NewsThump
Type of site | Satire |
|---|---|
| URL | newsthump.com |
| Commercial | Yes |
NewsThump is a British news satire website that publishes spoof articles about current news events. It is similar to other UK news satire sites like The Poke and The Daily Mash.[1]
The website uses 'humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices', according to Media Bias Fact Check.[2]
NewsThump articles are presented as genuine news stories, with frequent use of fake quotes, which editor Richard Smith has suggested are intended to mimic the BBC News website. Smith, a comedy writer, started the site in 2009, and in the site grew to receive around 100,000 hits a day by 2011-12.[3] Smith complained in 2017 that despite being a satirical site, NewsThump articles had been hit by Facebook's implementation of a 'fake news' filter.[4] In a 2016 Reddit AMA, Smith said that the site had grown to 2 million views per month.[5]
In 2015, the right wing British National Party mistakenly believed a NewsThump article claiming Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn had implemented a 'hug a jihadi' policy within his party was factual.[6]
References
- ^ Smith, Jodie (2016-02-27). "The fake stories hitting the headlines". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
- ^ "News Thump - Media Bias/Fact Check". Media Bias/Fact Check. Retrieved 2018-11-17.
- ^ "NewsThump – The Comedy Crowd". thecomedycrowd.com. Retrieved 2018-11-17.
- ^ "NewsThump's Richard Smith on how satirical humour sites are being hit by 'fake news' filters - Media Voices Podcast". Media Voices Podcast. 2017-03-21. Retrieved 2018-11-17.
- ^ "r/IAmA - I am Richard, Editor of NewsThump, the UK's second most popular Onion rip-off, ask me anything". reddit. Retrieved 2018-11-17.
- ^ "The BNP (Remember Them?) Has Fallen For A Fake News Article". HuffPost UK. 2015-11-21. Retrieved 2018-11-17.