Salem-born Collins became The Onion’s CEO in 2024 and has since revived its subscription-based print paper, which is shipped to more than 50 countries and across all states. Under Collins, The Onion also attempted to buy the disinformation website Infowars from conspiracy-theorist Alex Jones. (A judge halted the purchase attempt last December for concerns over the bidding process, but an August ruling paved the way for The Onion to renew its bid.)
Salem-born Ben Collins became The Onion’s CEO in 2024.Ben Pennington/for The Boston Globe
Here are three takeaways from the conversation.
Satire is uniquely positioned for impact in these times
The Onion is widely known for its highly satirical articles. It weaves hints of truth into jokes that sometimes fool readers into thinking a headline came from a reputable outlet. Some articles poke fun at simple cultural norms, such as “Mr. Autumn Man Walking Down Street With Cup Of Coffee, Wearing Sweater Over Plaid Collared Shirt.”
But the outlet also calls out troubling realities in American society, such as mass shootings and political corruption. It recently published the article “Trump Denies Writing 36-Volume Comic Titled ‘Don And Jeff: Time Pedophiles‘”
“Criticizing the president is a very dangerous activity in this country right now, and that’s why a lot of people have kind of cowed and went backwards on this stuff,” said Collins. “But [The Onion] can say … what’s rattling at the back of your head about what’s going on without having to cite every source.”
Collins said The Onion has more than 50,000 subscribers. Its goal for next year, he said, is to have more print subscribers than The Washington Post.
The Onion has a strict no-AI policy. Collins questioned the utility of artificial intelligence, especially when it comes to comedy.
“AI is just not funny,” he said. “It is the synthesis of everything everyone’s ever written, and comedy is kind of the opposite of that.”
Collins is also adamant that many people, including The Onion’s readers, object to AI use. He referred to an instance when the outlet published an AI-generated image. It immediately faced backlash and issued a formal apology.
“Even apologizing for the fact that we accidentally used AI got us more subscribers that day than we had all month,” he said.
“[AI] is being used to make [expletive] immensely worse throughout the creative arts and our lives in general,” he added.
Stick it to ‘The Man’
Collins recalled reading an Onion headline during the Iraq war. In a point/counterpoint format, it read: “This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t.”
This article embodies Collins’s approach to The Onion, which he said was to be against “The Man.”
“There are eight of the richest people in a gilded room behind the president bribing him,” he said. “We have so much material for the next few years.”
Collins also addressed journalism students from his alma mater, Emerson College, who were in the audience.
“Do big, weird stuff. It has served me well,” he said. “Until I go to the gulag.”
Yogev Toby can be reached at yogev.toby@globe.com.
