The writer and humorist John O'Farrell has launched a new satire website - something that the BBC decided to publicise this week. Explaining why he felt there was a gap in the market for his News Biscuit site, O'Farrell said: "I've never been able to find a British website that consistently made me laugh."
That claim has irritated bloggers and some of the cyber satirists already out there. "Grateful British web users enjoy satire for first time," is how the Deadbrain site reacted to O'Farrell's venture. "John O'Farrell Invents 'British' Wheel," was the Random Perspective view.
The complaints - including a whole raft appended to the BBC article - are basically twofold. They dispute O'Farrell's claim that there is no web satire on offer, even if Britain doesn't have its answer to The Onion. And they are not convinced, to say the least, that O'Farrell's own attempt at online satire cuts the mustard. Here's one example of some blog bitching.
Did O'Farrell have a point, though: is there any decent British satire on the web (outside Media Monkey and Organ Grinder, of course)? Is it just the case that it hasn't received the publicity it deserves? If not, how can we explain the gap in the market, whether or not John O'Farrell is the man to fill it?
