Private Eye

Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical magazine-newspaper. It is currently edited by Ian Hislop.

Regular mini-sections

In addition, there are several mini-sections, mostly based on clippings from newspapers sent in by readers:

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• Lookalikes – comparing two famous individuals who look alike; frequently the two have an ironic connection too which is pointed out by the reader who submits the piece. The captions relating to the two individuals are also swapped around, implying that even the magazine cannot tell which individual is which. The sender often finishes with the phrase "might they perhaps be related". This feature was copied by the American Spy magazine in its "Separated at Birth?" section.
• Order Of The Brown Nose – highlighting those who toady to others (usually the famous and/or powerful).
• Dumb Britain – Bizarre or stupid answers to questions from British TV/radio quiz shows
• Dumb America – as above but instead highlighting bizarre or stupid answers from U.S. game shows.
• Luvvies – quotations from thespians and other theatrical types, proving they are "Luvvies".
• The Neophiliacs; Examples of lazy journalists employing the cliché "x is the new y", e.g. Black is the new brown, Basel is the new St Tropez and so forth. However, there has been a recent trend for said lazy journalists to preface their remarks with "At the risk of appearing in Private Eye..."
• Colemanballs – infamous collection of quotes from radio and TV in which commentators and other professional speakers are inconsistent, mix metaphors, and more. It is named after British sports commentator David Coleman.
• Warballs – quotations from the media in which people spuriously use the events of September 11, 2001 as justification for various actions, usually totally unrelated.
• Dianaballs – like Warballs, highlights the use in the media of invoking an emotional or sentimental response by referring to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The "-balls" construction is also used to refer to other events, for example "Tsunamiballs".
• Eye spy – pictures sent in by readers showing contradictory, scatological, or just plain daft images; for example, a temporary "Polling Station" sign situated next to a "Do not sit on the fence" notice.
• Hackwatch – irreverent look at newspapers and journalists, usually pointing out their penchant for duplicity and self-contradiction.
• Solutions – instances of companies adopting an unimaginitive buzzword by claiming to provide 'solutions' where a simpler phrasing would seem more appropriate: for instance, describing cardboard boxes as "Christmas Ornament Storage Solutions cleverly designed so that you no longer have to painstakingly wrap each Christmas ornament in tissue paper in order to protect it".