NewsBiscuit
Encyclopedia
NewsBiscuit is a British
satirical
news website
. It was founded in September 2006 to create a new outlet for British humour on the internet by a group consisting mainly of comedy writers including John O'Farrell
.
The articles and features range from satirical takes on current affairs, to various silly and bizarre ideas.. On its LaughLines blog, the New York Times declared that NewsBiscuit was the British version of the Onion.
There are 14 main boards:
Writer of the Month
Introduced in October 2008, the Writer of the Month (WOM) award recognises the most successful and prolific writer each month, mainly based on the number of submissions that have been used as the ‘front page’ story but also taking into account News in Brief and also ticker subs used. WOM winners sometimes edit the News In Brief section of the site.
The first winner was nealdoran, and jp1885 (Jon Price) was the first to win the award twice. The full list of winners is:
recorded a "NewsBiscuit" pilot for transmission on BBC Radio 4
later in the year, and this may be followed by a series. It starred John O'Farrell
as the host of fictional radio station NewsBiscuit Dot.Com, and Anna Crilly
as its co-presenter. It was, according to O'Farrell, an opportunity for new writers and actors to show their talent.
Also in 2008 a book featuring many of the stories featured on the website was produced, called Isle of Wight to Get Ceefax: And Other Groundbreaking Stories from Newsbiscuit.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
news website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
. It was founded in September 2006 to create a new outlet for British humour on the internet by a group consisting mainly of comedy writers including John O'Farrell
John O'Farrell
John O'Farrell is a British author, broadcaster and comedy scriptwriter.-Early life:O’Farrell grew up in Maidenhead, Berkshire the youngest of three children, attending Courthouse Primary School and then Desborough Comprehensive...
.
Content
Each day the site publishes one main 'front page' article and two shorter 'News in Brief' articles with a headline ticker. All articles are available free-to-view in its archives. The site also develops new writing using a submissions board where readers can rate each other's material and suggest rewrites or edits. These user submissions are rated by other subscribers and the most popular are reworked for the article boards. Several teams of contributors, such as Team Biscuit, The Hit Squad as well as Smudge and Des, have developed since the site's launch writing co-operatively online to produce articles for the site. Rewriting and alternative punch lines are also encouraged on the site's submissions board.The articles and features range from satirical takes on current affairs, to various silly and bizarre ideas.. On its LaughLines blog, the New York Times declared that NewsBiscuit was the British version of the Onion.
There are 14 main boards:
- Arts/Entertainment
- Business
- Celebrity
- Education
- Environment
- Features
- Health
- Isle of Wight News
- Lifestyle
- Politics
- Science/Technology
- Sport
- UK News
- World News
Writer of the Month
Introduced in October 2008, the Writer of the Month (WOM) award recognises the most successful and prolific writer each month, mainly based on the number of submissions that have been used as the ‘front page’ story but also taking into account News in Brief and also ticker subs used. WOM winners sometimes edit the News In Brief section of the site.
The first winner was nealdoran, and jp1885 (Jon Price) was the first to win the award twice. The full list of winners is:
- Oct 08 – nealdoran (Neal Doran)
- Nov 08 – ianslat (Ian Slatter)
- Dec 08 – StoopyDeGunt
- Jan 09 – Genghis Cohen
- Feb 09 – Skylarking (Ben Cohen)
- Mar 09 – jp1885 (Jon Price)
- Apr 09 – roybland (Roy Bland)
- May 09 – jp1885
- Jun 09 – The Paper Ostrich (Paul Peros)
- Jul 09 – Mary Evans (Mary Evans)
- Aug 09 – Mary Evans
- Sep 09 – Oxbridge (Andrew Warmington)
- Oct 09 – nealdoran
- Nov 09 – Mary Evans
- Dec 09 – darkbill (Ellie Gale)
- Jan 10 – darkbill
- Feb 10 – Des Custard
- Mar 10 – Ludicity (Carl Maxim)
- Apr 10 – Genghis Cohen
- May 10 – Genghis Cohen
- Jun 10 – darkbill
- Jul 10 – Ludicity
- Aug 10 – Ludicity
- Sep 10 - lamaga
- Oct 10 - ianslat
- Nov 10 - Oxbridge
- Dec 10 - Golgo13 (Stephen Noonan)
- Jan 11 - Ludicity
Adaptations
In June 2008 the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
recorded a "NewsBiscuit" pilot for transmission on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
later in the year, and this may be followed by a series. It starred John O'Farrell
John O'Farrell
John O'Farrell is a British author, broadcaster and comedy scriptwriter.-Early life:O’Farrell grew up in Maidenhead, Berkshire the youngest of three children, attending Courthouse Primary School and then Desborough Comprehensive...
as the host of fictional radio station NewsBiscuit Dot.Com, and Anna Crilly
Anna Crilly
Anna Crilly is an English actress and comedian. Secondary school: Kent College, Pembury. Crilly attended Middlesex University where she studied performing arts...
as its co-presenter. It was, according to O'Farrell, an opportunity for new writers and actors to show their talent.
Also in 2008 a book featuring many of the stories featured on the website was produced, called Isle of Wight to Get Ceefax: And Other Groundbreaking Stories from Newsbiscuit.