History Main / CantStopTheSignal

* The SpiderMan ''WhatIf'' issue [[http://www.4thletter.net/2006/11/the-top-100-what-if-countdown-part-19/ "What If Gwen Stacy Had Lived?"]] concludes with a reversal of this trope, in that it's the ''villain'' who sends information to the press rather than the hero. The Green Goblin posts evidence of Spider-Man's SecretIdentity to the hero's "second-greatest enemy": [[DaEditor J. Jonah Jameson]].

* The second half of ''BlueThunder'' involves getting a video tape to a TV broadcasting station, despite various attempts by the conspirators to intercept it.

* ''TheyLive'' [[InvertedTrope inverts the trope]]; the villains are the ones ''sending'' the signal (which maintains their {{Masquerade}} as humans like us), and the heroes wind up ''stopping'' it in the end.

* ''TheCore'': TheRat sends the details of the [[spoiler:government earthquake-weapon research]] to all the world's news outlets.

* The original ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' plays this slightly differently to the film (see below) -- Rorschach puts his diary in a mailbox before the {{denouement}}, and we only discover its destination at the very end. Whether the world finds out (let alone whether they ''should'') is [[BolivianArmyEnding left ambiguous]], and the reader is asked to decide.

* In TheMovie of ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'', Rorschach sends his diary to [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Not The]] ''[[ConspiracyTheorist Weekly World News]]'' before the big showdown. At the end a writer is sent to dig through the "crank file" for a story, but it's ambiguous as to whether the journal was chosen or not.

* ''TheCore'': TheRat sends the details of the [[spoiler:government earthquake-weapon research]] to all the world's news outlets.

** And ''GreenZone'' -- Paul Greengrass likes this one.

* Smith from ''Film/ShootEmUp'' does this out of GenreSavvy -- see the page quote.
* This is how the ''{{MST3K}}'' "classic" ''PartsTheClonusHorror'' ends; the RetiredBadass IntrepidReporter Jake Noble is murdered, but manages to get a tape exposing the Clonus project to the media.
* In ''Film/ChainReaction'', the good guy releases to the world the details of the machine allowing production of functionally unlimited energy by [[TechMarchesOn faxing it]] to news offices everywhere.
* A very different version of this particular trope: two people in the {{Film/Apocalypse}} film series movie ''Revelation'' who have taken the MarkOfTheBeast try to stop the anti-Day Of Wonders virus program from uploading by pulling out the disk from the computer and even shooting the computer it's uploading on, all to no avail as it miraculously continues to boot up. Unfortunately, this plan [[YouCantThwartStageOne only delays the Day Of Wonders program from being released worldwide]], as it shows up in full use in the following movie ''Tribulation''.
* The climax of ''TheNet''.
* ''Film/EdgeOfDarkness'' sees Elle Craven's whistleblowing video sent to the press by her father, [[spoiler:who knows he's dying of thalium poisoning courtesy of her employers.]]
* The entire plot of ''TheBookOfEli'' is his attempt to deliver the [[spoiler:Bible]] to someone capable of disseminating it.

* The second half of ''BlueThunder'' involves getting a video tape to a TV broadcasting station, despite various attempts by the conspirators to intercept it.

* Averted, barely, in ''HighlanderTheSeries'' only because Duncan uses the quickening to fry Paris' power grid -- and the computer holding the disk which holds information about Immortals and Watchers.
* Attempted in the season finale of ''Series/{{Alphas}}'' when [[spoiler: Dr. Rosen broadcasts testimony of the existence of alphas and the government's response. They eventually cut him off, but not until it's far too late.]]

-> ''"So I called that guy I know at NBC. And then I got to thinking -- [[CatchPhrase You know what I hate?]] I hate those [[GenreSavvy lame action movies]] where the good guy calls [[HaveYouToldAnyoneElse just one person]] who ends up [[BigBadFriend betraying him]]. So I called ABC, CBS, The Post, The Times, the local news channel, and the FBI."''
--> -- '''Smith''', '''''Film/ShootEmUp'''''

A character [[BrokenMasquerade breaks]] TheMasquerade by sending the details they have uncovered to the press -- often to multiple publications at once. Usually happens at the end of a work.

Naturally, this is the ''modus operandi'' of the IntrepidReporter, especially when they're GoingForTheBigScoop. If the messenger is relying on other people making a LastStand to give him a chance, it's BringNewsBack.

* Manga/{{Akumetsu}} uses this ''continuously.'' [[spoiler:And, when the government decides to stop him from broadcasting his final "movie" on hijacked TV signals, he puts it all over the internet.]]

[[folder:Film]]
* In TheMovie of ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'', Rorschach sends his diary to [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Not The]] ''[[ConspiracyTheorist Weekly World News]]'' before the big showdown. At the end a writer is sent to dig through the "crank file" for a story, but it's ambiguous as to whether the journal was chosen or not.
* ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', the TropeNamer -- the heroes use the late [[KnowledgeBroker Mr Universe's]] equipment to broadcast the truth about Miranda and "Pax" to the four corners of the 'verse.

* ''TheCore'': TheRat sends the details of the [[spoiler:government earthquake-weapon research]] to all the world's news outlets.
* ''TheBourneUltimatum''.
** And ''GreenZone'' -- Paul Greengrass likes this one.
* In ''TheConstantGardener'', when Justin sends a letter to his friend containing details of [[CorruptCorporateExecutive a pharmacy company]]'s unscrupulous testing methods for their medicines, knowing he's about to be murdered for knowing too much. His friend reads it out as his eulogy.
* TheMovie of ''HarrisonBergeron''.

* Smith from ''Film/ShootEmUp'' does this out of GenreSavvy -- see the page quote.

[[folder:Literature]]
* IsaacAsimov's short story "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Past The Dead Past]]". A man discovers the secret of chronoscopy (a machine that can view the past), which has been placed under government control. He releases the information to several publicity outlets so it will become public, then learns ''why'' the government suppressed it: it can be used as an unstoppable spying device, which means privacy as we know it is ended.

* Frank Herbert's short story "Committee Of The Whole". A man uses the broadcast of a U.S. Senate hearing to describe a cheap, easily-built laser that could cut the Earth in half like a ripe tomato. He then spends several pages trying to justify distributing information that could allow any madman to destroy the planet. He later admits he had distributed the information far and wide earlier.
* SherlockHolmes does this before he ends Moriarty once and for all.
* The old InteractiveFiction adaptation of/sequel to ''[[{{Fahrenheit451}} Fahrenheit 451]]'' ended with Montag publicly broadcasting the contents of a lot of the banned books.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''PushNevada'' (BenAffleck's gimmick show where a viewer could win the money stolen from an InUniverse casino) -- the protagonist sends his evidence to every email address he can find.

* In ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', when the crew finds out about the [[MegaCorp Wormgate Corporation]]'s AncientConspiracy to suppress the [[TeleportersAndTransporters teraport]] drive, [[MadScientist Kevyn]] turns the invention open-source and submits the schematics to literally ''everybody''. He ends up sparking a galaxy-wide revolution, as practically ''everybody'' who had been prevented from fighting each other due to the Wormgate Network can suddenly go shoot each other whenever they want. Or, to put it in perspective for him:

*** There was no evidence of that.
**** Yes there was. It was mentioned (prominently) in the story that the government machine was how they were '''almost''' able to stop them.

* The entire plot of ''TheBookOfEli'' is his attempt to deliver the Bible to someone capable of disseminating it.

* ''TheYiddishPolicemensUnion'' ends with the protagonists calling a journalist to reveal the GovernmentConspiracy, despite having already been bought off.

* {{Akumetsu}} uses this ''continuously.'' [[spoiler:And, when the government decides to stop him from broadcasting his final "movie" on hijacked TV signals, he puts it all over the internet.]]

* Wikileaks, more specifically the attempt by the U.S. government to shut them down and the campaign by pro-internet freedom collective "Anonymous" to defend [=WikiLeaks=] and its founder and to keep the information online. See [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiLeaks The Other]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Payback Wiki]] for more information.
** Though this one is a [[GreyAndGreyMorality debatably]] [[{{YMMV}} heroic]] example of this trope, as WikiLeaks' founder's stated goal was to break down diplomacy and communication between nations.

Compare and contrast the villainous counterpart, DoNotAdjustYourSet. See also InformationWantsToBeFree.

* In ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', when the crew finds out about the [[MegaCorp Wormgate Corporation]]'s AncientConspiracy to suppress the [[TeleportersAndTransporters teraport]] drive, [[MadScientist Kevyn]] sends the schematics of both the drive and an interdiction device to literally ''everybody''.

** He's later put on trial and the charges include high treason and grand spamming. Guess which one carries a higher penalty.

* In ''ChainReaction'', the good guy releases to the world the details of the machine allowing production of functionally unlimited energy by [[TechMarchesOn faxing it]] to news offices everywhere.

* The end of ''TheyLive''.
** Actually, in this case, they ''do'' stop the signal. The signal being what keeps the aliens looking like us.

* The original ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' plays this slightly differently to the film (see belowe) -- Rorschach puts his diary in a mailbox before the {{denouement}}, and we only discover its destination at the very end. Whether the world finds out is left ambiguous, and the reader is asked to decide.

* In TheMovie of ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'', Rorschach sends his diary to [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Not The]] ''[[ConspiracyTheorist Weekly World News]]'' before the big showdown. It was ambiguous as to whether the information was chosen, or even believable though.

* ''TheShawshankRedemption'' has a small-town variation on this. As he escapes and takes all of the secret kickback money out of false bank accounts, Andy drops a package of hard proof of the warden's crimes into the outgoing mail. That gets sent to the local newpaper; in the next scene, the front page article indicting the prison warden is shown.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''PushNevada'' (BenAffleck's gimmick show where a viewer could win the money stolen from an InUniverse casino) -- the protagonist sends his evidence to every email address he can find.
* Averted, barely, in ''HighlanderTheSeries'' only because Duncan uses the quickening to fry Paris' power grid -- and the computer holding the disk which holds information about Immortals and Watchers.
* Attempted in the season finale of ''Series/{{Alphas}}'' when [[spoiler: Dr. Rosen broadcasts testimony of the existence of alphas and the government's response. They eventually cut him off, but not until it's far too late.]]
[[/folder]]

* In both the original ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' comic and [[Film/{{Watchmen}} its film adaptation]], Rorschach sends his diary to [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Not The]] ''[[ConspiracyTheorist Weekly World News]]'' before the big showdown. It was ambiguous as to whether the information was chosen, or even believable though.

[[folder:Sequential Art]]
* The original ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' plays this slightly differently to the film (see above) -- Rorschach puts his diary in a mailbox before the {{denouement}}, and we only discover its destination at the very end. Whether the world finds out is left ambiguous, and the reader is asked to decide.
* {{Akumetsu}} uses this ''continuously.'' [[spoiler:And, when the government decides to stop him from broadcasting his final "movie" on hijacked TV signals, he puts it all over the internet.]]
* A subversion in MilestoneComics' ''Comicbook/{{Hardware}}''. This is the first thing the protagonist tries, anonymously sending the media all the evidence he's gathered on Alva's wrongdoing. And the media pointedly ignores it.
* The SpiderMan ''WhatIf'' issue [[http://www.4thletter.net/2006/11/the-top-100-what-if-countdown-part-19/ "What If Gwen Stacy Had Lived?"]] concludes with a reversal of this trope, in that it's the ''villain'' who sends information to the press rather than the hero. The Green Goblin posts evidence of Spider-Man's SecretIdentity to the hero's "second-greatest enemy": [[DaEditor J. Jonah Jameson]].
[[/folder]]

* ''Push Nevada'' (Ben Affleck's gimmick show where a viewer could win the money stolen from an InUniverse casino) -- the protagonist sends his evidence to every email address he can find.
* Averted, barely, in HighlanderTheSeries only because Duncan uses the quickening to fry Paris' power grid -- and the computer holding the disk which holds information about Immortals and Watchers.

* In ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' TheMovie, Rorschach sends his diary to [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Not The]] ''[[ConspiracyTheorist Weekly World News]]'' before the big showdown. It was ambiguous as to whether the information was chosen, or even believable though.

* The end of ''TheyLive!''.

* Attempted in the season finale of ''{{Alphas}}'' when [[spoiler: Dr. Rosen broadcasts testimony of the existence of alphas and the government's response. They eventually cut him off, but not until it's far too late.]]

* TheShawshankRedemption has a small-town variation on this. As he escapes and takes all of the secret kickback money out of false bank accounts, Andy drops a package of hard proof of the warden's crimes into the outgoing mail. That gets sent to the local newpaper; in the next scene, the front page article indicting the prison warden is shown.

Occasionally this is the posthumous revenge of a DeadManWriting. This can be used to subvert a ShootTheShaggyDog ending -- the protagonists achieved nothing and [[HeroicSacrifice died in the attempt]], but if it's subsequently revealed that they managed to get the word out, it might all be worth it. Can also be played [[BolivianArmyEnding ambiguously]], with the audience unsure of whether the information gets delivered or not (or whether or not it has any effect if it does).

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