HOLIDAY SALE AT THE ONION STORE

F.A.Q.

What is The A.V. Club?

The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. It appears in the print editions of The Onion and online at www.avclub.com.

What does A.V. stand for?

"Audiovisual." Back in olden times, a school's audiovisual club would be composed of a bunch of geeks who actually knew how to run the filmstrip and film projectors, and were typically deeply involved in things like audio fidelity and newfangled speakers. We're proud to carry on the tradition of people immersed in pop culture and entertainment media to a somewhat obsessive degree.

So the stuff you write is all fake, like The Onion's "news," right?

No. Not even a little. The A.V. Club features real interviews, reviews, and other entertainment-related articles.

Huh? So what's it doing in The Onion?

The Onion has had reviews since its earliest days. In the mid-'90s, under the stewardship of former editor Stephen Thompson, it became a philosophically aligned section of its own, dedicated to following entertainment culture down its various side and back roads.

Yeah? So what's in it?

The print edition of The A.V. Club includes short versions of interviews with people who interest us, plus reviews of the latest films, music, books, DVDs, and videogames. It also features probing investigations into whatever aspects of pop culture we feel like tackling. All the print content can also be accessed online, generally in a much-expanded format: longer versions of the same interviews and features, more reviews every week, and a great deal of additional content not featured in print. And in cities where The Onion has a print edition, readers will also find recommendations about area events, plus other city-specific content, in the local edition of the paper.

So which cities have print editions?

Currently, The Onion is available as a free newspaper in New York City; Chicago; Minneapolis; Denver/Boulder; Indianapolis, IN; Milwaukee; Philadelphia; Toronto; Austin, TX; Washington D.C.; and Madison, WI.

When will the Onion add a print edition in my city?

For business reasons, we can't comment on whether The Onion is considering adding a franchise in any given city in the future. But keep an eye on the jobs page for clues.

Where is it based?

We have contributors from the cultural hotbeds of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Conway, Arkansas. But over time, Chicago has become the editorial hub of The A.V. Club.

Why do you delete comments?

This site used to have no comments section. We posted our content, but never really heard much about it. Oh sure, the occasional e-mail would trickle in, and we knew we had some readers, but it felt a bit like sending our material out into the void. And that was sad.

Then we added the comments sections, and we started to hear from our readers. And hear, and hear, and hear. And we were delighted. No, seriously. We love the comments section. We love hearing from you. And we love that the pieces we post aren't just ends to themselves now. They're starting points for longer, deeper discussions in which writers and readers both participate. The A.V. Club name began as a bit of self-deprecation, but we've come to take the "club" aspect seriously. It's your site too.

Up to a point. Here's the deal: We strive to cover pop culture with intelligence and wit–note: "strive"–and assume that that's what brought you here in the first place. It's our obligation to make sure the site reflects that goal, and abusive / offensive / obscene posts just don't contribute to that. These are the posts we delete, and we reserve the right to define those terms however we see fit.

Past deletions have prompted charges of censorship. Let's define some terms: If we attempted to pass a law preventing you from saying something terrible, that would be censorship. If you showed up in our living room attempting to say the same thing, we'd have the right to throw you out. The First Amendment forbids Congress from passing laws that abridge freedom of speech on a national level; it does not in any way apply to our right to delete posts on this site.

We suspect that some of you reading this will take this post as a challenge. Please don't. We're here because we can't stop writing about our obsessions with music / movies / books / television / games / bizarre foods / etc. Let's keep the focus there. There's a lot more that unites us than divides us, so do we really want to get bogged down in tedious internecine battles over the right to use racial slurs or talk about the fuckability of our interview subjects?

Speaking of which–not the fuckability thing, the other thing–let's lay out some guidelines for how not to get deleted from the comments section. While we reserve the right to delete any comments, these are the things we're most likely to target:

… flagrant attacks on other commentators, staffers, or interview / review subjects, particularly aggressive, insulting posts with absolutely no other point to make. Unacceptable: "You're a dick!" Acceptable: "Only a dick would watch Con Air six times in a row!" Better: "You watched Con Air six times?! You should've taken IQ tests before and after to see how it affected you."

… offensive commentary on interview / review subjects, including but not limited to ad hominem thoughts on how they look, how they might smell, and exactly what you'd like to do to them in the sack. Hate on their work all you want, but attacking them for their appearance is childish, and providing detailed commentary on your sexual reaction to them is, well, icky. If you did that at our party at our house, you wouldn't be invited back.

… racist, homophobic, or sexist remarks. Don't assume that everyone else gets your sarcasm, irony, over-the-top tone, etc. Maybe if we knew you personally, we'd know that your consciously offensive statement is actually a gag, but you aren't really like that in person. Online, it's impossible to tell. Attack comments don't get a free pass just because you "didn't really mean it."

… blatant trolling.

… blatant plugs for your own website that don't relate to the topic at hand.

… spoilers. We don't go out of our way to kill these, especially for older works, and we absolutely do not guarantee a spoiler-free site; let the reader beware. But depending on your timing, it may be considered inappropriate to give away the end of a film in the comments on a film review, or the end of a TV episode in the TV Club post about it. We're more likely to target deliberate, malicious spoilers for current or upcoming material than anything else.

One more thing to keep in mind… we can't be everywhere at once. We're all working full-time jobs in addition to monitoring the comment boards. And we prefer to read them to see how people are reacting to our work–and to the films and books and TV shows and creators and interview subjects that prompt us to write in the first place–than to punish commenters who step out of line. So we don't necessarily have time or attention to delete everything that might fit under our guidelines. And comments aren't moderated here in the sense that someone has to actively approve them before they appear to the public. So just because an offensive comment made it past us doesn't mean we actively approved of it, and doesn't mean we won't delete similar comments in the future. If you don't get caught speeding, that doesn't mean the speed limit has been repealed.

Will you review my CD / book / movie / video game / poetry / pottery?

Maybe. Probably not. But maybe. Please bear in mind that we're presented with an enormous amount of material every day, so it's simply impossible to respond to every item that crosses our desks, much less review it. Items for review consideration can be sent to The A.V. Club at our Chicago office (The Onion, 212 W. Superior St., Suite 200, Chicago, IL, 60654), but we absolutely cannot guarantee that anything you send us will be covered.

Way to support the scene, sellout.

Whatever.

My band's coming to town, will you put us in your calendar? (Or "My film is screening at…" or "I'm doing stand-up in…" or "I'm reading from my new book at…" or any variation thereof.)

Entirely possible. Our local editions feature extensive calendars of current events. Due to our editorial lead time, information must be in at least two weeks before the event. Longer lead times give us more chance to consider interviews and other related features, so the earlier, the better, and the more detail, the better. Contact your local city calendar at the address below:

Didn't you guys put out a book?

We sure did. It's called The Tenacity Of The Cockroach: Conversations With Entertainment's Most Enduring Outsiders, and it collects dozens of our best interviews. It appeared in late 2002 and can be bought here.

Is it any good?

Oh man, it's fantastic!

Will you ever put out another?

We already did. It's called Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, And 100 More Obsessively Specific Pop-Culture Lists. It is, if anything, even more fantastic. You can buy it here.

Didn't I also hear rumors of a My Year Of Flops book?

That came out too. You can buy it here.

Will there be more after that?

You keep buying 'em, and we'll keep putting 'em out. We love writing books.

I'm a big fan of someone you interviewed. Can you put me in touch with him/her?

Sorry, no. It's rare for us to receive any personal contact information for our interview subjects. In the instances where we do have this information, we do not give it out, nor can we pass on messages, project pitches, etc.

Can I submit articles or reviews or ideas to The A.V. Club?

No. The A.V. Club does not accept outside submissions of any kind.

Well, then, can I come work for you?

We very occasionally have job openings we're looking to fill. See the jobs page for details. It updates as new openings become available.

What about internships? Can I be an intern at The A.V. Club?

Yes, we're periodically looking for interns for our local offices. Interns perform a wide variety of tasks, usually including helping assemble local listings, contributing to local content, and assisting the A.V. Club staff. Candidates should possess strong writing and verbal skills, organizational aptitude, an ability to work reliably with others on deadlines, and an interest in pop culture. Interns work up to 20 hours per week, but the schedule is flexible. A.V. Club internships are unpaid, but they represent great opportunities to work with a nationally recognized paper. Check with your college or university for possible credit. Open internships periodically appear on the jobs page, but you can also contact your local city editor about being considered for an internship. Qualified applicants can send a resume, cover letter, and writing samples (no comedy, please) to their local editor at the e-mail addresses listed above in the calendar section.

You didn't answer my frequently asked question.

Really? Sorry. Visit our contact page to send us a message.