Ben Collins relaunched The Onion's print edition months after becoming CEO, restoring a physical presence that had been absent since 2013. The relaunch appealed to readers who remembered the paper on university campuses and offered broadsheet issues with consolidated satirical headlines. Early edition headlines included exaggerated bylines and darkly comic riffs. Collins declined to provide exact subscription figures but indicated subscriptions would sustain the writers' room; subsequent reports noted more than 53,000 paying subscribers. Collins praised the writers' prolific output and high standards and expressed interest in the future of journalism and the paper's direction.
Ben Collins made a big bet. A year ago, just a few months after he'd been named CEO of The Onion, he relaunched its print edition. Once a favorite on university campuses, The Onion hadn't published a physical issue since 2013. Common wisdom said that readership, and advertising dollars, just weren't there for newspapers. But Collins, a fan of the satirical paper since childhood, thought "that's dumb."
The staff churns out like 15 a day that are great. Seriously. I sit there, and I still don't know how they do it. When I say they throw away eight or nine of the best sentences I would ever write every day, I mean that sincerely. They are just prolific and incredible comedy writers. We're going to start with a little warm-up. I'm going to ask you some quick questions, and you're going to answer them quickly. Are you ready? Let's go.
Collins wouldn't give exact numbers on how many people are currently subscribed to the print edition but did say they should be enough to keep its writers' room humming (a few weeks after we taped this episode, the Wall Street Journal reported that The Onion now boasts more than 53,000 paying subscribers). On this episode of Uncanny Valley, I spoke with Collins about his hopes for The Onion, the future of journalism, and his Balatro addiction.
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