The Onion is pressing ahead with its takeover of InfoWars, the conspiracy-laden media empire formerly owned by far-right provocateur Alex Jones.The satirical news site will debut its initial slate of programming just in time for America’s 250th birthday celebration, despite an ongoing legal battle, alongside plans to donate more than $100,000 to the families affected by the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.Here’s what you should know about the new InfoWars ahead of its debut.Building on a ‘very broken piece of media history’The Onion announced that it will premiere its initial slate of programming –– including two shows, “Emergency with Tim Heidecker” and “The Jim Haggerty Show” –– on July 2 at 8 p.m. ET.Onion CEO Ben Collins told USA TODAY that the launch will be “explosive,” and described it as “the most important thing that has ever happened.”The shows will be streaming on TheOnion.info and @RealInfoWars’ profiles on YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, Facebook and BlueSky, as well as “all gas station TVs throughout the continental United States,” Collins said.One of the shows will feature Tim Heidecker, who rose to prominence in the early 2000s on a unique brand of fringe, outsider comedy. The former star of “Tom Goes to the Mayor” and “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!” was brought on as the new InfoWars’ creative director. He has already created content for the brand, adopting the gravelly voice and absurdist, conspiratorial identity Jones was known for."There are a lot of talented people making great work with very little support," Heidecker said. "This is a chance to build a place for ambitious, specific, internet-native comedy and to make something genuinely new out of a very broken piece of media history. The premiere is just the beginning."According to The Onion, over time the new initiative will move away from "parodying the grift and grievance of platforms like InfoWars," and instead focus on a "broader comedy ecosystem rooted in curation, talent development, and internet-native storytelling."InfoWars merch to support Sandy Hook familiesAlongside the debut of its new shows, The Onion also announced plans to donate more than $100,000 to the families who were affected by the Sandy Hook mass shooting.That event is at the epicenter of The Onion’s takeover of InfoWars, after Jones used his platform to promote baseless conspiracy theories that the shooting was staged and those involved were “crisis actors,” messaging that led to years of harassment and threats against the survivors.In 2022, Jones lost a defamation suit brought by the Sandy Hook families. He was ordered to pay a $1.3 billion judgment, which the sale of InfoWars was supposed to help cover. Jones has not yet paid the families any of the money that they are owed.A request for comment sent to Jones’ new media company was not returned."From the beginning, this has been about the Sandy Hook families and making sure something better comes from a platform that caused so much harm," Collins said. "We got into this because we saw an opportunity to take one of the most evil things on the internet and turn it into something funny, creative, and actually useful.”To help raise money for the Sandy Hook families, The Onion launched an initial online iteration of its InfoWars moniker, hosted under the company’s larger website. It contains various links to products that parody the bogus supplements and metaphysical cure-alls that Jones made a career hawking, such as Demon Guard Holy Protection Patches (basically, band-aids in the shape of a cross), Pure-O Oxygen Capsules, a “Learn to Float” kit, and tablets that promise to turn urine into gold.Alongside the farcical goods is legitimate InfoWars merchandise including hats, glasses, sweatshirts and more. Sales from that will go to supporting the Sandy Hook families, who also helped develop The Onion’s vision for the new initiative.“The story isn't really about InfoWars anymore,” Collins said. “It's about what happens when you take a platform that was built around bullsh-t and fear and turn it into something that supports funny, human stuff instead. At a moment when so much of media is shrinking, we're investing in comedians, creators, and original programming because we think people want something better, made by people."Collins added, “As for that Alex guy you asked about, I've never heard of him.”Drew Pittock covers national trending news for USA TODAY. He can be reached at DPittock@usatodayco.com.