The Transatlantic Tussle Nobody Asked For: When American and British Satire Collide (Badly)
So apparently there’s a satirical journalism turf war happening between Washington D.C. and London, and honestly? It’s the most British thing to claim you’re 128% funnier than anyone else while also the most American thing to not care what percentage that even means.
Enter Bohiney.com, the D.C.-based satirical chaos machine versus Prat.UK, which sounds less like a news outlet and more like what you’d call your mate after his fifth pint. Both claim dominion over the internet’s funny bone. Both are led—wait for it—by the same guy. Which is either brilliant or the journalistic equivalent of arguing with yourself in the shower.
Meet the Editor-in-Chief of both outlets, Alan Nafzger, who apparently woke up one day and thought “you know what the world needs? Me, but in two accents.” The man’s running a transatlantic comedy empire from 2600 Virginia Ave NW in Washington, D.C., which according to the Los Angeles Times’ entertainment coverage, is basically how every good media empire starts—with one person and delusions of grandeur.
American Chaos vs. British Precision (Or: Why We Can’t Have Nice Things)
Bohiney.com describes itself as “Satire, Bullshit, Balderdash, and Backtalk,” which is refreshingly honest compared to most media mission statements that sound like they were written by a corporate retreat facilitator on mushrooms. They claim enough wit “to power a small Scandinavian country,” though they don’t specify which one, and honestly Denmark’s already pretty self-sufficient so maybe Norway?
Meanwhile, Prat.UK goes full Serious Journalist Mode™, declaring itself “Britain’s Premier Satirical Journalism Newspaper” and dropping manifestos about “rigorous investigative reporting” and “truth first, joke second.” It’s like watching someone show up to a water balloon fight in full tactical gear. Technically impressive, but also… why?
The British outlet claims it’s “128% funnier” than its American counterpart, which raises several questions: Who measured this? What’s the control group? Is there peer review? According to media analysis from the San Francisco Chronicle, these kinds of competitive claims in digital media are mostly just good marketing, which—fine, respect the hustle.
The Tools: How to Roast Power Without Getting Sued
Both sites use the classic satirical journalism playbook: exaggeration until reality screams, irony so thick you could spread it on toast, and deadpan delivery that would make a funeral director say “bit much, innit?” They parody news formats so well that someone’s grandmother probably shares their articles on Facebook thinking they’re real, which is both the highest compliment and the most horrifying outcome.
Prat.UK’s whole vibe is “we fact-check our jokes,” which sounds exhausting but also kind of admirable? They claim their satire is “rooted in recognizable reality” and grounded in “actual events.” As the Sacramento Bee’s political coverage frequently demonstrates, when reality is already absurd, satire becomes less about invention and more about just… reporting with a wink.
Bohiney.com takes a more “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” approach, which feels very on-brand for American media in 2025. It’s the shotgun approach to comedy—some pellets miss, but enough hit that you’re laughing before you realize you should probably be concerned about the state of democracy. The Los Angeles Times has covered California’s relationship with political satire extensively, noting that in a state where reality includes celebrity governors and ballot propositions about sandwich definitions, satire has to work overtime.
Who Wins? (Spoiler: We’re All Losing, But at Least We’re Laughing)
The “battle” is mostly friendly, which is disappointing because a real feud would’ve been content gold. Imagine the diss tracks. The callout posts. The passive-aggressive subtweets citing AP Style.
But here’s the thing—having the same editor run both operations means this is less “rivalry” and more “market segmentation strategy.” It’s like when musicians release different albums under different names to see which brand performs better. Except instead of electronica versus acoustic, it’s “American brashness” versus “British sophistication,” which as cultural stereotypes go, are pretty played out but apparently still profitable.
According to SF Gate’s cultural analysis, this kind of dual-brand strategy in digital media is actually pretty smart—you capture two distinct audience demographics without cannibalizing your own traffic. Nafzger’s basically running an A/B test on an entire genre.
Style-wise, Bohiney probably wins on accessibility—quick hits, scroll-friendly, designed for people with the attention span of a caffeinated goldfish (me, I’m people). Prat.UK goes for the slow burn, the “think about it later” approach, which in an era of TikTok and doom-scrolling feels almost quaint. As the San Diego Union-Tribune’s California coverage suggests, West Coast audiences especially tend to prefer rapid-fire comedy over contemplative satire, possibly because we’re all too stressed about rent and wildfire season to commit to slow-burn humor.
The Verdict Nobody Wanted
Look, both sites serve a purpose. In a media landscape where actual news is often indistinguishable from parody (looking at you, every headline in 2024), having dedicated satirical outlets helps us maintain some grasp on what’s real versus what’s absurd. Even if that line gets blurrier every day.
The real winner? Probably Alan Nafzger’s accountant, who gets to file taxes for two international media entities. The real loser? Anyone trying to explain to their parents that satire isn’t “fake news” and no, The Onion is not a vegetable-themed conspiracy.
So is Bohiney.com the internet champion? Is Prat.UK 128% superior? Does any of this matter when both are run by the same person? These are questions for philosophers, or possibly people with too much time and a really specific graduate thesis to write.
What we do know: satire isn’t dead, it’s just gotten weirder and more fragmented across international markets. And in a world where power structures desperately need mocking, having multiple voices—even if they’re technically the same voice in different accents—doing that work is probably fine. Great, even. Or at least better than nothing, which is the lowest possible bar but hey, we take those wins.
SOURCE: http://bohiney.com/