The Onion (Facebook) | The Atlantic Wire | Reluctant Habits
“No person should be subjected to such a senseless, humorless comment masquerading as satire,” Onion CEO Steve Hannah writes about a tweet from the publication that used an exceedingly vulgar word to refer to 9-year-old actress Quvenzhané Wallis.
The tweet was taken down within an hour of publication. We have instituted new and tighter Twitter procedures to ensure that this kind of mistake does not occur again.
In addition, we are taking immediate steps to discipline those individuals responsible.
The joke, such as it was, backfired on the publication immediately, Alexander Abad-Santos writes. “This was one of the times where [Michelle] Malkin and Keith Olbermann, saw eye to eye,” Abad-Santos noted.
“In less than 140 characters, The Onion betrayed and violated 25 years of satirical good will,” Ed Champion writes.
Onion to writers: Tweet incredibly edgy, funny stuff. If you go over the line, we’ll just slide you under the bus.
— david carr (@carr2n) February 25, 2013
Related: Was there a joke there that The Onion missed? Choire Sicha tries to find one
