The Daily Squib is a British

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

online publication created by satire writer Aur Esenbel, that was officially launched on

April Fool's Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

, 2007. Its coverage extends across world politics, science, technology, business, sports and health.

Spoofs, humorous takes and social commentary

On 7 February 2008, ''The Daily Squib'' published a

spoof Spoof, spoofs, spoofer, or spoofing may refer to: * Forgery of goods or documents * Semen, in Australian slang * Spoof (game), a guessing game * Spoofing (finance), a disruptive algorithmic-trading tactic designed to manipulate markets __NOTOC__ ...

article in which it was claimed that the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

had chosen to endorse

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

in the 2008 US Presidential elections in order to avoid the election of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

. The spoof was misinterpreted by some readers as a factual article, and quickly became a widely circulated internet rumour that was discussed in articles by

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

and

The Times (London) ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

. An article in the

Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single y ...

subsequently reported that the Ku Klux Klan had been repeatedly contacted with requests to verify their stance regarding The Daily Squib's story. And in April 2008, American rapper

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

re-circulated the rumour generated by the Daily Squib story in an interview with

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

. On 3 February 2009, ''The Daily Squib'' published a humorous article satirizing the UK's helpless response to prolonged snowfall in February 2009. The spoof article claimed that Hitler had planned to use 'snow zeppelins' as weapons of attack in order 'to disrupt Britain's ability to function'. On 4 August 2010, ''The Daily Squib'' published a spoof article detailing the exploits of a masturbating

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

official and a full body X-ray scanner. The satirical story drew considerable attention, such that the TSA ultimately issued a public statement denying that the incident had occurred on their blog. A ''Daily Squib'' story satirizing an interview with former United States Secretary of State,

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

first published on 27 November 2011 was cited as a factual story by flagship Egyptian newspaper ''

Al-Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' ( ar, الأهرام; ''The Pyramids''), founded on 5 August 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after '' al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majori ...

'', on 16 September 2012. The Daily Squib Kissinger satire, was also mentioned by former

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

era Chancellor of the Exchequer,

Norman Lamont Norman Stewart Hughson Lamont, Baron Lamont of Lerwick, (born 8 May 1942) is a British politician and former Conservative MP for Kingston-upon-Thames. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1990 until 1993. He was created a life peer in ...

on 6 March 2012 in the New Statesman. On 19 October 2012 a ''Daily Squib'' article which featured a fake EU poster that contained the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

hammer and sickle symbol was mistaken for a real EU poster by the Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan. ''The Daily Squib'' editor, Aur Esenbel, was interviewed for award winning magazine, ''

The Big Issue ''The Big Issue'' is a street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. ''The Big Issue'' is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer homeless people, or indivi ...

'', published on 23 November 2018. The article discussed the variance in

fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...

and

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

. Esenbel elucidated readers about the Daily Squib's literary style: “The tone is

Juvenalian satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or ...

, that is to say, it is harder hitting than the jolly harmless Horatian kind, which is prevalent in so many other sites.” On 3 February 2023

news agency fact-checked a quote attributed to veteran U.S. diplomat

on controlling the food supply to control people is true. “Control oil and you control nations. Control foods and you control the people,” is a quote spread across the internet as millions of viral memes. Jessee LePorin, Press Officer for Kissinger told ''Reuters'' that he “has never said that quotation or anything like it on any social media or anywhere else.” The earliest iteration ''Reuters'' could identify dates to 2011, when the quotation appeared as part of a satirical interview by ''The Daily Squib'' a site that describes itself as “the rock star of all news and satire” on its About page.

Censorship

On 11 July 2017, after ten years online, ''The Daily Squib'' satirical article "Ku Klux Klan Endorses Obama" was pulled off the site after

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

demanded the article be removed or ''The Daily Squib'' would lose its advertising. The editor of ''The Daily Squib'', Aur Esenbel replied citing the "loss of freedom of speech", "censorship of satire", and how Google had "completely misunderstood the premise of the satirical article".

Global creative awards jury

''The Daily Squib'', was chosen alongside well-known industry journals such as ''

Adweek ''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...

'', ''

Campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

'' magazine, ''

Creative Review ''Creative Review'' is a bimonthly print magazine and website. The magazine focuses on commercial creativity, covering design, advertising, photography, branding, digital products, film, and gaming. The magazine is published bimonthly in print and ...

'' to be one of the jurors with jury president Spencer Baim, Chief Strategic officer at

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); V ...

for the globally acclaimed 2017

Epica Awards The Epica Awards are an annual series of communication awards, created in 1987 and based in Paris, France. Having originally focused on the Europe, Middle East and Africa region exclusively, the awards became global in 2012. 585 agencies in tota ...

showcasing creativity in advertising, film and design.

PHNX Tribute creative jury

The ''Daily Squib'', Editor, Aur Esenbel, was chosen as a jury member for the 2020, PHNX Tribute., a celebration of individual creatives and teams within the creative industry.

Announcement of ''The Daily Squib Anthology: From 2007 to 2022'' book

On 21 August 2022 ''The Daily Squib'', Editor, Aur Esenbel, announced in an article on the website of the publication of the new book. According to the publisher Curtis Press, ''The Daily Squib Anthology From 2007 to 2022'' will be published on Paperback, A4, greyscale, 138 pages on 1 October 2022. Quotes from the book's description acknowledge the history of ''The Daily Squib'' throughout its 15-year tenure on the internet: "As the follies and absurdities of the powerful are destroying the world through war, pandemic, and climate change, what better time to release ''The Daily Squib: Anthology from 2007 to 2022''? Over the last 15 years, the ''Squib'' has held a crazy distorted fairground mirror to global events. Sometimes its spoofs have even been mistaken for real news—what higher accolade is there for a satirist? Its mock report on the Ku Klux Klan declaring its support for Barack Obama in the 2008 US elections and its fake interview with Henry Kissinger (2011) fooled “serious” outlets across the world. More than that, the ''Squib'' has somehow become an unholy satirical oracle by predicting an EU army 5 years before anyone else was talking about it and, in 2018, the COVID-19 pandemic, even pinpointing “somewhere in Asia” as the source. Though like lots of other good things this has been overlooked by the mainstream media, the ''Squib'' has played an innovative role in shaping internet-based comedy since 2007 and has fought hard for free speech in a climate of increasing puritanism on both the political left and right."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daily Squib, The Internet properties established in 2007 British satirical websites 2007 establishments in the United Kingdom