How Funny or Die Covers ISIS & Ebola
Funny or Die, Will Ferrell and Adam McKayâs comedy website, has garnered plenty of attention over the years for its commitment to political content. The site posted a âsex tapeâ starring Alyssa Milano that was actually all about the bloodshed in Syria.
They did a bunch of pro-Obamacare videos, including the famous âBetween Two Fernsâ sketch with President Obama. (The âinterviewâ segment included a link to Healthcare.gov, which made Funny or Die the biggest driver of referrals to the Affordable Care Act site the morning the video dropped.) They even worked to get an amateur comedianâwho was jailed for supposedly endangering the United Arab Emiratesâ national security with a YouTube videoâ out of a maximum-security prison in Abu Dhabi:
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And this week, Funny or Die entered the news businessâsort of. âItâs time for an even less respectable news outlet. Welcome to Funny Or Die News!â they tweeted on Wednesday. The new content vertical will feature posts covering (and adding humorous commentary to) the dayâs top stories, ranging from politics and pop culture to sports and technology. The four-person, New York City-based news team is overseen by editor-in-chief Dan Abramson, who used to run the comedy section of The Huffington Post.
âBasically, it kind of felt like a natural extension of what we were doing already,â Abramson told The Daily Beast. âWe wanted to create a dedicated hub where people can dive into it and get all this commentary on the news.â
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The team has published items such as this satirical interactive map of state ballot initiatives, and a piece on Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States who died on Wednesday. Funny or Die News also features Vox-style âexplainers,â including âThe Middle EastâWhy Shit So Fucked Up?â and âWars You've Never Heard Of.â
Funny or Die News promises to post on subjects like the Obama presidency, Ferguson, and ISIS horrors, and has pledged to avoid âclick-baity, salacious topics that would come across as SEO-centric,â like celebrity nude pics and âAmtrak ticket prices group rate.â And though the team is taking on news from a decidedly comic perspective, they are well aware that they might have to take a cautious approach when tackling ISIS or Ebola.
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âItâs gonna be hard,â Abramson said. âThere are a lot of sensitive topics in the newsâŠand we will have to figure out what the right comedic angle is, and be smart about the jokes.â
As for whatâs next, Abramson says he might add more news writers to his staff, and plans to work closely with the video crew that also works on Funny or Dieâs other political content. Also, heâs considering sending his writers out into the field and on the road to do some original reporting.
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âI love the idea of sending a Funny or Die reporter out to cover an event,â he said. âTo have a [politician] take a question, and have them say, âIâm with Funny or Die NewsââŠThat would be a lot of fun, to send them on the campaign trail, get âem press passes.â
Abramson is also open, âin theory,â to the idea of interviewing high-profile figures for the new vertical. When I asked if he meant politicians like, say, Vladimir Putin, he simply responded: âYeah, sure. Anytime. If heâs available.â
Related from The Daily Beast
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