The Onion finds fertile ground in Austin

Humor newspaper plans a local print edition and office to capitalize on vibrant market

By Corrie MacLaggan
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, August 18, 2006

The Onion is coming to Austin.

The satirical newspaper that brought you Web headlines such as "Bush Grants Permission to Grant More Power to Self" and "Troy Aikman Becomes First Robot Inducted Into Pro Football Hall of Fame" plans to distribute a free weekly in the city's bars, shops and music venues later this year.

"It's like 'The Simpsons,' but even more intellectual," said Austin lawyer Adam Loewy, 28, an Onion fan since his undergraduate days at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where The Onion began in 1988.

The Austin edition of the publication that calls itself "America's Finest News Source" will have "hard-hitting news," an entertainment section and a local section with information on things to do in Austin, Onion President Sean Mills said. He couldn't say when exactly the papers will hit Austin.

The new edition is part of an expansion that includes Los Angeles (launched this month) and Washington (to launch this year). There are also Onion print editions in New York; Chicago; Madison and Milwaukee, Wis.; San Francisco; Minneapolis/St. Paul; and Denver/Boulder, Colo.

"Austin has all the characteristics of a great Onion market for us," said Mills, citing the huge university, a vibrant night life and (thank you very much) a literate, intelligent population.

The Onion has a print circulation of 549,000 and more than 3 million Web readers each month.

University of Texas graduate student Erin Hamilton, 26, an occasional reader of The Onion online, thinks the campus sorority/fraternity scene and the whole Keep Austin Weird thing could be good fodder for Onion stories.

The publication often skewers the Bush administration and was famously issued a cease-and-desist order by the White House last year for using the presidential seal on its Web site. But The Onion doesn't exclude Democrats as it points out society's hypocrisies and inconsistencies.

It's joined in the fake news genre by TV programs like Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," which claims to be "unburdened by objectivity, journalistic integrity or even accuracy."

At a time when newspapers are struggling to attract younger readers, The Onion's primary audience of 20- and 30-somethings appeals to advertisers such as bars, restaurants and retail stores, Mills said. The Onion plans an Austin office with 10 to 12 staffers.

The Onion will be another advertising competitor in a crowded market, said Kathy Lawrence, director of Texas Student Media, the umbrella organization for the Daily Texan, among others.

"This is a growing, vibrant community and we have a lot of healthy businesses, but at the end of the day there are only X number of ad dollars to go around," she said.

Carol Flagg, advertising director of the Austin Chronicle, said she welcomes The Onion and isn't worried about the competition.

"We really believe in the diversity of voices and the free exchange of ideas," she said.

David Strauss, editor of Texas Travesty, a UT humor magazine, said of The Onion's plans: "What a coincidence. Texas Travesty is expanding to Madison, Wisconsin, and New York City."

cmaclaggan@statesman.com; 445-3548