Images from Twitter
Originally published by Situation Theatre 8/12/2015
Republished 10/4/2019
It's the morning after conservatives launched a confusing "satirical superhero" which is reminiscent of a Brazilian anti-cancer mascot shaped like a testicle.
This idea from the archive would actually just be a community service.
Tony Abbott and Donald Trump, you did this.
The increasing difficulty of differentiating political news and satire has been reported for some time.
Past Situation Theatre pieces have reported Abbott’s Chief Of Staff Outed As Writer For The Onion and Satire Redefined As ‘Facts About Australian Politics’. Comedy writer Evan Williams has produced a whole book on the subject, called “Australian Leader Eats Raw Onion Whole: Headlines From The Government That Broke Satire”.
Backed into a corner by a confused readership, media across the board has decided to preface all political news with the phrase “not satire”.
You can see just how helpful the new phrase will be when applied to some recent news headlines:
Not Satire: Tony Abbott Buys A Fridge From Gumtree
Not Satire: Tony Abbott: I Would Have Won The Next Election
Not Satire: Tony Abbott Says Voters 'Overwhelmingly Want Him To Remain In Public Life
Not Satire: Former Treasurer Joe Hockey Set To Be Named US Ambassador
Not Satire: Former PM Tony Abbott Comes Out Of Hiding For A Surf And Coffee With Friends In Manly
Not Satire: Donald Trump Calls To Ban All Muslims From Entering US
Not Satire: Trump Won't Rule Out Special ID For Muslim Americans Noting Their Religion
Not Satire: Donald Trump Wants To Know If There Are Any Muslim Athletes
Not Satire: Donald Trump Asks Audience Member To Pull His Hair To Bash NY Times