How this works
Real headlines, lovingly ruined, and labelled so nobody mistakes them for the news.
The disclaimer, in full
ReallyFakeNews.com is a satire publication. Every story is fictional or a deliberate distortion of a real one, labelled on the page. Please do not cite us, share us as fact, or read us aloud to your uncle.
Nothing published on ReallyFakeNews.com is news. Every story is either invented from scratch or a deliberate, exaggerated distortion of a real event. Quotes in our stories are invented. Where a story mentions a real company, institution or public body, the events, statements and motives we attribute to it are fiction unless they appear in the “What actually happened” box. Our columnists are fictional characters. If you are reading this to check whether something you saw here is true: it is not.
The three modes
Every headline on the site carries one of three labels. You will find them on cards, in lists, in search results, in our RSS feed and burned into our share images.
Satire Real story, exaggerated until it confesses. Starts from a real story. We push it until it says the quiet part out loud. The real story is always linked.
Weird Real story, taken somewhere strange. Starts from a real story, then takes a left turn into nonsense. The real story is always linked.
Totally Fake Invented from scratch. Do not share as fact. Nothing in these stories happened. They come with a stronger notice instead of a source.
The Fake-o-Meter
Each story gets a score from 0 to 100. Zero would be the plain truth, which we never publish. One hundred is pure fiction. Satire usually sits under 40, Weird somewhere between 30 and 80, and Totally Fake at 80 and up. The note under the meter tells you which bits are real.
What actually happened
Satire and Weird stories end with a box that summarises the real event in one plain sentence and links to the original report. If you only read one thing on this site, read that box.
Real people
We do not put invented quotes in the mouths of real, named people. Each story is checked for this before it is published.
Other editions
ReallyFakeNews also ruins Romanian headlines at /ro/ and Spanish ones at /es/. Each edition starts from its own country’s real news.
Got a headline?
Send us a real headline and we will ruin it responsibly.