The Poke 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 ...

website. It was launched in 2002 as a fanzine distributed at the Edinburgh Festival and independent music stores. The website is known for producing viral videos, which are often Auto-Tune edits of British current affairs.

History

''The Poke'' began as a fanzine with a circulation of 50,000 that was sold in music shops across the United Kingdom and at the annual Edinburgh Festival. Later becoming an Internet-only publication, the website gained some popularity when it was featured as an "Internet Pick Of The Week" on '' The Guardian''s website, in which it was compared to "a British version of The Onion crossed with

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...

". The site was named 'Website of the day' by ''pocket-lint.com'' on 19 January 2012. The red-top look of the site means there have been cases of the site's fictional,

news stories being misinterpreted as real news items. In January 2012, a number of French news organisations including ''

Le Parisien ''Le Parisien'' (; French for "The Parisian") is a French daily newspaper covering both international and national news, and local news of Paris and its suburbs. It is owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, better known as LVMH. Histor ...

'' and ''

L’Express ''L'Express'' () is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''Réussir''. History ...

'' reported on an August 2011 article by ''The Poke'' about a BBC Sign language interpreter being fired from her job for 'fabricating news' as a genuine story. French radio broadcasters RTL and France Info also reported the story as real, and television broadcaster Canal + featuring the fictitious 'scandal' on an evening news programme. In December 2022, ''The Poke'' was acquired by Digitalbox plc for an undisclosed sum.

The Leveson Enquiry Musical

''The Poke'' created an Auto-Tuned version of the

Leveson Inquiry The Leveson Inquiry was a judicial public inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson, who was appointed in July 2011. A series of ...

featuring the sampled testimonies of Rupert Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks and

Andy Coulson Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968) is an English journalist and political strategist. Coulson was the editor of the ''News of the World'' from 2003 until his resignation in 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's repo ...

. The video was featured in The Guardian's Viral Video Chart.

Nick Clegg Apology Song

An Auto-Tuned remix uploaded in September 2012 to YouTube of Nick Clegg's

apology Apology, The Apology, apologize/apologise, apologist, apologetics, or apologetic may refer to: Common uses * Apology (act), an expression of remorse or regret * Apologia, a formal defense of an opinion, position, or action Arts, entertainment, ...

over going back on his promise to oppose a rise in tuition fees saw the website rise to national publicity, with the video becoming an Internet phenomenon. Following a request by the website, Clegg allowed the song to be released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

, provided that all proceeds were donated to the

Sheffield Children's Hospital The Sheffield Children's Hospital is a healthcare facility for children in Broomhill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is managed by the Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital first opened on 15 November 1876 ...

. The track was released on Friday 21 September, and entered the weekly UK Singles Chart at number 136 two days later.

Brown Windsor soup

A satirical can of

Brown Windsor soup Windsor soup or Brown Windsor soup is a British soup. While commonly associated with the Victorian and Edwardian eras, the practice of calling it 'Brown Windsor' did not emerge until at least the 1920s, and the name was usually associated with l ...

features a likeness of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

and is part of the " Jubilee Collection," available for about £40 and made "directly from the sewage outflow of Windsor Castle."

Kern's Corner

In 2017 ''The Poke'' featured comedian Lee Kern as a guest columnist. His column Kern's Corner explored both silly and satirical issues such as his crippling addiction t
Chinese takeaway foodInternet clickbaitthe comment sections on porn websitesidentity politicsIslam and Chips (French Fries)
an
who is to blame for the state of the world

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poke, The British satirical websites Internet properties established in 2002 2002 establishments in the United Kingdom