Scott Dikkers & The Staff of The Onion Biography
Started in 1988 by University of Wisconsin undergraduates Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson, The Onion began as an alternative weekly newspaper in Madison, originally meant to parody both USA Today and the nearby Oshkosh Northwestern newspaper. It was purchased the following year for less than $20,000 by staff members Scott Dikkers and Peter Haise. In1995 Dikkers shifted the focus of the paper to a straight news parody and found the voice for which The Onion is known today.
In 1996 The Onion made an unprecedented launch into cyberspace, and www.theonion.com soon became one of the nation's most heavily visited Web sites. Comedy Central bought the company in 2000, and its offices moved to New York City in 2001. “The Onion News Network,” a daily video parody of 24-hour news networks, was launched in 2007. The Onion is still available in hard copy, distributed free in several large U.S. cities, available through paid subscription, and sold in bookstores worldwide. Joe Randazzo is the paper's current editor, with Sean Mills the president of Onion, Inc.
The Onion has been called "surprising and sublime" by the New Yorker and "genius" by the Chicago Tribune. Rolling Stone named Scott Dikkers one of the nation's top-ten favorite writers. The Onion was also featured on Entertainment Weekly's 1998 "It" List of the 100 most talented people in the entertainment industry, and Time magazine ranked Dikkers number 43 in their list of the top 50 movers and shakers in the digital realm.
This biography was last updated on 03/31/2009.
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