Satirical outlet adds to campus discourse
The Rice Mockingbird was founded as a satirical campus news source in order to encourage discourse among students through humor, according to Mockingbirdco-founder Michael Portal.
“There was an absence of satirical content on campus,” Portal, a McMurtry College sophomore, said. “We thought we would be able to remedy that with consistent and effective humor and it was going to create some competition on campus.We believe that more student publications ultimately increase student activism.”
Mockingbird co-founder Evan Neustater said he and Portal started the publication as a collaborative effort over the summer.
“We did pretty much everything in tandem in the beginning,” Neustater, a McMurtry College sophomore, said. “We would each propose an idea, and then we would go on a Google Doc and write them together while on Skype. There were pretty much two authors for every single article.”
Neustater said he and Portal believe humor can shed light on important issues.
“I think satire can be a really effective way to increase awareness of events, without being too heavy-hearted,” Neustater said.
Students are awareThe Mockingbirdisn’t factually reliable, but they appreciate it nonetheless.
“I view humor as an attention grabber,” Maya Iyer, a Lovett College freshman, said. “Once I’m aware of an issue, I’ll pursue more factual articles on my own.”
Despite The Mockingbird’s focus on jokes, students still find it meaningful to campus life. An article published Aug. 19, 2014 poked fun at the campus emphasis on strong residential college identity.
“Orientation Week allowed me to bond closely with my college, and it was a bit strange to meet non-Sidizens during the first week of classes,” Alicia Fan, Sid Richardson freshman, said. “The Mockingbird’s article made me aware of a serious social issue facing freshmen.”
The Mockingbird’s early success in hits is driving its expansion, according to Portal.
“We average a little bit more than 5,000 page views a week,” Portal said. “We got nine [staff writer] applicants in a week. It's going to become a real team effort. It's really cool that nine people took the time to apply.”
Stylistically,The Mockingbird’s emphasis on headlines places it in the same category as The Onion, a popular online satirical news source.
“The Onion is our inspiration,” Portal said. “We tried to make an Onion for the Rice campus. We don't view the Onion as a competitor though. We're competing with Yik Yak.”
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