Satire and comedy publication The Onion is bringing back a print edition for the first time in over a decade and will begin shipping it monthly to all site subscribers soon. A first year subscription sale of about $60 per year is on offer. That brings the publication full circle from when it first appeared as a campus weekly in the late 1980s.
The New York Times reports that the print edition is just one of several perks the company plans to offer its online subscribers, who pay $5 a month. Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, has said additional benefits will include invitations to live events, access to The Onion’s physical archives, and sponsorship opportunities for editorial projects, “such as a video titled ‘The Perfect One-Pot, Six-Pan, 10-Wok, 25-Baking-Sheet Dinner’.”
“While America’s Finest Membership comes with a variety of additive benefits, The Onion website will remain freely available to every callous reader who refuses to surrender their credit card information,” the website subscription page says.
Collins, an alumnus of NBC News disinformation reporter, said The Onion will distribute print editions next week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where the publication is based, and told investors he plans for the publication to turn a profit later this year as the subscription add-ons kick in.
Meanwhile, The Onion is also pulling back some from its reliance on some types of advertising. It halted digital ads last month from Taboola. In this month’s print edition, all but a handful of the ads— Brands include Ashley Madison, WeWork, and Chick-fil-A—are satirical, though a few are actual ads touting The Onion.
The Onion manages clever headlines, smart jokes, and incisive commentary on current events, culture, and politics. It was acquired by technology company Global Tetrahedron from digital publisher G/O Media in April 2024. It marked the third time the publication had changed ownership in the last decade after first being acquired by Spanish-language TV company Univision. Layoffs, tense contract negotiations, and the sale of sister site The A.V. Club all happened during that time.
