History Main / ImmoralJournalist

* ''Fanfic/MyHeroAcademiaUnchainedPredator'': Though more idiotic than immoral, the American reporter who barged in and demanded an interview with Izuku after the [[Videogame/Doom2016 Doom Slayer]] turned I-Island into a blood lake slaughterhouse is this. [[EverybodyHasStandards Nobody likes his idiotic desire for glory at the expense of their mental trauma.]]

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/HisGirlFriday'', which features an ethically-challenged editor and a flock of equally morally dubious sensationally covering an upcoming execution. [[spoiler:One of the film's few dramatic moments is the apparent suicide of a woman that the reporters keep labeling as the lover of the criminal (she helped him, yes, but she didn't know him from Adam and did it out of pity) even when she literally begs them to stop]].

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "The Misfortune Cookie", the CausticCritic Harry Folger enjoys having restaurants shut down with his scathing reviews. He is shown to be an extremely unethical journalist when he begins writing a negative review of Mr. Lee's Chinese Cuisine before he visits it. He gives it the title "If you love your Pekingese, don't ask for a doggie bag." When he does later visit it, he orders a great deal of food but demands to be brought his check without touching any of it. His bad review of the restaurant is published in the next day's paper, causing Mr. Lee to lose many of his customers.

* In ''Series/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'', Geraldine Julienne's character is [[CompositeCharacter combined]] with that of Mrs. Poe, making her even worse. She's a very callous woman whose main priority is writing delicious headlines. Mrs. Poe is shown boasting about her article about the fire that killed the Baudelaire parents right in front of the Baudelaire children. In the final episode, [[spoiler:it's shown that her paper will be shut down due to false reporting and she's in jail, most likely as a result of her unethical practices.]]

* Ashley America is this in Valkyrie Women's Wrestling. She joined the locker room for the purpose of exposing and putting an end to women's wrestling, or at the very least the first women's wrestling promotion in New York since Wrestling/TheFabulousMoolah managed to get the ban against it lifted. Ashley America doesn't want to go ''that'' far back but she does want to return to cards where there is only one women's match, preferably one featuring her. She's also against the hiring of Amerindians like Nyla Rose and Wrestling/{{Hania|TheHowlingHuntress}}, stressing to her viewers that the United States of America was founded on the defeat and oppression of Indians.[[/folder]]

* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': Joy briefly became one in season 2, once she became editor of the school news blog, "The Jackal". In an effort to bully Nina out of the school, she posted an anonymous article bashing her for things like skipping class or not visiting her hospitalized grandmother, written to make Nina sound like a bad person. Her other friends called her out on being a poor journalist, especially in comparison to the much more informative and considerate Mara, whose blogging alias was what Joy used in writing the Nina article, [[StealingTheCredit allowing her to temporarily take credit for the stuff Mara]] ''[[StealingTheCredit actually wrote]]''.

** ''[[https://justcourttee.tumblr.com/post/623934405359140864/ Here]]'' features Alya being dragged into court for how she and Lila used the Ladyblog to spread MaliciousSlander. One of the worst incidents turns out to be the pair happily gossiping about Manon, cheerfully deriding the little girl as a SpoiledBrat and spreading horror stories about babysitting her...unaware that Manon had [[spoiler:recently been killed in a car accident]]. So not only were they destroying the reputation of a little girl, but were doing so to [[spoiler:a dead little girl]].

** ''Fanfic/TheOneToMakeItStay'': When the amnesiac Chat Noir [[LoveConfession confesses his feelings]] for Ladybug, he makes clear that he doesn't expect her to return them, as he knows she's already in a relationship with somebody else. This doesn't stop Alya from [[ManipulativeEditing making it appear]] as though Ladybug accepted and returned his feelings, making the regular Chat Noir act even ''more'' [[EntitledToHaveYou entitled to his "partner"]]. And when Ladybug confronts her on this, Alya refuses to admit she did anything wrong, claiming that Ladybug is blowing things completely out of proportion and overreacting.

* ''WesternAnimation/RandyChunningham9thGradeNinja'': Debbie Kang proves herself to be this in the episode "Debbie Meddle", where she discovers Randy's identity as the Ninja and plans to expose him. Randy warns her that doing so would put everyone in danger, but Debbie disregards his warning and exposes him anyway because "she's a journalist, so she can't NOT tell anyone." And right afterwards, McFist sends his robots at the school to destroy Randy, putting everyone in danger like he said. Thankfully, Randy manages to fool everyone into thinking he's not the Ninja and has Debbie mind-wiped.

* ''WesternAnimation/RandyChunningham9thGradeNinja'': Debbie Kang proves herself to be this.

** "Homer Badman" features ''Rock Bottom'', a cable news program that blatantly manipulates footage to sell stories. Homer agrees to an interview to [[[[ItMakesSenseInContext explain]] why he grabbed a gummi Art/VenusDeMilo off a babysitter's behind and presents his case clearly and succinctly. What airs is a painful mess, with blatant edits and cuts (to the point where [[FunnyBackgroundEvent a clock in the background keeps leaping around]]) and an ending wherein Homer apparently "attacks" interviewer Godfrey Jones (by simply zooming in on a still image):

** And when she is forced to stop, it turns out that she has left quite the legacy in the Daily Prophet, which is officially now a trashy Ministry crier that devotes a significant part of its time and content to a smear campaign against anyone who is considered a threat by the Minister and his sycophantic court (in this case Harry and Dumbledore). Oh [[spoiler: and in order to prove how their loyalties lie only on their current interests they shamelessly do a 180 turn at the end of the book and start to obsequiously praise Harry and denounce those who laughed at him, while neglecting to mention, as Hermione herself pointed out, the small detail that it was them who primarily laughed at him.]]

** And when she is forced to stop, it turns out that she has left quite the legacy in the Daily Prophet, which turns out to be a trashy Ministry crier that devotes a significant part of its time and content to a smear campaign against anyone who is considered a threat by the Minister and his sycophantic court (in this case Harry and Dumbledore).

* ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'': The detectives tend to view all reporters as this. They are right in some cases, as multiple reporters shown over the course of the series are amoral scumbags, but just as many are genuine IntrepidReporter{{s}}.

The worst Immoral Journalists are actively malicious, or at least it feels that way. They have zero ethical consideration for their subjects, or the impact of their reporting and [[IfItBleedsItLeads will gladly shove a microphone in your face two minutes after you watched your entire family being murdered]]. They won't hesitate to [[MaliciousSlander ruin someone's reputation]], even if they know for sure that the allegations are all false. They'll happily churn out propaganda and spin for {{Corrupt Politician}}s. In extreme cases, they may cause some kind of disaster just because they think it'd make a good story. This may also fall under TrashyTrueCrime.

** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'': The media covers for the brutal suppression of an Earthian workers protest by demonizing the Earthians as violent and claiming they attacked first.

** ''[[https://justcourttee.tumblr.com/post/623934405359140864/ Here]]'' features Alya being dragged into court for how she and Lila used the Ladyblog to spread MaliciousSlander. One of the worst incidents turns out to be the pair happily gossiping about Manon, cheerfully deriding the little girl as a SpoiledBrat and spreading horror stories about babysitting her... unaware that Manon had [[spoiler:recently been killed in a car accident]]. So not only were they destroying the reputation of a little girl, but were doing so to [[spoiler:a dead little girl]].

** In ''Film/DieHard'', sleazy reporter Dick Thornberg threatens to have the family nanny deported if she doesn't let him interview Holly and John [=McClane's=] children. The resultant interview outs Holly as John's wife to the terrorists, leading to potentially fatal consequences. When it is all over, Holly decks the guy.

* Gale Weathers in the ''Film/{{Scream}}'' films, especially the first two, is a downplayed example. She's portrayed as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold who helps save the day, and her theory that [[spoiler:[[MiscarriageOfJustice the wrong man was arrested and convicted]] for the murder of Maureen Prescott]] turns out to have been correct, but she's still extremely mercenary and motivated to cover the killing sprees by the promise of fame and fortune from writing the TrueCrime books about them. [[FinalGirl Sidney]] punches her in the face ''twice'' because of it. She mellows out in the later films, though, and becomes a more conventionally heroic IntrepidReporter. In [[Film/Scream4 the fourth film]], she's [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame horrified]] when she sees that Sidney's publicist Rebecca idolizes her, and at the end of [[Film/Scream2022 the fifth]], [[spoiler:she emphatically refuses to write the book about the murders and give the killers FameThroughInfamy, instead writing it about her slain former lover Dewey and seeking instead to let the killers die in obscurity]]… [[spoiler:an oath that [[Film/ScreamVI the following film]] reveals she eventually broke, and the book she wrote unwittingly gave the ConspiracyTheorist circle ammunition to turn Samantha Carpenter[[note]]the child of Billy Loomis[[/note]] into a HeroWithBadPublicity, and almost created a wave of more Ghostface copycats[[note]]before the prim and proper Ghostface killers of this film [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou tore them a new one]][[/note]].]]

** His company deliberately creates faulty software that require constant updates. His TV anchors even report on "floods in Pakistan, riots in Paris, and a plane crash in California" that ''they'' engineered just for TV ratings.

** And when she is forced to stop, it turns out that she has left quite the legacy in the Daily Prophet, which turns out be a trashy Ministry crier that devotes a significant part of its time and content into a smear-campaign against anyone who is considered a threat by the Minister and his sycophantic court (in this case Harry and Dumbledore).

* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': In "[[Recap/MonkS6E10MrMonkAndTheManWhoShotSantaClaus Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa Claus]]", Brandy Barber purposely skews Monk's explanatory interview to make him look bad, and seems disappointed when she has to change her coverage to something complimentary after he solves the mystery.
* Series/MurderSheWrote: The episode "For Whom the Bell Tolls" features a TV reporter who is initially shown as sympathetic towards protecting a historic building that used to be a speakeasy, because it gets good ratings. He secretly wants them to fail, because he plans a feature on whether the demolition will reveal Dutch Schultz's victims. As soon as the protestors start showing some success, he reverses course, presenting them as standing in the way of pogress.

* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'': Joan Calamezzo is an important presence in Pawnee's media, and a reporter that has a taste for controversies more than she is interested in the truth. She extrapolates every little thing that goes wrong and even outright lies about things and events in the city (such as telling that all staff in Leslie's Harvest Festival are criminals when she was specifically told they aren't) and freely shames many of her show's guests (mainly Leslie) whenever it will bring her ratings.

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories'' has Ned Burner, who disguises himself as a priest to get Toni to commit crimes such as killing a federal witness, stealing diamonds, creating chaos on the city roads in a firetruck and killing film stars who refused to give an interview to him, all so he can report on those crimes and make the headlines.

* ''VideoGame/IdolManager'': Aya Naya is seen walking that path during one of her events. She takes to writing a -- well-researched, to her credit -- story based on a conclusion she has already made before finding the facts that support it. On-screen, she admits to having started writing a story about a music genre making a comeback, but lacking any proof that it's actually happening. As this happens in the story mode of an IdolSinger management game, guess who ends up being asked to produce a single in that music genre that sells well enough to top the charts so that Aya can use an interview of their idol group as the rationale to publish the story.

* PlayedWith in the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode, "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS6E9BoatingBuddiesTheKrabbyKronicle The Krabby Kronicle]]". Upon seeing the potential of money being made from newspapers, Mr. Krabs sets up his own newspaper business aptly named the Krabby Kronicle with [=SpongeBob=] as his reporter. However, things get out of hand when Mr. Krabs tells [=SpongeBob=] to "embellish" his stories. Being TheDitz that he is, [=SpongeBob=] goes around taking pictures of everyone in Bikini Bottom and writes out-of-context stories from them. This turns the newspaper brand into a huge success, but at the expense of ruining people's lives through gossip. [[spoiler:Eventually, [=SpongeBob=] starts realizing what he's doing wrong and tries to warn Mr. Krabs about it, but he becomes too self-absorbed in his wealth by that point and threatens to take away [=SpongeBob=]'s fry cooking job. In a clever act of karma, [=SpongeBob=] decides to twist Mr. Krab's threat into a story to make it seem like he's being unfairly overworked and underpaid, and combined with the testimonies of the other offended victims, results in everyone boycotting the business and taking back all the money earned from it]].

** "Superman's Pal" presents the ''Planet's'' gossip reporter, Angela Chen, as also being immoral in a more passive way. When Superman refuses to give her a statement on his latest rescue, she fixes on ComicBook/JimmyOlsen, who she saw him thank [[HeroicBystander for helping with the evacuation.]] She convinces him to give her an interview on his relationship with Superman (though Jimmy insists it's just barely a relationship) and then cuts the footage to make it sound like Jimmy is saying that they're close friends and he's saved Superman's life before. This nearly gets him killed when the town crooks start taking the story seriously, but Angela refuses to recant it, instead calling Jimmy ungrateful for rejecting the publicity.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Rita Skeeter is willing to do anything for a good story such as spying on people, sensationalising what people tell her, taking advantage of and stealing from an old lady who, at best is not all there and at worst [[DeadAllAlong actually dead]], and outright inventing gossip when nothing good comes out. In particular, she's willing to print completely false stories about people she dislikes. She's also ''literally'' breaking the law to get her biggest stories: she's an [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Animagus]] who can turn herself into a beetle to get dirt. Animagi are required to register with the Ministry of Magic to prevent abuses of power such as Rita's scheming.

* ''Film/{{The Batman|2022}}'': A journalist found out that Martha Wayne's parents died in a murder-suicide and then had mental health problems for years and was going to publish all of that on the eve of the mayoral election. No political significance, nothing immoral, just yellow journalism crap.

* In ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'', none are mentioned by name, but the press in general give the protagonist a lot of grief about his role in the Barbarossa incident, usually calling him a “mass murderer.” Downplayed, as he and Tamara, as it is revealed, [[spoiler:got a warning about what would happen if they were to open the door of the cable car]].

* Soji Mizumi from ''VideoGame/PeretEmHeruForThePrisoners'' starts off as a GloryHound who cares about nothing except being the first to break the story on Khufu's tomb, even as it becomes apparent that it can and will kill people. [[spoiler:Then he reveals that he's a SerialRapist on top of that -- which can result in his KarmicDeath. Even if he does make it out with his life, he learns absolutely nothing from the ordeal and is last seen begging to go back even though two people [[AnyoneCanDie at the very least]] died in there]].

* Angus Fangus from ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'' is on a crusade to besmirch Paperinik, insisting all the time that [=PK=] is a criminal mastermind despite all evidence -- and in fact, he's not above fabricating the "evidence" himself. Like J. Jonah Jameson above, though, there's more to him: he is a genuinely talented investigative reporter (enough to write a series of Pulitzer-winning articles) who had to leave his country after exposing a CorruptCorporateExecutive and making a powerful enemy. Arguably, his greatest talent is also his biggest personal flaw: the ability to see the worst in everyone. It makes him good at exposing crooks but makes him too cynical to believe [[EvilCannotComprehendGood someone like PK can be genuinely good]], especially after [[CynicismCatalyst his closest friend and his director set him up to be kidnapped by terrorists so the former could steal his Pulitzer-winning articles]].

** ''Fanfic/LadyBugOut'': Alya unknowingly slips into this mentality at the start of the series. When called out for deliberately misrepresenting what happened with Oblivio, she declares that being a superhero makes Ladybug a public figure, and that makes her fair game for Alya to depict her in whatever ways she sees fit.

* ''Film/ToCatchAKiller2023'': Special Agent Lammark is very dismissive of the news media as ratings-seeking scumbags whose speculation about the supposed psychology or motives of the killer is worse than useless, outright calling one particular news anchor a "parasite" for defaming a troubled teenager who was mistaken for the shooter. His superiors force him to work together with them anyway ([[IgnoredExpert dismissing his very pointed objections]]), giving the news media some of the security footage they acquired from the second shooting and creating a tip line to help them ID the suspect more quickly. It proves to be a massive waste of time and resources since it just gives airtime to whackjobs and creates a panic that leads to more violent incidents, while the FBI and police waste numerous man-hours chasing down unrelated suspects.

* ''Film/ToCatchAKiller2023'': Special Agent Lammark is very dismissive of the news media as ratings-seeking scumbags whose input into the supposed psychology of the killer is worse than useless, outright calling one particular news anchor a "parasite" for defaming a troubled teenager who was mistaken for the shooter. His superiors force him to work together with them anyway ([[IgnoredExpert dismissing his very pointed objections]]), giving the news media some of the security footage they acquired from the second shooting and creating a tip line to help them ID the suspect more quickly. It proves to be a massive waste of time and resources since it just gives airtime to whackjobs and creates a panic that leads to more violent incidents, while the FBI and police waste numerous man-hours chasing down unrelated suspects.

* ''Film/ToCatchAKiller2023'': Special Agent Lammark is very dismissive of the news media as ratings-seeking scumbags whose input into the supposed psychology of the killer is worse than useless, outright calling one particular news anchor a "parasite" for defaming a troubled teenager who was mistaken for the shooter. His superiors force him to work together with them anyway ([[IgnoredExpert dismissing his very pointed objections]]), giving the news media some of the security footage they acquired from the second shooting and creating a tip line to help them ID the suspect more quickly. It proves to be a massive waste of time as it just gives airtime to whackjobs and creates a panic that leads to more violent incidents, while the FBI and police waste numerous man-hours chasing down unrelated suspects.