The Betoota Advocate – ‘Australia’s Oldest Newspaper’
Satirical news has gained a lot of popularity in the 21st century, especially as news and media is becoming increasingly delivered online. Satirical news is designed to mimic and mock genuine news websites and stories, presenting fictitious stories that make fun but also raise awareness of different issues and stories. Although satirical journalism has been in print media for a long time, the rise of the internet has taken the trend to new heights.
The Onion may have started the trend for satirical based news websites, starting back in 1996 but there’s no satire publication I think more prominent or more enjoyable than The Betoota Advocate. After seeing it slowly pop up more and more often on social media, I remember The Betoota Advocate becoming my first real interaction with satirical journalism.
The Betoota Advocate was started by two former journalists (Archer Hamilton and Charles Single) in 2014. The website has quickly grown to become Australia’s most popular satirical site, with more Australian readers than The Shovel or The Onion, and has over 575 000 likes on Facebook and 335 000 on Instagram.
The Betoota Advocate delivers news stories with a humorous but serious tone to many of their stories. They’re quick to respond to social trends and breaking news, and their political and social commentary is consistently razor sharp. For example, they published a series featuring a character called ‘Uncle Tony’, soon after Tony Abbott accepted a role as an Indigenous Affairs envoy. After his dismal job with Indigenous affairs as PM, This series of articles also highlighted problems the Aboriginal community has faced, especially at the hands of the government, such as incarceration rates, racial profiling, and fatality rates. The series had over 30 articles based on the topic.
Other articles make light of topics such as Australian culture, and other content relatable to their audience.
One of the biggest strengths in publishing satirical journalism is Betoota is able to pick and choose which stories they want to write about. The success of the site boils down to their ability to scan through the news and put their own spin on current topics and affairs. Single said himself “The purpose is to pretty much make the line between what’s real and what’s not even blurrier. It’s almost, in a way, trying to make sure all the bigger [media] players in the world constantly ask themselves are they heading down our path?”
While usually, the articles are obviously satirical, there are still some that have an air of plausibility and there have been cases where other media outlets have taken their articles for fact. For example, in 2014, Weekend Today ran a story based on a Betoota Advocate article about a Sydney city parking ranger who accidentally booked himself.
The Betoota Advocate does well to not just write satirical articles but to bring issues in the news to light in a way that’s more entertaining to read than the day to day news.
Hamish Stephen 