When Newsweek Ripped off The Onion: An Insider’s Account of Newsweek’s Decline

Legal Insurrection 

"Choosing outrageousness over fact has consequences"

"We’ve cataloged the bizarre implosion of the once great Newsweek.

"Just a few years ago, Newsweek ceased printing but was resurrected when a religious cult leader purchased the publication. Since then, Newsweek has suffered embarrassment after embarrassment, publishing a steady stream of fake news, conspiracies, and inaccurate information.

"An office visit from the Manhattan DAs office, as well as allegations of ad fraud, were the icing on the cake. Or should have been.

"Earlier this week, Newsweek suddenly fired a handful of high-ranking executives as well as a reporter, leaving the remaining staff shaken.

"The firings were the last straw for Matthew Cooper who resigned and shared his thoughts on the struggling publication at Politico Thursday:

It was 3 a.m. on Saturday, and I was seething. Staring at my phone, I saw that my company, Newsweek Media Group, had put out yet another story that would require a correction if not a retraction. This time it was a story ripped from The Onion. We were treating the fake news as if it were real. OFFS, I tapped under a friend’s Facebook post after seeing it, short for Oh, For Fuck’s Sake. The headline in our sister publication, the International Business Times: “Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Set Up Wedding Registry at London’s Target.” Despite the late hour, I dropped a note to an editor who took the story down off the website. You can see the link on Google, but if you click, you’ll get “Error 404. PAGE NOT FOUND.” There’s no correction, which is what a normal news company might post.

It would be funny if there hadn’t been so many insane errors in recent months.