From Wired
In these trying times, satire might be the most rational response to reality. Perhaps that explains why fake news, satiric journalism, news parody—whatever you call it—has proliferated. The modern roots of this industry (yes, it is undeniably an industry now) can be traced back at least to Orson Welles' War of the Worlds news bulletins of 1938. Since then, countless permutations of journalistic fakery have taken root, from incisive, trenchant fabrications by The Onion ("U.S. vows to defeat whoever it is we're at war with") to slapstick gags like Obama Girl ("Don't Cry for Me, Alaska: The Sarah Palin Story"). Some satirists aspire to a form of transcendent truth-telling. (Thank you, Jon Stewart.) Others are just in it for the yucks. Which fake news—past or present—best fits your tastes? This matrix chart reports, you decide.