The Onion is arguably the most well-known source for alternative news in the country. The newspaper's online version, theonion.com, boasts approximately 100,000 visitors per week. Surprisingly, this popular satirical weekly comes from humble beginnings; several University of Wisconsin-Madison's alumni began the paper in the 1980s.
Loyola alum Brent Damsz took part in a similar undertaking by creating an upstart newspaper called Project Underdog at Loyola to counter the Phoenix in the spring of 2003.
A similar task has been undertaken by John Heylin, a senior at the University of Washington. Heylin started the Weekly Enema as a counter to the University of Washington's newspaper, The Daily, which Heylin said contains "nothing of value."
Heylin's hopes for the Enema are similar to the success of The Onion.
"Someone wrote me and told me that The Onion was just like [my publication] back in the '80s, just a small thing at the University of Wisconsin," Heylin said. "Now look at it. I hope to aspire to that."
The idea of the publication came from conversations that Heylin had with teammates after morning crew practices. After he finished reading The Daily, Heylin found himself disappointed by the content.
"[I would] flip through it, and then realize that there was nothing of value in it except maybe the occasional editorial cartoon and a section called 'Rants and Raves' which was a short list of bad and good things from around the country," Heylin said.
After discussing The Daily with his friends, he found that they had the same qualms with the school paper.
"I would [complain] and moan every morning to all the guys that would hang out with me after practice and they would tell me they only pick it up for the crossword puzzle," Heylin said.
Heylin is not the only student who did not appreciate The Daily.
"I agree that The Daily does not produce enough interesting articles in my opinion," UW junior Kamal Sandhu said. "The Weekly Enema produces a comedic newspaper that is a refreshing alternative to the somewhat monotonous tone of The Daily. I personally do not find [The Daily] very creative or interesting. The main reason I do pick it up is for the job listings and the crossword puzzle."
UW senior Marisa Hackett feels The Daily lacks compassion for minority students on campus.
"The Daily is not very respected among the people I am around most of the time," Hackett said. "For instance, the first [offensive opinion piece]was basically an attack on the LGBT community on campus. The same writer wrote another article about feminism that also attacked rape victims/suvivors."
The summer following his junior year, Heylin began writing articles and submitting them to local newspapers. After attempting to write for the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Heylin decided to publish his own paper. After registering the Enema as an on-campus club, Heylin was able to make a total of 8,000 copies for free.
Heylin chose a unique name for the paper so it would stick in the minds of its readers. Heylin chose the name, The Enema, after recalling stories he heard about his father's childhood.
"[My dad would] tell me that if he told [his mom] he was sick, she'd tell him to get the baking soda and funnel out and she would administer an enema," Heylin said. "Since the name stuck in my head since a child, I figured the name would stick in the heads of readers due to the nasty image it brings to mind. Plus, some people might not know what an enema is and ask friends. After finding out, they will definitely remember the name."
When the first issue came out the week of Oct. 11, Heylin knew he had to distribute more than just the 250 copies he had printed and handed out to friends.
"After [only printing 250 copies] I realized I needed to go much bigger with distribution," Heylin said. "I don't have much time to have it catch on with students by word of mouth, so I flooded the system two weeks later with 1,500 copies. So far it seems to have worked." For the second and third issues, Heylin made 1,500 copies and handed them out at the center of campus. He also delivered about 15 copies to each fraternity at UW.
Although Heylin puts the paper together and makes copies himself, writing the paper is not a one-man operation he said. In the beginning, Heylin recruited friends to help him write articles for publication.
"After our first major distribution I actually got submissions from complete strangers, which is what I want to happen," Heylin said. "I want every student to contribute to this and they can, so long as it's funny or entertaining."
According to Heylin, reaction from the students and even professors at UW has been positive aside from one negative letter that Heylin has received, printed out and posted on his refrigerator.
"So far I've only handed out two issues on campus in large scale," Heylin said. "The first time I handed it out I got a lot of people thinking I was some religious nut handing out something to convert them or political jargon. The second time I handed out a bunch I got many people come up to the table or myself and say, '[Heck] yeah! I've been waiting for this!' and also 'you guys rock' etc. A buddy of mine actually told me his biology professor read three articles from it aloud in class saying it was 'the funniest pamphlet he ever got.' So long as I keep hearing good things, I'll keep it going."
Heylin did not originally have such great expectations for his small publication.
"I was originally going to give this paper till the end of the quarter and if it didn't catch on then I was going to can it, but it just keeps gaining steam," Heylin said.
Heylin hopes that he will leave his mark not only at UW, but at universities nationwide.
"I would hope that the Weekly Enema would catch on at campuses all around the country," Heylin said. "I hope that college students who are sick of trying to submit articles to newspapers who reject them would submit to mine. When I graduate next year I hope it doesn't die out, but if no one is there to take over it just might do that; my lasting mark at UW."
Heylin compares his paper to the satirical comedy of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
"I think [the Enema] mimic[s] [Stewart] in that I have said I won't let this paper be a biased paper (at least kinda)," Heylin said. "The paper I wanted makes fun of everything, both sides, whatever. Nothing is left out, even ourselves. Right-wingers? Done. Left-wingers? Done. Football players, Seattleites, etc ... Done. Instead of ranting about how bad one person is, we playfully joke at how bad everyone is." The Weekly Enema represents a growing trend among college students to look toward more entertainment-based news rather than hard-hitting news sources.
"I use the Drudge Report as a comparative to the New York Times to keep up [and gain] a new perspective," Loyola sophomore Shannon Blackburn said. "It was recommended to me by John Williams from the political science department."
However, some students still stick with mainstream media sources.
"I mostly use the Internet such as CNN.com and msnbc.com," Loyola freshman Rose Hernandez said. "I also read the Wall Street Journal and the [Chicago] Trib[une]. I don't trust Fox News. 'Fair and balanced?' I think not. If it said, 'we are biased and proud of it' I would watch it, but they are liars."
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