Satire News Scraper Knowhow - Raw Research
Task: T-mn6utz4q | Hunter Agent | 2026-03-26 Global Satire News Research for Short Drama Content
Phase 1: Primary Satire Sources (Elite Tier)
1.1 The Onion (USA) - ★★★★★
Website: https://www.theonion.com Founded: 1988 (University of Wisconsin-Madison) Tagline: "America's Finest News Source" Style: Absurdist realism, deadpan journalism parody
Content Categories:
- Politics (political satire, election coverage)
- Local (community-level satirical stories)
- Entertainment (pop culture parodies)
- Breaking News (time-sensitive satirical takes)
- Sports (athletic culture mockery)
- Science & Technology
RSS Feeds:
- Main:
https://www.theonion.com/rss.xml - Politics:
https://www.theonion.com/politics/rss(verified working) - Alternative:
https://www.theonion.com/feed.xml
Satirical Techniques:
- Deadpan Journalism - Fictional stories in objective news format
- Absurdist Headlines - Plausible-sounding but ridiculous premises
- Expert Quotes - Fake interviews with fabricated details
- Dateline Fabrication - Specific locations for fictional events
Drama Adaptation Potential: ★★★★☆
1.2 ClickHole (USA) - ★★★★★
Website: https://www.clickhole.com Founded: 2014 (by The Onion, now owned by Cards Against Humanity) Tagline: Parody of BuzzFeed/Upworthy Style: Viral clickbait satire, absurdist
Content Formats:
- Listicles ("20 Facts About...")
- Personality Quizzes ("Which X Are You?")
- Viral Stories (heartwarming parodies)
- ClickVentures (interactive stories)
- Videos
RSS Feeds:
- Main:
https://clickhole.com/rss.xml
Satirical Techniques:
- Bathos - Abrupt shift from serious to mundane
- Anti-Climax - Headlines promising more than delivered
- Running Gags - Harrison Ford injuries, J.K. Rowling canon
- Quiz Absurdity - Personality quizzes with nonsense outcomes
Drama Adaptation Potential: ★★★★★
1.3 The Babylon Bee (USA - Conservative/Christian) - ★★★★☆
Website: https://babylonbee.com Founded: 2016 Tagline: "Fake News You Can Trust" Style: Christian/conservative political satire
Content Categories:
- Politics (American politics, elections)
- Culture (social issues, trends)
- Entertainment (media, celebrities)
- Religion (Christian church satire)
- Sports
RSS Feeds:
- Main:
https://babylonbee.com/feed(WordPress) - Categories:
/category/politics/feed/,/category/culture/feed/
Satirical Techniques:
- Irony Reversal - Conservative perspective on liberal narratives
- Exaggerated Headlines - Amplifying political stereotypes
- Quote Attribution - Fake statements attributed to real figures
- Slippery Slope - Taking trends to absurd conclusions
Drama Adaptation Potential: ★★★☆☆
1.4 The Hard Times (Punk/Music Subculture) - ★★★★☆
Website: https://thehardtimes.net Founded: 2014 by Matt Saincome and Bill Conway Tagline: "A Very Real Punk News Site" Style: Punk/hardcore music scene satire
Content Categories:
- Music (punk, hardcore, indie)
- Culture (DIY scene, subculture trends)
- Lifestyle
RSS Feeds:
- Main:
https://thehardtimes.net/feed/
Satirical Techniques:
- Insider Knowledge - References only scene members understand
- Subculture Exaggeration - Amplifying punk scene tropes
- DIY Parody - Mocking independent music culture
- Band Drama - Fake conflicts between musicians
Drama Adaptation Potential: ★★★★☆
Phase 2: Niche & Regional Sources
2.1 Reductress (Feminist/Women's Magazine) - ★★★★☆
Website: https://reductress.com Founded: 2013 by Beth Newell and Sarah Pappalardo Tagline: "The First And Only Satirical Women's Magazine" Style: Women's magazine parody (Cosmo, Jezebel satire)
Content Formats:
- Listicles (mocking women's media tropes)
- Advice Columns
- Fake Ads ("Bologna for Her")
- Confessionals
- Dating/Fashion Satire
RSS Feeds:
- Main:
https://reductress.com/feed/
Satirical Techniques:
- Tone Parody - Mimics condescending women's media voice
- Fear-Based Marketing Satire
- Clickbait Juxtaposition - Serious topic + trivial treatment
- Feminine Clichés - Exaggerating "women's interest" stereotypes
Drama Adaptation Potential: ★★★★☆
2.2 McSweeney's Internet Tendency (Literary Humor) - ★★★★★
Website: https://www.mcsweeneys.net Founded: 1998 (by Dave Eggers) Style: Literary humor, absurdist lists, open letters
Content Formats:
- Open Letters
- Absurdist Lists
- Humor Columns
- Short Satirical Essays
RSS Feeds:
- Main:
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/rss.xml
Satirical Techniques:
- Literary Quality - Higher writing standard
- Absurdist Lists - Surreal, non-sequitur content
- Letter Format - "Open Letter to X" structures
- Over-Intellectualization - Academic analysis of trivial topics
Drama Adaptation Potential: ★★★★★
2.3 The Beaverton (Canada) - ★★★☆☆
Website: https://www.thebeaverton.com Founded: 2010 Tagline: "Canada's Foremost Satirical News Source"
RSS Feeds:
- Main:
https://www.thebeaverton.com/feed/
Notable: Stories often mistaken for real news (Chris Hadfield cellphone roaming fees incident)
2.4 Other Notable Sources
| Site | Region/Niche | URL | RSS |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Daily Mash | UK | thedailymash.co.uk | /feed/ |
| NewsThump | UK | newsthump.com | /feed/ |
| Private Eye | UK | private-eye.co.uk | N/A |
| The Betoota Advocate | Australia | betootaadvocate.com | /feed/ |
| Waterford Whispers | Ireland | waterfordwhispersnews.com | /feed/ |
| Duffel Blog | Military | duffelblog.com | /feed/ |
| Hard Drive | Gaming | hard-drive.net | /feed/ |
Phase 3: Satirical Techniques for Short Drama
3.1 Core Techniques
| Technique | Description | Example Source | Drama Application |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadpan | Serious delivery of absurd content | The Onion | Characters treat ridiculous situations as normal |
| Juxtaposition | Abrupt shift elevated→mundane | ClickHole | Scene cuts between dramatic and trivial |
| Exaggeration | Real trends to absurd extremes | Babylon Bee | Amplify traits to cartoonish levels |
| Irony Reversal | Opposite of expected reality | McSweeney's | Dramatic irony (audience knows more) |
| Format Parody | Mimic familiar formats | ClickHole | Mockumentary, fake news formats |
| Insider Knowledge | Community-specific humor | Hard Times | Subculture-specific with broader appeal |
3.2 Drama Adaptation Framework
Original Headline → Analysis → Adaptation
1. Extract Absurd Premise
2. Identify Satirical Target
3. Find Dramatic Twist
4. Map to Scene Structure:
- Setup (0-10s): Hook with headline premise
- Conflict (10-40s): Escalate absurdity
- Punchline (40-60s): Payoff/subversion
Phase 4: Data Extraction Methodology
4.1 Extraction Schema
{
"id": "unique identifier",
"source": "website name",
"source_url": "original URL",
"title": "headline",
"content": "full text",
"content_summary": "3-5 sentence summary",
"category": "politics/culture/entertainment/etc",
"satire_type": ["deadpan", "absurdist", "ironic", "exaggeration"],
"absurd_elements": ["element1", "element2"],
"dramatic_potential": {
"scene_setting": "where/when",
"character_archetypes": ["type1", "type2"],
"conflict_core": "central tension",
"dialogue_snippets": ["quote1", "quote2"],
"emotional_arc": "setup → escalation → punchline"
},
"published_date": "ISO 8601",
"author": "byline",
"extracted_date": "2026-03-26"
}
4.2 RSS Feed Sources (Complete List)
| Source | RSS URL | Update Freq | Drama Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Onion | https://www.theonion.com/rss.xml | Hourly | ★★★★☆ |
| Babylon Bee | https://babylonbee.com/feed | Hourly | ★★★☆☆ |
| ClickHole | https://clickhole.com/rss.xml | Daily | ★★★★★ |
| Hard Times | https://thehardtimes.net/feed/ | Daily | ★★★★☆ |
| Reductress | https://reductress.com/feed/ | Daily | ★★★★☆ |
| McSweeney's | https://www.mcsweeneys.net/rss.xml | Daily | ★★★★★ |
| Beaverton | https://www.thebeaverton.com/feed/ | Daily | ★★★☆☆ |
| Daily Mash | https://thedailymash.co.uk/feed/ | Daily | ★★★☆☆ |
4.3 Extraction Rules
Absurd Premise Extraction:
- Pattern:
[Subject] + [Absurd Action] + [Object] - Keywords: declares, announces, elects, files, reveals
- Subjects: Local Man, Area Woman, Study, Dog, Cat
Satire Angle Identification:
- Political → Policy/person parody
- Social → Cultural phenomenon critique
- Personal → Individual behavior mockery
- Media → Format/venue satire
Dramatic Twist Detection:
- Literal interpretation of metaphor
- Exaggerated consequence
- Unexpected subject-object pairing
- Anti-climax subversion
Phase 5: Technical Implementation
5.1 Recommended Architecture
RSS Feed Aggregator → Parser → Analyzer → Structured Output
Components:
1. Feed Reader (python-feedparser)
2. Content Fetcher (requests + beautifulsoup)
3. Absurdity Analyzer (NLP rules)
4. Drama Adapter (template mapping)
5. Data Store (JSON/MongoDB)
5.2 Rate Limiting & Ethics
- Check Interval: 30-60 minutes per feed
- Max Requests: 10/minute per domain
- Respect robots.txt
- Cache Last-Modified/ETag
- User-Agent: Identify as bot with contact info
5.3 Content Cleaning
- Remove HTML tags
- Normalize whitespace
- Extract main content (ignore ads/sidebars)
- Preserve paragraph structure
- Handle encoding issues (UTF-8)
Phase 6: Reference Sources
- Top 30 Satirical News Websites 2026 - Feedspot
- ClickHole - TV Tropes
- The Hard Times - About
- Reductress - About
- McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
- The Beaverton
- Satire, honey and tears - De Gruyter
Hunter Agent | L3-Hunt Protocol | Task T-mn6utz4q