Lampoon?

The writers all became p u football coaches...

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

I'm not sure. I hope any type of parody they do with it is wildly successful, hilarious, deeply embarrassing and completely obliterating for whatever Jones' legacy/reputation is.

Jones' reputation with sane people is already what it ought to be. I don't think it requires any additional help -- although I certainly have nothing against more exposure for the fraud crisis actor that he is. But I'm thinking about it more as a gainful going concern. Can that be sustained as a business?

 

[Ohio Guy]

Here

Jones' reputation with sane people is already what it ought to be. I don't think it requires any additional help -- although I certainly have nothing against more exposure for the fraud crisis actor that he is. But I'm thinking about it more as a gainful going concern. Can that be sustained as a business?

i don’t know about the long term sustainability, but I’d love to see the point that he’s a deceitful, horrible human being while continuously grinding and shred of dignity and legacy he has left.

Hopefully they’ll be able to pull the curtain back on how absurd it was for anyone who ever took it seriously.