Satirists’ Poor Taste Will Hurt Their Job Prospects

Dear Editor,

We understand that there is quite a controversy over the small satire publication, the Koala, which was recently profiled by the New York Times. We at the Syrup Trap don’t care about the Koala, but we do care about the word “satire” and what people do with it.

Satire is writing that makes fun of something in an insightful, witty and at least semi-thoughtful way.

Publications like the Koala offend us, not just because they are openly bigoted and juvenile but also because they are not funny. They conflate satire with saying random, offensive things and attention-seeking, which is what children do.

The Koala reads like something written by teenagers released from the protective womb of parental supervision too early. Like something that might have been conceived in a meeting at the editor-in-chief’s mom’s house (according to the Times piece, this is literally true) during which the editor-in-chief’s mom might have served cookies (also actually true).

It’s easy to get emotional and think serious thoughts about the Koala before you realize that these poor kids don’t really know what they’re doing.

You kind of feel pity when you realize that if a future employer was to Google any of the students mentioned in the Times piece, those students would probably have a very tough time finding gainful employment. Because who wants to hire racist, bigoted children?

— The Editors
The Syrup Trap
syruptrap.ca