On Aug 29, 1988, the University of Wisconsin-Madison juniors Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson published the first-ever issue of The Onion. The two founders claimed it was the US’ “finest news source”.

　　1988年8月29日，来自麦迪逊市威斯康辛大学的两名大三学生——蒂姆凯克和克里斯托弗杰克逊出版了第一期《洋葱》报纸。这两名创始人宣称这是全美“最好的新闻来源”。

　　Twenty-five years later, the news outlet has become one of the most established media presences in the US. But don’t expect accuracy and timeliness from it, because The Onion, which is now a website, only publishes fake news, or news satire. Its aim is to make readers laugh, and perhaps make them see things from a different angle.

　　25年后，《洋葱》已成为美国现存的最老牌媒体之一。但不要指望《洋葱》新闻的精确度与时效性，因为如今的“洋葱新闻网”只发布假新闻或恶搞新闻。它旨在带给读者欢乐，或许还能为他们提供一个看待事物的新视角。

　　The Onion’s articles comment on current events, both real and fictional. Using a traditional newspaper layout, it parodies and makes fun of traditional newspapers with stories, editorials, op-ed pieces, and street-talk interviews.

　　《洋葱》的文章针砭时事，亦真亦假。它采取传统报纸的版面样式，用新闻报道、社论、专栏和街头访谈来恶搞和嘲弄传统纸媒。

　　Its humor often depends on presenting mundane, everyday events as newsworthy. Stories with headlines such as “Area man knows all the shortcut keys”, or “Area man too poor to afford movers, too old to get help from his friends” are good examples.

　　它的幽默取决于从稀松平常事中挖掘新闻价值，一些打出标题为《一位熟知所有快捷键功能的邻居》或《邻居因太穷而雇不起搬家工人，又因太老而得不到朋友的帮助》的新闻报道便是最佳例子。

　　“You know somebody like that,” Will Tracy, The Onion’s editor-in-chi, told the NPR in an interview. Their stories are presented “in that sort of news voice which elevates it to a certain level of importance that it doesn’t actually merit.”

　　《洋葱》的主编威尔特雷西在接受美国国家公共电台采访时说：“这样的人就在你身边”。他们用一种新闻的论调来呈现自己的报道，将其抬高到一种“与事实不符”的重要程度。

　　But The Onion is most famous for its political reporting. An article in New Republic magazine says The Onion is the US’ “best op-ed page”, because it has “an ability to elegantly locate and dismantle a problem with an economy of words”.

　　而《洋葱》最为著名的要数其政治报道。《新共和》杂志的一篇文章说，《洋葱》是全美“最好的专栏版”，因为它“能够巧妙地用寥寥数笔揭示问题所在”。

　　For example, when George W. Bush became the US president in 2001, The Onion published a satire piece predicting massive debt and a huge boost in military spending. The article fabricated a speech Bush made to the public; its headline said it all: “Bush: ‘Our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over’.”

　　例如，2001年乔治布什当选美国总统时，《洋葱》发表了一篇讽刺性文章，预言政府将负债累累，且军费开支将大幅度增加。文章编造了一篇布什的公众演讲稿，标题则说明了一切：《布什：“我们国家长期和平繁荣的噩梦终于结束了”》。

　　While traditional media outlets are cautious when reporting on sensitive topics such as religion and race, Tracy says nothing is off limits for The Onion, “no matter how uncomfortable they may make some readers.”

　　在报道宗教、种族等敏感话题时，传统媒体往往会十分谨慎，而特雷西表示，对于《洋葱》而言，没有什么禁忌可言，“不管多么糟糕，总会有人看的。”

　　But editors at The Onion do tread a fine line, as Tracy explains: “What you have to be really carul about is what the target of the joke is. If the target of the joke is wrong, if you’re targeting the victim or someone who doesn’t deserve our ire, then it doesn’t feel right and it also doesn’t feel funny.”

　　但《洋葱》的编辑们却是如履薄冰，正如特雷西解释道的：“你要特别注意你的恶搞对象是谁。如果弄错恶搞对象，如果你瞄准的是受害者或者一些不应迁怒于对方的人，那就不合适也并不好笑了。”

　　The Onion caused public outrage when earlier this year, it tried to make fun of a 9-year-old Oscar-nominated actress by using highly offensive language. It later apologized.

　　今年早些时候，《洋葱》因出言不逊，取笑一位获奥斯卡提名的9岁童星而招致众怒。之后《洋葱》对此事公开致歉。

　　For those unfamiliar with the concept of fake news stories, their satire and humor can easily be missed. The Onion published a fake poll last year announcing that rural white Americans had a more favorable opinion of Iran’s then-president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, than of Barack Obama.

　　对于那些不熟悉虚假新闻报道概念的人而言，经常错把《洋葱》的讽刺和幽默当真。去年，《洋葱》发表了一项虚假的民意调查报道，称相对于奥巴马，美国白人农民更喜欢时任伊朗总统的默罕默德。

　　An Iranian state news agency covered this as real news. The news agency immediately became an international laughing stock.

　　一家伊朗国家新闻机构把该消息当做真实新闻来报道，顿时成为国际笑柄。

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