Sara Ferne/The Lantern
Senior writer Mike DiCenzo and staff writer Seth Reiss visited Ohio State to discuss their work at The Onion.
Mike DiCenzo and Seth Reiss, both writers for the paper, spoke about the history of The Onion, how it compares to other news sources such as CNN and The Lantern, and how they pitch stories to their editors.
“We each pitch 15 headlines,” DiCenzo said. “The ones that get enough laughs, that’s how it becomes a story.”
Both writers spoke about how The Onion is just like any other news organization, except they claimed the fake newspaper receives 100 trillion readers per day and received the highest score of 6.0 on the journalistic integrity scale – as compared to the zero received by The Lantern.
Here are the top 10 headlines discussed throughout the hour-long lecture:
10. “Date with proctologist ends predictably”
9. “Ohio State uses T-Shirt blaster to deliver diplomas”
8. “Michael Phelps returns to his tank At Sea World”
7. “R.L. Stine reveals Slappy from ‘Night Of The Living Dummy’ Was Gay”
6. “Area man remembers a simpler time when his anus didn’t leak”
5. “U.S. vows to defeat whoever it is we’re at war with”
4. “Bill Clinton sadly folds first lady dresses back into box”
3. “Black guy asks nation for change”
2. “Earthquake marks least gay day in San Francisco history”
1. “Special Olympics T-Ball stand pitches perfect game”
Sara Ferne can be reached at [email protected].
