Parody News Site du Jour May or May Not Be Based in LA*

We don't usually write about behind-the-scenes FishbowlLA stuff, but this instance was too funny (and also, potentially, reflective of the central tricked-media dynamic) not to. Daniel Barkeley, founder and editor of parody news website The Daily Currant, has enjoyed a number of moments in the spotlight since launching his site last spring. In 2012 for example, he scored coverage after made-up jests about Todd Akin, Rick Santorum, Michelle Bachman and George W. Bush each got picked up by the mainstream media. This week's Washington Post slip-up is arguably the site's biggest coup yet, albeit entirely self-inflicted by WaPo contributor Suzi Parker. Sarah Palin joke-tweeted about it; thousands more gleefully mocked WaPo on Twitter; and Barkeley spoke to imediaethics.org about just how faux this faux Palin-to-Al-Jazeera item is. That's where we come in. Despite our best efforts, there was deafening silence at the Barkeley end when we asked him to confirm that he is presently based in LA.* Although that's what The Daily Currant Twitter feed indicates, everything else - his Facebook profile, his company registration, etc. - points to Michigan. Does it matter? To a blog focused on media matters in SoCal and immediate environs, the answer is yes. So we're essentially posting this item out of frustration. And if it finally prompts a response from the Dearborn native, we'll be satisfied. *Update - 02/17/13: Our best efforts turned out to be laughable as we were sending our email queries to the wrong address. Properly contacted today, Barkeley has promptly replied with the following info: "My relationship with Los Angeles is a bit complex. I was born in Southern California, but moved away when I was six months old. I grew up in a variety of states, one of which was Michigan. I went to college on the west coast and moved to LA afterwards. Lived in Atwater for two years and worked as a legal clerk. Then I decided to go to business school in France." "The idea for The Daily Currant was actually born in Paris. I used the business plan for the site as my graduate thesis. After business school I moved back to Michigan to start the site (mostly because of the cheap rent)." "I always planned on moving The Daily Currant back to Los Angeles once it became successful. We envision moving to LA sometime later in the year to take advantage of the large pool of comedy talent the region has to offer. We also hope to expand into video content, and need to be based somewhere with a world-class video production ecosystem." "Our competitors at The Onion like using improv comics in their videos, which is why they're based in Chicago. Our brand of comedy is less zany and more subtle. We will need access to real actors to make our videos work." "Our Twitter account says "Los Angeles" on it because I never imagined the timing of our move would make news. But I guess all the attention the site is getting has people wondering. So, yes we should be moving to LA sometime this year (most likely the Fall)."

Fishbowl

Parody News Site du Jour May or May Not Be Based in LA*

Richard Horgan

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Richard Horgan