What We're Looking For
Good satire at Fake News Daily has a few things in common: it's grounded in a real, recent event or pattern of behaviour; it has a specific, absurd angle that goes beyond "this politician is bad"; and it earns its laughs through precision rather than volume.
We are not looking for opinion pieces, hot takes, or "can you believe this?" rants, however justified. We are looking for fully reported satirical news articles — pieces structured like a news report, written with a straight face, in which the absurdity emerges from the material itself.
Think The Onion. Think Private Eye. Think the BBC's The Day Today. Specific. Deadpan. Grounded in something that actually happened.
Voice and Tone
Deadpan is everything. The funniest satirical journalism reads like real journalism. The comedy comes from the gap between the serious register and the ridiculous content. Write it like a reporter who cannot quite believe what they're writing, but is writing it anyway.
Specific beats general. "The President made a confusing statement" is not funny. "The President simultaneously claimed the war was over, that it was treason to say the US wasn't winning, and that military options to relaunch it were under active review" is funny, because it's specific, and it's true.
Don't explain the joke. If you've written a line that needs a footnote explaining why it's ironic, the line isn't working. Cut it, or rewrite it until it doesn't need the footnote.
The "at press time" kicker. We like to end pieces with a brief "at press time" paragraph that lands a final joke. It should be the punchline of the whole piece. Don't waste it.
Pitching Guidelines
Before you pitch, ask yourself:
- Is this based on something that actually happened in the last two to three weeks?
- Do I have a specific angle — not just "X is bad" but "X did this specific absurd thing"?
- Can I write the headline right now? (If you can't write the headline, you don't have the piece yet.)
- Is this something our readers would immediately recognise as the thing it's satirising?
If yes to all four, pitch us. Send a one-paragraph summary and your proposed headline to our contact form, selecting "Pitch" as the category. We'll respond within five working days. If we like it, we'll commission a full piece of between 600 and 1,000 words.
What We Cover
We focus on the political right — politicians, media figures, executives, and movements — primarily in the UK, US, and Australia, with occasional coverage of global figures when the absurdity is sufficiently international in scale. We cover:
- US Circus — American federal politics, the executive branch, and Congressional chaos.
- UK Farce — British politics, with a particular focus on Reform UK, the Conservative Party, and associated media ecosystem.
- Oz Chronicles — Australian right-wing politics.
- Conspiracy Corner — The broader ecosystem of misinformation, anti-vax movements, and people who have read too many Telegram channels.
- Tweets of Shame — Social media meltdowns, self-owns, and politicians who really should have had someone read the tweet before they posted it.
- The Stable Genius Files — A dedicated section for material about one specific very stable genius. You know the one.
- Billionaire Watch — Very rich men who have decided that wasn't enough.
A Note on Research
We take the underlying facts seriously even when the articles are fiction. If you're pitching a piece based on a real event — a vote, a poll, a statement — make sure you've checked the primary source. The satire is invented; the premise should be solid.
We will fact-check all underlying claims before publication. If something is wrong, we'll come back to you. If something is fabricated without disclosure, we won't publish.