# Does the Onion have an article like this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2017, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-onion-have-an-article-like-this/791351 "2017-07-15T21:39:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-onion-have-an-article-like-this/791351/1 "2017-07-15T21:39:18Z")
Something like “US citizen dies in overseas disaster; also, several hundred brown people”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-onion-have-an-article-like-this/791351/2 "2017-07-15T21:45:16Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Something like “US citizen dies in overseas disaster; also, several hundred brown people”. Well, there’s [Tsunami Death Toll Rises To 36 Americans](http://www.theonion.com/graphic/tsunami-death-toll-rises-to-36-americans-9582). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-onion-have-an-article-like-this/791351/3 "2017-07-15T21:49:52Z")
And, for the other half, [15,000 Brown People Dead Somewhere](https://www.google.com/amp/www.theonion.com/amp/3751). You know, “from flooding or a hurricane or something like that.” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-onion-have-an-article-like-this/791351/4 "2017-07-15T21:51:13Z")
Are you thinking of [this](http://www.theonion.com/video/hurricane-bound-for-texas-slowed-by-large-land-mas-14262)? (eta: Hmm. Looks like The Onion has gone to that well a few times.) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-onion-have-an-article-like-this/791351/5 "2017-07-15T22:07:41Z")
Thanks all! ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2017, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-onion-have-an-article-like-this/791351/6 "2017-07-15T23:39:40Z")
It was pretty much a staple of British humour in the 19th/20th centuries for media bashing: ‘Hurricane destroys Caribbean Island: no Britons killed’. And prolly the Dutch, the French and the Chinese do the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-onion-have-an-article-like-this/791351/7 "2017-07-17T16:00:01Z")
And as a counter to all the “pretty white girl gets murdered” stories, there’s this story: [**Ugly Girl Killed**](http://www.theonion.com/article/ugly-girl-killed-988). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-onion-have-an-article-like-this/791351/8 "2017-07-17T16:13:50Z")
I’ve also seen “Massive earthquake in Haiti: Thousands dead. Damages estimated at $43”. ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-onion-have-an-article-like-this/791351/9 "2017-07-17T16:41:04Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > It was pretty much a staple of British humour in the 19th/20th centuries for media bashing: ‘Hurricane destroys Caribbean Island: no Britons killed’… Yup. Here’s a Spitting Image sketch along those lines [Terrible Disaster](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HkZGokfhjk) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-onion-have-an-article-like-this/791351/10 "2017-07-17T17:03:09Z")
For good measure, here’s a reference to disaster fatigue: [Thousands dead in Indonesia again](http://www.theonion.com/article/thousands-dead-in-indonesia-again-4377) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-onion-have-an-article-like-this/791351/11 "2017-07-17T21:22:41Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > It was pretty much a staple of British humour in the 19th/20th centuries for media bashing See also “Fog in the Channel: Continent cut off”. But it’s universal and spreads down the newspaper food chain, with local papers keen to get the “Local resident almost affected by international disaster” story. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-onion-have-an-article-like-this/791351/12 "2017-07-17T22:34:14Z")
Don’t forget Monty Python’s “News for Wombats.” ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-onion-have-an-article-like-this/791351/13 "2017-07-17T22:54:12Z")
_The Far Side_ once did a [take on this as well.](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UkcxUB27wvw/Sy4pVVOaeII/AAAAAAAABWQ/bBVicKCaHRQ/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/harold-meeker.JPG)