WHERE’S IT FROM? WAPO OR THE ONION?
A quick and easy game ripped straight from the headlines
Let’s face it — this may be one of the most ridiculous presidential elections in history. The same goes for how it’s being covered. Since it is increasingly hard to tell the difference between reality and satire on the 2016 campaign trail, I devised this game for my intro to communications class in which half the headlines below are pulled from the Washington Post, and the other half are pulled from The Onion. I read the headers out loud, then polled the class on where they thought they came from.
PLEASE NOTE: This is not an indictment of anybody’s knowledge of presidential politics — despite the majority getting five of these wrong, my students know their stuff! Rather, it’s an exercise in parsing truth from fiction in absurd times. Also: we left out the answers so people can play along at home:
Donald Trump on waterboarding: ‘If it doesn’t work, they deserve it anyway.’
# WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: 4
#WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE ONION: 7
Huckabee Earns Nickel For Presidential Campaign By Painting Old Widow’s Picket Fence
# WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: 0
#WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE ONION: 11
Wealthiest Americans Ominously Remind Nation They Could Easily Drop Another $10 Billion On Election
# WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: 7
#WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE ONION: 4
GOP Warns Refugees Likely To Be Driven To Terrorism By Way America Would Treat Them
# WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: 7
#WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE ONION: 4
Donald Trump says companies can ‘very easily’ offer child care to employees
# WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: 8
#WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE ONION: 3
Trump: Hopefully Islamic State ‘won’t be a problem’ if I get elected
# WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: 3
#WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE ONION: 8
Rand Paul Escorted Off Stage After Falling Below 2.5% In Middle Of Debate
# WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: 0
#WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE ONION: 11
Ben Carson walks back claim he saw footage of U.S. Muslims celebrating 9/11
# WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: 6
#WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE ONION: 5
Carly Fiorina Shares Heartbreaking Story About Father Of 3 Who Couldn’t Meet Sales Goals
# WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: 1
#WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE ONION: 10
Bernie Sanders hangs with rapper Killer Mike as he courts black voters in Atlanta
# WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: 6
#WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE ONION: 5
No, Chris Christie wasn’t threatened on a plane, his campaign says
# WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: 6
#WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE ONION: 5
Ben Carson: ‘I hope that we have a database on everybody’
# WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: 5
#WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE ONION: 6
# WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: 0
#WHO THOUGHT IT WAS FROM THE ONION: 11