The onion doesn't have a strongly-defined partisan political stance, but it overwhelming "punches up" rather than punching down- meaning the butt of the joke is

The onion doesn't have a strongly-defined partisan political stance, but it overwhelming "punches up" rather than punching down- meaning the butt of the joke is a person or organization with more power than the audience. To me, this point-of-view tends to look more progressive than conservative, but I might be overlaying my own biases.