"Unaffiliated" Organization Seeks Pulitzer Prize for The Onion Satirical News Site

June 24, 2011— -- Steven Forbeck is the head of the satirical organization Americans for Fairness in Awarding Journalism Prizes, which is trying to elicit support for a Pulitzer Prize for The Onion, itself a satirical newspaper.

The Onion, established in 1988 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has taken to calling the Pulitzer Board the "Lazy, Illiterate Pulitzer Board," leading up to the publication of its 1,000th issue June 20.

So far, Rickey Gervais, Arianna Huffington, Gail King, Ira Glass, Mikheil Saakashvili (President of the Republic of Georgia), Russ Feingold, Tom Hanks and Mario Batali, as well as many others, have joined the cause. Watch their submission videos.

"[AFAJP] was founded in 1944, started in response to a lot of concerned citizens noticing that journalism organizations were not being recognized for their achievements," Forbeck, in character as the Head of the AFAJP, told ABC news. "Specifically was one in Belgium, some reporters were rewarded for some reporting they did, I don't know, on the Western Front during World War II. And of course, as we all know, Belgium isn't an actual country, so it doesn't have any standing to win an actual prize."

For the record, Belgium is a country located in Western Europe (we checked).

Since its inception in 1917, the Pulitzer Prize Committee has distributed 8,000 of the prestigious prizes. Forbeck thinks that The Onion should without question be awarded a Pulitzer.

"It is a testament to the age that we live in, unfortunately, that I would even have to answer this question. It is the number one news organization in the country. Unbiased reporting, hard-hitting, in-depth coverage, I could go on and on, but unfortunately most of the adjectives that could describe the Onion haven't been invented yet," said Forbeck.

Watch The World News Conversation with Steven Forbeck to find out what his prediction for what will happen if The Onion does not win a Pulitzer Prize and to find out more about Americans for Fairness in Awarding Journalism Prizes.