When Univision announced its acquisition of the satirical fake-news purveyor The Onion as part of its digital shopping spree back in January, we expressed these concerns, which were confirmed by one particularly awful piece that ran last week:
The untold truth behind this acquisition (as well as that of The Root) and Univision's aggressive expansion into English-language media (via The Flama and the El Rey network) is that of a mad scramble to maintain demographic relevance in the midst of uncertainty with its core product offerings. It was none other than Jorge Ramos himself that admitted that Spanish-language media (and by extension its largest provider, Univision) needs a steady flow 1-2 million immigrants a year into the United States, legal or otherwise, and for a majority of them to be Spanish speakers.
Given Univision News' descent into left-wing self parody under Lee's tenure, an Onion takeover would actually be a massive improvement. At a minimum one hopes that Lee does not extend his reverse Midas touch to America's leading purveyor of fake news and analysis, as we already have a glut of whiny, self-rightous lefty outlets to contend with. Given Lee's track record, though, we sadly expect the opposite.
And, lo, here is a choice portion marking the time of the death of The Onion- an awful descent into media self-parody titled: ‘I’m A Trump-Era Conservative,’ Says Horrifying Man 25 Years From Now
“When I think of what it truly means to be a conservative, I immediately think of Donald Trump and the vision he had for this country,” said the deeply frightening individual, adding that the policies and worldview advocated by Trump continue to form the bedrock of his own political convictions more than two decades later. “Nobody since Trump has captured the imagination of an entire generation of voters the way he did back then—not just Republicans, but independents and even a few Democrats, who just got sick of government as usual and wanted America to be strong again.”
“Trump was the leader this nation needed,” added the atrocious man. “We desperately need another one just like him.”
Taggart, the terrifying ignoramus who in the year 2041 will repeatedly lament a GOP that had lost sight of its ideals, went on to say that he regards the era in which Trump was the face of the Republican Party as the pinnacle not only of modern conservatism but also the United States as a whole.
Such derivative tripe is usually only unfunny and unoriginal. However, one must note that The Onion -a Univision property- is now parroting its horribly biased news division. Set aside any legitimate concerns and skepticisms you may have regarding Donald Trump - this piece could have just as easily run with anyone else atop the GOP ticket.
This awful stab at comedy is nothing less than Univision Digital's attempts to follow the vision of boss Isaac Lee, who infamously characterized opponents of the network's agenda as "Nazis". Speaking of Lee, we can now expect more of this sort of hyper-politicization throughout Univision's corporate footprint. Per Deadline:
Colombia-born journalist Isaac Lee just landed his second major promotion in eight months as Univision Communications named him its Chief News, Entertainment & Digital Officer, reporting to CEO Randy Falco.
This is a lift from the title he picked up in November as President of News and Digital as well as CEO of Fusion, where he also reported to Falco. The company, which owns Spanish-language network Univision, is looking for a new president of Entertainment who will report to Lee.
In his new gig, Lee will oversee the company’s content on all platforms and continue to monitor Fusion, El Rey, the Root, the Onion, A.V. Club, Clickhole, Flama, Univision Digital and Univision Music.
I don't recall another instance in which a hard-news person gained such total power across the entire footprint of a national network. However, if this turgid Onion piece is any indication, then at least we know what to expect going forward.
UPDATE: Exhibit B.
