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. In 1995 Dikkers shifted the focus of the paper to a straight news parody and found the voice for which The Onion is known today. Dikkers was the publication's longest-serving editor-in-chief, holding the position from 1988–1999 and 2005–2008. Cole Bolton is the paper's current editor-in-chief.

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.

Scott Dikkers & The Staff of The Onion's website

This bio was last updated on 09/30/2017. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.