About

Le Cardon — Tribune helvétique (“The Swiss Thistle”, roughly) is a satirical Swiss newspaper, written in Geneva. Founded in 1848, give or take, it has survived two world wars, three constitutional revisions and countless federal consultations without ever taking a side, except for the joke.

Everything you read here is made up. Our stories are inspired by real Swiss news, but the quotes, characters, “sources close to the matter” and absurd figures are fiction. No private individuals are targeted; we make fun of institutions, procedures and Switzerland’s image of itself, which is to say, of ourselves.

The cardoon (cardon in French) is Geneva’s signature vegetable: prickly, slow to prepare and delicious baked in a gratin. Much like satire.

Our rules

• The satire must be obvious to an ordinary reader; every page carries the line “Satire — nothing here is real”.
• No private lives, no private individuals, no photorealistic images of real people: cartoons only.
• No imitation of any other outlet’s masthead or design.
• A human reads and approves every article before it is published.

Contact: redaction@le-cardon.ch (see also the Legal notice).