NewsBiscuit

NewsBiscuit is a British satirical news website. It was founded in September 2006 to create a new outlet for British humour on the internet by a group consisting mainly of comedy writers including John O'Farrell.

NewsBiscuit
Available inEnglish
OwnerJohn O’Farrell
URLwww.newsbiscuit.com
CommercialYes

Content

Each day the site publishes one main 'front page' article and two shorter 'News in Brief' articles with a headline ticker. All articles are available free-to-view in its archives. The site also develops new writing using a submissions board where readers can rate each other's material and suggest rewrites or edits. These user submissions are rated by other subscribers and the most popular are reworked for the article boards. Several teams of contributors, such as Team Biscuit, The Hit Squad as well as Smudge and Des, have developed since the site's launch writing co-operatively online to produce articles for the site. Rewriting and alternative punch lines are also encouraged on the site's submissions board.[1]

The articles and features range from satirical takes on current affairs,[2] to various silly and bizarre ideas.[3][4] On its LaughLines blog, the New York Times declared that NewsBiscuit was the British version of the Onion.[5]

There are 14 main boards:

  • Arts/Entertainment
  • Business
  • Celebrity
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Features
  • Health
  • Isle of Wight News
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Science/Technology
  • Sport
  • UK News
  • World News

Introduced in October 2008, the Writer of the Month (WOM) award recognises the most successful and prolific writer each month, mainly based on the number of submissions that have been used as the ‘front page’ story but also taking into account News in Brief and also ticker subs used. WOM winners sometimes edit the News In Brief section of the site.

A number of writers who cut their teeth on NewsBiscuit have gone on to have novels published.

Adaptations

In June 2008, the BBC recorded a "NewsBiscuit" pilot for transmission on BBC Radio 4 later in the year. It starred John O'Farrell as the host of fictional radio station NewsBiscuit Dot.Com, and Anna Crilly as its co-presenter. It was, according to O'Farrell, an opportunity for new writers and actors to show their talent.

Also in 2008 a book featuring many of the stories featured on the website was produced, called Isle of Wight to Get Ceefax: And Other Groundbreaking Stories from Newsbiscuit.

See also

References
  1. "The world of wiki-comedy". BBC News. 2007-09-20. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
  2. "Mail to give away 'Big Issue Lite' to undercut homeless". NewsBiscuit. 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
  3. "Charity launches 'Guide Dogs for the Late'". NewsBiscuit. 2006-09-25. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
  4. "Dolphins 'stop smiling the moment our back is turned'". NewsBiscuit. 2006-10-05. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
  5. "Spanish child demands normal bedtime". New York Times. 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
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