Der Postillon is a German website, run by Stefan Sichermann featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news in newspaper and TV format. In October 2015, the Postillon had more than 14 million visitors.Auf der-postillon.com werben. Der Postillon, retrieved, 17 November 2015. Der Postillon also appears as an English version titled "The Postillon". Der Postillon, retrieved, 10 November 2016
Background Stefan Sichermann, a PR expert, started the page in 2008 as a hobby. Until 2011 he continued working for a PR agency.Ronnie Grob: Wahre Lügen aus dem Posthorn. Medienwoche.ch, 19. Januar 2012 The Onion was one of the inspirations for the website.Gestatten: Der Postillon! Academicworld.net However the website itself claims a continuous history since October 1845.Der Postillon 1845–2012. Der Postillon. The name Postillon refers to the French word postillon and is used in the German language in traditional or literary circumstances.
After a satirical article about the closure of film-piracy-page Kino.to went viral on Facebook and Twitter, Postillon received a much broader audience. In the meantime, Sichermann started to run the page professionally, hired some assistants and financed the emissions via advertisements, a shopPünktlich zum 166-jährigen Jubiläum: Postillon-Shop Shopillon eröffnet! Der Postillon, 28 October 2011 and flattr donations. The social media impact of Postillon is higher than that of many official newsportals, such as Focus Online, Süddeutsche.de and Frankfurter Allgemeine.Social-Media-Charts: RTL.de und Postillon mit neuen Like-Rekorden, meedia.de, 17 April 2014
Scoops Shortly after the death of Steve Jobs, the Postillon speculated about the technical features of the tech-guru's coffin and the inscription buried in my iTomb.Technikjournalisten und Fanboys spekulieren über Design und Features von Steve Jobs’ Sarg. Der Postillon, 6.10.2011. Angry comments of readers containing the phrase „ein Leser weniger“ (one reader fewer) gained notoriety as a running gag among the reader community. Fans of Felix Baumgartner got angry about a Postillon entry claiming the record jump was declared invalid, since the Austrian crossed a foul line before the start signal.Linie übertreten: Rekordsprung aus 39 Kilometern Höhe für ungültig erklärt. Der Postillon, 15.10. 2012.Michèle Binswanger: Teenager von sich selbst sexuell belästigt. tagesanzeiger.ch, 17 October 2012.Links! Zwo! Drei! Vier! (Baumgartner Spezial). Der Postillon, 20.10.2012.
In 2012 German TV host Dieter Moor used a satirical notion about the delays at Berlin Brandenburg Airport without reference to the origin. The Postillon had implied, the ongoing delays would require to introduce a new form of German future tense.Neue Zeitform Futur III eingeführt, um Gespräche über Berliner Flughafen zu ermöglichen. Der Postillon, 15 August 2012.Thomas Knüwer: Dieter Moor, der freundliche Plagiator der ARD. Indiskretion Ehrensache, 20. August 2012 Various media asked Moor to apologize and to mention the joke's origin.Niels Kruse: Wo „Titel, Thesen, Temperamente“ seine Witze klaut. Stern.de, 20 August 2012. Moor acted accordingly.Moor schreibt bei „Postillon“ ab. In: Der Tagesspiegel, 22 August 2012.
Breaking, not yet officially confirmed news of Ronald Pofalla's change from politician to the executive at the railroad operator Deutsche Bahn were accompanied by a backdated, but otherwise correct Postillon post. As Postillon parody posts are often mistaken for real on social media, this did result in confusion among editorial offices and the general public. As a follow-up, the Postillon's editor Stefan Sichermann criticized media for being less trustworthy than the Postillon.
Postillon claimed a landlord offering shots for each guest and German goal during Brazil v Germany (2014 FIFA World Cup) had faced ruin. The article was spread and quoted on various Russian news outlets as a true storyKneipenwirt, der für jedes deutsche Tor einen Schnaps gratis versprochen hat, pleite, Der Postillon, 9.July 2014. including TV broadcaster Russia-24.Der bankrotte Barkeeper: Russen-TV fällt auf Postillon-Witz herein, Meedia, 11 July 2014.Video auf vesti.ru.Links! Zwo! Drei! Vier! (232), Der Postillon, 12 July 2014.
Awards 2010 Deutsche Welle award The BOBs as Best Weblog German. 2013 Grimme Online Award
Content and further publications Postillon provides classical news, a newsticker, commentaries, advice columns, opinion editorials and fake surveys. In 2012 the Postillon published various articles in form of a book.Die besten Postillon-Artikel von 2008 bis heute jetzt auch als Taschenbuch erhältlich. Der Postillon, 15 March 2012, retrieved, 22 August 2012. Also in 2012 the first fake TV emissions followed on YouTube.Postillon24 Nachrichten auf YouTube. Further videos are published in a cooperation with Yahoo"Postillon" geht auf Sendung Süddeutsche.de, 13 November 2013 and some have been run on German Broadcaster NDR."Postillon" kooperiert mit NDR Süddeutsche.de, 9 March 2014FAZ.net: Arschkalt erwischt
See also List of satirical news websites
References
External links German website English website
Sensation: Mann (32) verdient Geld mit Witzen im Internet, Bastian Brinkmann in Süddeutsche Zeitung, 20 June 2013.