Chilling Effects

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Publishing Law Center





A serious blog about satire in the news, free speech, and the media.



Welcome to Check Please!

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Welcome to the web's first serious journal about satire news, created in association with HumorFeed.com. We encourage you to read about our mission and to peruse our features. We welcome your comments and feedback.


In our Summer 2004 Issue:



Interview with Larry Pryor, Director of the Online Journalism Review


The executive editor of the Online Journalism Review discusses everything from mainstream media sites to The Onion, and points out just how much of an impact satire news is having on mainstream media.

The Satire that Almost Became Law: The Dihydrogen Monoxide Scandal


Tom Way, the webmaster behind the original dihydrogen monoxide site, talks about scientific literacy, an old hoax, and how a California community almost fell for it.

Satire Roundup: News Sources that Fell For It


From overseas newspapers to Deborah Norville, examples of mainstream media outlets who unwittingly ran a satire article as fact.

Featured Site: Random Perspective


A quirky British site with loads of interactive flash and multimedia to play with as well as sharp satirical news features.

All's Fair in Love and Satire... or Is It?


A practical guide to what constitutes fair use and parody, what cease and desist letters actually mean, and how you can protect yourself.

Perspectives: Satire News of Yesteryear


Over a century before the first satire news website went online, Mark Twain was making a name for himself with spoof news stories slipped into newspapers in Virginia and California.




© Check Please! 2004-2008, all rights reserved || Questions? Comments? Contact us: info@checkplease.humorfeed.com.