I don’t think the Onion was originally meant to sound real though. It’s just gotten that way because of how absurd our actual current events are.
Similar to how the “Weekend Update” segment on SNL used to be primarily joke headlines (with the exception of the OJ Simpson trial), but now they can literally make an entire segment using actual footage from a Trump rally.
But that’s the point. The Onion tries to write real-sounding headlines, and c/nottheonion is for real headlines that sound particularly unbelievable.
I don’t think the Onion was originally meant to sound real though. It’s just gotten that way because of how absurd our actual current events are.
Similar to how the “Weekend Update” segment on SNL used to be primarily joke headlines (with the exception of the OJ Simpson trial), but now they can literally make an entire segment using actual footage from a Trump rally.