The Poke

The Poke is a British satirical website. It was launched in 2002 as a fanzine distributed at the Edinburgh Festival and independent music shops. The website is known for producing viral videos, which are often Auto-Tune edits of British current affairs.[1]

The Poke
Type of site
Comedy
URLhttps://www.thepoke.com
Launched2002
Current statusActive

History

The Poke began as a fanzine with a circulation of 50,000 that was sold in music shops across the United Kingdom and at the annual Edinburgh Festival. Later becoming an internet-only publication, the website gained some popularity when it was featured as an "Internet pick of the week" by The Guardian, which described it as "a British version of The Onion crossed with Private Eye".[2] The site was named 'Website of the day' by pocket-lint.com on 19 January 2012.[3]

The red-top look of the site means there have been cases of the site's fictional, satirical news stories being misinterpreted as real news items. In January 2012, a number of French news organisations including Le Parisien and L’Express reported on an August 2011 article by The Poke about a BBC sign language interpreter being fired from her job for 'fabricating news' as a genuine story. French radio broadcasters RTL and France Info also reported the story as real, and television broadcaster Canal+ featuring the fictitious 'scandal' on an evening news programme.[4]

In December 2022, The Poke was acquired by Digitalbox plc.[5]

The Leveson Enquiry musical

The Poke created an Auto-Tuned version of the Leveson Inquiry featuring the sampled testimonies of Rupert Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. The video was featured in the Guardian's Viral Video Chart.[6]

Nick Clegg apology song

An Auto-Tuned remix uploaded in September 2012 to YouTube of Nick Clegg's apology over going back on his promise to oppose a rise in tuition fees saw the website rise to national publicity, with the video becoming an Internet phenomenon. Following a request by the website, Clegg allowed the song to be released as a single, with proceeds donated to the Sheffield Children's Hospital.[7] The track was released on 21 September, and entered the weekly UK Singles Chart at number 136 two days later.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Website links". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  2. Dee, Johnny (23 October 2010). "Internet picks of the week". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  3. Hughes, Ian (19 January 2012). "Website of the Day: The Poke". pocket-lint.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2016.
  4. "The Poke fools France". The Poke. 15 October 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  5. Warner, Tom (1 December 2022). "Digitalbox PLC acquires The Poke for undisclosed sum". proactiveinvestors.co.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  6. Baird, Dugald (18 May 2012). "Guardian Viral Video Chart: Leveson the Musical; kid wakes up to Nirvana". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  7. "Nick Clegg's musical tuition fee apology goes viral". The Daily Telegraph . 20 September 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  8. "Gangnam Style fails to top UK singles chart". BBC News. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
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