The funniest writers at The Onion shuffled through dozens of news stories at a meeting last week, trying to discern which headline would make readers laugh harder.

“Next Up: 911 Operator Calmly Talks Woman Through Macarena,” suggested one writer, as his co-workers cackled. Another: “JD Vance Doubles Down on Controversial Criticism of Childless Children.”

The headlines — all 52 of them — were completely fake, possible fodder for the satirical news site. But the jokesters behind those stories are also hard at work on a genuine experiment in the media business, one so counterintuitive that it sounds as if it could have been published in The Onion.

This week, The Onion began distributing a print edition for the first time in more than a decade and will soon deliver it monthly to everyone who subscribes to its site. The move is a throwback to the publication’s roots as a campus weekly in the late 1980s.

But it is also emblematic of a growing trend in the media industry — trying new ways to attract and retain digital subscribers.