In journalism, satire most commonly pokes fun at the news or uses parody portrayed as conventional news. While satirical news is defined by its comedic nature, using deadpan humor to create what is called “fake news,” its underlying objective is to make statements about real people, events, and trends, often with the intent of influencing change. In this way, it is usually fundamentally biased. This objective also highlights a key difference between the satire of news and parody of news: While parody uses humor for humor's sake, news satire employs humor to attain the greater result of social criticism and/or promote change. Politics and current events are common themes in news satire, although the genre is not limited to them.

Satire matters for more than one reason, but its main goal is to raise people's awareness about the current state of affairs and to challenge their viewpoints by using humor and irony. It helps in confront the unpleasant reality and see the world as it is, so that we can improve it. Fake news is information, presented as a news story that is factually incorrect and designed to deceive the consumer into believing it is true. Both fake news and satirical news are untrue, but the key difference lies in the intention. Fake news is created with the deliberate intention to mislead and are by nature maliciously deceptive. While satire relies on factually incorrect stories, it intends to ridicule and expose behavior that is shameful.

This joke isn’t funny anymore

When it comes to satirical news sites and other satirical formats in mainstream journalism, there are a couple of serious problems we must not overlook:

• ⚫We live in bizarre times
• ⚫Many people lack critical thinking skills and have poor media literacy
• ⚫Obviously, humanity is very polarized and some people’s ‘moral rights’ might be others’ ‘moral wrongs’
• ⚫Not everyone will get the joke and its underlying meaning: satire is often too sophisticated to be interpreted the right way.
• Poor media literacy is another issue. We are losing the ability to tell truth from fiction, we are prone to confirmation bias, and sometimes we’re just too lazy to check the facts. We recklessly share the news online and participate in spreading misinformation, relying on our completely subjective “seems legit” assessment of the source.

The best-known example is The Onion, which was started in 1996.These sites are not to be confused with fake news websites, which deliberately publish hoaxes in an attempt to profit from gullible readers. News satire is a type of parody presented in a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content. News satire is not to be confused with fake news that has the intent to mislead. News satire is popular on the web, where it is relatively easy to mimic a credible news source and stories may achieve wide distribution from nearly any site.

Indian satirical news websites such as Faking News and Teekhi Mirchi are rapidly gaining popularity. Despite carrying a disclaimer stating that their articles are a work of fiction readers still get fooled and post them online. Teekhi Mirchi ran a story about penile whitening cream that people fell for because it appealed to the insecurities of modern Indian men .The fake article claimed that the 'path-breaking discovery' would help men attract women and get jobs. The editor was flooded with queries from men describing the size and colour of their problem. Last year, after India launched its surgical strikes against terrorists in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, Sandeep Kadian wrote an article saying the attacks had hurt Pakistan's tourism industry. The story quoted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif criticising India for scaring away terrorists who come to enjoy Pakistan's hospitality from all over the world. 

Websites such as Faking News and Teekhi Mirchi carry a disclaimer stating that their articles are a work of fiction and advises readers not to confuse news published in the site as real but readers still get fooled.

Amersh Kumar Singh, founder of Teekhi Mirchi, a satire website started in 2014, was bombarded with queries from distressed readers, after he posted an article on a new penile whitening cream for men. The fake article claimed that the 'path-breaking discovery' would help men attract women and get jobs. 

HOW TO SPOT FAKE NEWS ?