ScrappleFace is a U.S. website run by Scott Ott that satirizes the news from a
conservativeConservatism is the diverse political and social philosophy that supports tradition and the status quo, or that calls for a return to the values and society of an earlier age, the status quo ante. However, the term has been used by politicians and political commentators with a variety of meanings...
perspective.
The name ScrappleFace was coined by Ott's grandmother, Jessica McMaster (June 16, 1915 - January 31, 2006), who cared for Ott and his brothers from the age of five. Ott chose the name knowing that the URL would be available because no one else would know the word.
Ott, a former journalist, started Scrappleface in July 2002.
ScrappleFace is a U.S. website run by Scott Ott that satirizes the news from a
conservativeConservatism is the diverse political and social philosophy that supports tradition and the status quo, or that calls for a return to the values and society of an earlier age, the status quo ante. However, the term has been used by politicians and political commentators with a variety of meanings...
perspective.
The name ScrappleFace was coined by Ott's grandmother, Jessica McMaster (June 16, 1915 - January 31, 2006), who cared for Ott and his brothers from the age of five. Ott chose the name knowing that the URL would be available because no one else would know the word.
Ott, a former journalist, started Scrappleface in July 2002. Ott oversees "the vast editorial staff" at ScrappleFace, an unnamed group of non-existent journalists who "cover the globe like a patina of dental plaque" according to earlier items on the site. In reality, all the ScrappleFace stories (more than 2,500 as of 15 March 2007) on politics, the war on terror, business, science, theology and even sports were written by Ott. The website reported over 10,000,000 visitors as of May 2007.
ScrappleFace is probably best known for originating the phrase "
Axis of weaselsThe phrase axis of weasels is a derogatory term for certain European states that did not support the United States, the United Kingdom and their allies in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, specifically France, Germany, Russia, Canada and Belgium...
", in an item Ott wrote in January 2003 titled
"Rumsfeld Sorry for Axis of Weasels Remark".
Glenn ReynoldsGlenn Harlan Reynolds is Beauchamp Brogan Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee, and is best known for his weblog, Instapundit, one of the most widely read American political weblogs....
linked to it at his widely-read blog,
InstapunditInstapundit is a United States political blog produced by Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee. It is one of the most widely read blogs with political content...
, noting that it was being circulated at the White House and Pentagon. Two days later, the
New York PostThe New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
carried the front-page headline "
AXIS OF WEASEL - GERMANY AND FRANCE WIMP OUT ON IRAQ".
Ott later published a collection of ScrappleFace stories under the title "Axis of Weasels" (ISBN 097614140X; now out of print).
Ott's work has been quoted in
The Washington PostThe Washington Post is the newspaper with the largest circulation in Washington, D.C. and is the city's oldest paper, founded in 1877. Being located in the nation's capital, it has a particular emphasis on national politics and international affairs...
,
Sports IllustratedSports Illustrated is an American sports magazine owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. It has over 3 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men, 19% of the adult males in the United States. It was the first magazine with circulation over one...
,
The Kansas City StarThe Kansas City Star is a McClatchy newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes...
,
The Weekly StandardThe Weekly Standard is a American neoconservative opinion magazine published 48 times per year. It was founded by News Corporation and made its debut on September 18, 1995. Its current editors are founder William Kristol and Fred Barnes. The Weekly Standard produces The Daily Standard with...
,
WiredWired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since March 1993, that reports on how technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
,
OpinionJournal.comOpinionJournal.com was a website featuring content from the The Wall Street Journal editorial pages. It existed separately from the news content at wsj.com until January 2008, when it was merged into the main website....
and the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
website. ScrappleFace stories have also been quoted on radio by
Rush LimbaughRush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio host and conservative political commentator. Limbaugh rose to prominence during the 1990s as host of a nationally-syndicated talk-radio show, The Rush Limbaugh Show...
,
Glenn BeckGlenn Lee Beck is an American talk radio and television host, conservative political commentator, author, and entrepreneur. He hosts the nationally syndicated Glenn Beck Program on Premiere Radio Networks, while also hosting the Glenn Beck Show every weekday on the Fox News Channel...
,
Roger HedgecockRoger Allan Hedgecock is a conservative talk radio host and former mayor of San Diego, California. Hedgecock still resides in San Diego. He is married to Cindy Hedgecock, and they have two sons, James and Christopher.-Early life:When Hedgecock was ten years of age, his family moved to the Loma...
,
Michael MedvedMichael Medved is a American radio program host and is a conservative political commentator, film critic, and author. His Seattle-based nationally-syndicated talk show, The Michael Medved Show, airs throughout the United States on Salem Radio Network.According to Talkers' Magazine, The Michael...
, Bill Bennett, and dozens of regional radio hosts as well as on
CNNCable News Network, almost always referred to by its initialism CNN, is an U.S. cable news network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first network to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television network in the United States...
and
MSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States and available in both the US and Canada. Its name is a combination of "MSN" and "NBC"....
. At least two ScrappleFace stories have been passed around via email enough to become an urban myth and be debunked by Snopes.com.
ScrappleFace is popular amongst conservative political bloggers, who frequently link to its items.
Serious Writing
In December 2007, Ott began writing serious essays on a new blog at
Townhall.comTownhall.com is a web-based publication primarily dedicated to conservative United States politics. It was previously operated by the Heritage Foundation, but is now owned and operated by Salem Communications...
. His blog quickly rose to the top 10 among Townhall blogs.
SNN: ScrappleFace Network News
Scott Ott began producing a video faux newscast on January 14, 2009 with the launch of SNN (ScrappleFace Network News). The first story was about the tax filing troubles of President Barack Obama's Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner.
Watch First SNN segment
External links