# It has become increasingly difficult to determine if a headline is from mainstream media or the Onion

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-has-become-increasingly-difficult-to-determine-if-a-headline-is-from-mainstream-media-or-the-onion/1027382>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Tags:** trump\
**Created:** [February 5, 2026, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-has-become-increasingly-difficult-to-determine-if-a-headline-is-from-mainstream-media-or-the-onion/1027382 "2026-02-05T02:36:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-has-become-increasingly-difficult-to-determine-if-a-headline-is-from-mainstream-media-or-the-onion/1027382/1 "2026-02-05T02:36:12Z")

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Here’s the headline and a teaser quote:

**Trump admin attorney leaves Minnesota after telling judge her job ‘sucks’ amid crush of immigration cases**

> “They are overwhelmed and they need help, so I, I have to say, stupidly (volunteered),” she told US District Judge Jerry Blackwell,

MSM or the Onion? You decide.

([https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/04/politics/prosecutor-job-sucks-minnesota-hold-me-in-contempt?iid=cnn\_buildContentRecirc\_end\_recirc&recs\_exp=most-popular-article-end&tenant\_id=popular.en](https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/04/politics/prosecutor-job-sucks-minnesota-hold-me-in-contempt?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc&recs_exp=most-popular-article-end&tenant_id=popular.en))

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**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-has-become-increasingly-difficult-to-determine-if-a-headline-is-from-mainstream-media-or-the-onion/1027382/2 "2026-02-05T02:40:29Z")

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There’s a pretty popular subreddit dedicated to exactly that. It used to be funny, now it’s mostly just distressing.

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**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-has-become-increasingly-difficult-to-determine-if-a-headline-is-from-mainstream-media-or-the-onion/1027382/3 "2026-02-05T15:31:56Z")

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[I made a post on this subject back in 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-headlines-related-to-trump-and-his-enablers-that-sound-like-made-up-the-onion-style-joke-headlines/991652). It’s a perennial topic for sure, so I’m not saying ‘I already covered this’, just adding to the discussion–I applaud this new post.

I agree with @garygnu that this subject more distressing than funny, though I don’t know if it was ever really ‘_funny_’, per se, except in a ‘laugh to keep from crying’ sense.

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**Author:** ![Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hook)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-has-become-increasingly-difficult-to-determine-if-a-headline-is-from-mainstream-media-or-the-onion/1027382/4 "2026-02-06T15:17:53Z")

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I had to look more than once at this to be sure it was not an Onion article:

[Ski jumpers accused of enlarging penises to enhance performance](https://www.smh.com.au/sport/ski-jumpers-accused-of-enlarging-penises-to-enhance-performance-20260206-p5o01j.html)