History Main / KentBrockmanNews

*** In "Burns, Baby Burns" when he and "hostage" Larry Burns are surrounded by police at a movie theater, this happens:

* Johnny Elaine, the realistic fish head from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. Also the regular newscasters (Bob and Barbara), who tend to laugh at whatever they report the few times they've shown up.

* ''Comicbook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'' has enough examples of this to cover the inside of a barn. Just to give an idea, one of the most straightforward and reputable shows in future America is built around its host being a giant, grim, stern, intense, scar-faced, concealed weapon-carrying ViolentGlaswegian who's not afraid to bully the president to his face.

* ''Film/TheKentuckyFriedMovie'', where between skits a newscaster would pop up with oddball news flashes like "I'm not wearing any pants, FilmAtEleven." And again when he says in the same deadpan tone "Moscow in flames, missiles headed towards New York. FilmAtEleven."

* ''Film/RoboCop1987'': The anchors are obvious shills for OCP.
-->'''Casey Wong:''' On the international scene the Amazon nuclear facility has blown its stack irradiating the world's largest rainforest. Environmentalists are calling it a disaster.\\
'''Jess Perkins:''' But don't they always.
* ''Film/StarshipTroopers'': The media are owned by the Federation, so the line between "news" and propaganda is non-existent.
-->See our brave boys and girls on the front line of the bug war! Research on captured Bugs informs us about the enemy! [Censored shot of a bug tearing apart a cow]; Army representatives visit schoolchildren and let them try live ammunition! Join the forces: service guarantees citizenship! Would you like to know MORE?
* ''Film/{{Bananas}}'' begins with Howard Cosell himself presenting the "live, on-the-spot assassination" of the dictator of [[BananaRepublic San Marcos]] for ''Wide World of Sports''.
* One of the news anchors in ''Film/DieHard'' speculate that the hostages have developed "Helsinki Syndrome, named after Helsinki, Sweden," and the other corrects him - [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Helsinki's in Finland]][[note]]They're talking about UsefulNotes/StockholmSyndrome[[/note]]. Then the cut back to Nakatomi Plaza shows quite clearly that they're talking out of their asses.

* In the Live-action/cartoon movie ''Film/OsmosisJones'', cellular newscasters get into a brawl against each other as the film peaks into the stressful climax. When the ordeal was over, we see them again, but this time with bandages as a comedic result of their feud.
* ''Film/SesameStreetPresentsFollowThatBird'' has a scene where an anchorman, played by Creator/ChevyChase, reports on the disappearance of Big Bird from his foster family's home in Illinois. He responds to a question by Grover [[BreakingTheFourthWall (who is watching the broadcast)]], has to be corrected by someone offscreen on the pronunciation of the word "sesame", and finally gives the weather report as [[Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine?"]] in a completely deadpan tone. It then cuts to Kermit the Frog reporting on the scene, and things just get more Kent Brockman-esque from there...

* Not quite "news", but the commentators in the ''Film/PitchPerfect'' films perform much the same role with some amusing dialog.

* [[Series/WheelOfFortune Vanna White]] and George Hamilton play news anchors in ''Film/DoubleDragon1994''. In one broadcast, George laments the end of the (fictional) relationship between {{Music/Madonna}} and Creator/TomArnold.

* All newscasts in ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' are done by the same caster, Howard Handupme. While he would try to be professional, sometimes his skewed basis would be seen, or perhaps he would be just a little too candid. For example, in "Monster Under The Bed", when Baby Sinclair figures out a way to resolve the crisis without it having to devolve into a firefight, he keeps trying to downplay it until it becomes apparent that the situation will end peacefully, and not in a juicy bloodbath like he clearly hopes. Also, this bit from the first episode:
-->'''Howard:''' A meteor three times the size of Earth is headed on a collision course that will result in the extinction of all life as we know it. ''[is handed a paper]'' This just in, "No, it's not."

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Mixels}}'' has the Newzers, a whole tribe ''themed'' around newscasting.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona4'' [[NewGamePlus Golden]] if you romance Marie, she becomes a weather reporter in the ending, and she directly addresses the PlayerCharacter on TV by saying [[spoiler: that she'll use her RealityWarper powers to make the weather whatever ''he'' wants]].
* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'':
** Early games had recurring robot reporter Darla Gratch.
** ''VideoGame/RatchetDeadlocked'' had a male alien, Dallas, and female robot, Juanita, as news anchors and announcers, who alternate between snarky comments about each other, showing off their extreme personality flaws on camera, and [[{{Demonization}} slandering the titular character]] (until he saves everyone after the BigBad's goes off the deep end).
** ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureACrackInTime A Crack In Time]]'' gives us Kip Darling and Pepper Fairbanks, a pair of radio personalities. In the first level of ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankAll4One All 4 One]]'', they do a running commentary on the Light-Eating Z'Grute's rampage through Luminopolis. Besides giving us a play-by-play of the beast's destruction, they also comment on Galactic President Qwark's regime, as well as taking time to plug some of their sponsors.

* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' has a TV in the protagonist's hideout. It's delivering pretty normal news... Except when you play as [[TheMadHatter Malkavian]], which turns the news into Kent Brockman variety.
-->'''Anchor:''' Los Angeles was left shocked today, following a vicious gun battle between the LAPD... and you. They were all like, "BANG! BANG! Ya filthy varmint!", and you were all like "POW! POW! Oooh, you [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes wascally wabbit!]] You got me!"
* There was an old FMV PC game about art trading that would end each level with a news report on current events that would affect the values of certain paintings. The news anchor would smirk triumphantly while delivering tragic news and scowl while delivering upbeat news.
* Radio/GTARadio is full of this, especially WCTR in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''.

* Trivia game ''VideoGame/YouDontKnowJack'' would often have fake bumpers for Kent Brockman News over the credits. "Coming up: I couldn't string two sentences together to save my life. Tonight."
* ''VideoGame/MidtownMadness 2'' had at least one announcer like this (out of three or four); one of their race-opening lines ended in "... probably because I'm not wearing any pants!"

* ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' has news anchor Donny Vermillion blatantly paint Jim Raynor's rebels as ruthless terrorists even when his respondent tells him most of the civilian casualties in the most recent battle were caused by overzealous Dominion soldiers. This is further accented with ridiculous censorship of an interviewed subject, lots of talk over the logo, and other antics. [[spoiler:Then he finds out that Mengsk, the guy he had been shilling the whole time, was the one responsible for his brother's death on Tarsonis. The final news broadcast is on how Donny Vermillion has gone insane and the respondent is taking over as anchor. ]]
* Each ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' game features a pair ([[VideoGame/Splatoon3 or trio]]) of popular in-universe idols or musicians that host a news program that plays whenever you boot up the game, alerting the player to the current playable stages (each mode uses a map rotation system) and any new updates (be it new weapons, a Splatfest, or a gameplay patch). They usually lapse when it comes to giving any useful advice to the player however, and instead start rambling, gossiping, and generally going on tangents more often than not.
-->'''Callie:''' Any advice on this stage?\\
'''Marie:''' Uh...Paint more than the other team?

* ''VideoGame/SimCity Enhanced'' had FullMotionVideo clips including reports on the disasters that you unleashed, [[VerbalBackspace er]], happened to befall your city, which were usually happening [[DeadlineNews right on top of the newsroom]]. The news anchor thinks that reports of a rampaging monster are all just a joke [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo0L3QqLAk0 until it squashes her]], reports a plane crash with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfouzLxyWyc some odd details]], fails to take her own advice over remaining calm [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZj5VfJHVtY in the face of a meltdown]] and also reports the meltdown at a nuclear power station [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZj5VfJHVtY next door to the studio]]: everyone else has been rushed to hospital except her because "[[BlackComedy I don't have insurance]]".
* Jane Valderama in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' speaks in the weirdly smarmy monotone and a [=WASP=]ish accent that only slips when she says her Hispanic last name. Also indulges the tortured metaphors, especially while giving running commentary as an embedded reporter in the Gang War -- she rides shotgun with the Boss, bringing her own shotgun. She continues the trend again in ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird The Third]]'' and even when she's acting as a radio host in ''[[VideoGame/SaintsRowIV IV]]''.
* Alot of the news broadcasts in the ''VideoGame/{{Rampage}}'' series are like this.
* In your EscapePod at the start of ''VideoGame/RobotCity'', your character can watch a subspace news broadcast from Sirius, whose anchorman unprofessionally rambles between articles such as the Auroran government vetoing a grant for the titular city, the Voyager probe being found 12 lightyears from Earth, and an Earth Day fair on planet Magellan.

* The three main radio hosts of the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series, in varying flavors.
** [[VideoGame/Fallout3 Three Dog]] frequently interrupts his own news broadcasts to talk about "the good fight", make fun of President Eden ("that ''other'' radio host") and deliver segments about the escapades of the Lone Wanderer. Depending on the number of sidequests the player has completed and how far in the story they have progressed, these LW segments can outnumber actual news about the wasteland.
** [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas Mr. New Vegas]] will occasionally advertise his Christmas album and hit on the ladies of the Mojave, but otherwise sticks to nice, honest reporting.
** [[VideoGame/Fallout4 Travis]] is easily the most Kent Brockman-ish of the three, ''especially'' before the quest to make him more confident. Highlights include [[DidIJustSayThatOutLoud audibly cursing himself while the mic is still running]], banging his head on something in his radio office, screaming about how the Brotherhood of Steel's arrival means we're all going to die, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioTxezbsvbo his commentary on the writer of one of the songs he plays]]. The entirety of his very, very awkward commentary can be heard [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho9WfuMo39E here]].

* ''WebAnimation/HazbinHotel'' has [[NumberOfTheBeast 666]] News, which is presented by resident HateSink Katie Killjoy and her [[ButtMonkey much-abused]] co-anchor Tom Trench. They report on various gang wars, Tom makes lewd remarks and Katie nails him in the groin with hot coffee, there's a [[BlackComedyCannibalism cannibal cooking segment]] with Jeffery Dahmer, and the {{crawl}} quickly segues from [[DontExplainTheJoke explaining a bad pun]] to the writer complaining about his personal life, his affair with a cleaning lady, and an orangutan at the zoo he hates. Of course, it's a news station in {{Hell}}, so this is to be expected.
* This is pretty much the whole point of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gv5_Iwz_8c Bird Town News]]'' by Creator/{{Piemations}}. They insult people they are interviewing to their faces and start fights between them and they are blatantly more interested in getting opinions that are negative of the mayor.

* ''Website/TheOnion'':
** Editorial cartoonist Kelly is close to one of these. [[https://www.theonion.com/editorial-cartoon-december-8-2008-1819589221 This]] is a good example.
** [[http://www.theonion.com/articles/the-6-best-dresses-at-the-golden-globes,30897/ "The 6 Best Dresses At The Golden Globes,"]] a slideshow featuring unfitting images of the war in Syria.

* Segments on the ''[[Website/TheOnion Onion News Network]]'' tends to run with this, especially ''In The Know'' and ''Today Now!''.
%%* Rod Putman in ''WebVideo/BiteMe''.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XTwWqzKeXc End of the world]], from Website/CollegeHumor
* The WebVideo/LoadingReadyRun podcast Podcast/{{Qwerpline}} has this as its central premise.
* The CharacterBlog "The Diary of Ralph Dibney" [[https://web.archive.org/web/20071029233604/http://dibnydiary.blogspot.com/2007/03/daily-planet-can-evidently-do-without.html portrays]] the [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Daily Planet]] as this, with Clark Kent's obituary for Dibney being mostly off-topic rambling about how, from Superman's point of view, it would really suck if he didn't have his powers anymore--hypothetically, anyway, [[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain because he's not Superman.]] Also, they apparently do [[WorstNewsJudgmentEver basically nothing but articles about Superman]], to the point that they published items with titles like "Superman Gets In Fight, Again" and "What Superman Had For Breakfast." Most of the currently-depowered Clark's output currently consists of articles like "Ouch, I Stubbed My Toe" or "I'm Depressed."
* The central conceit of ''WebVideo/SomeMoreNews'' is that The News Dude (played by Cody Johnston) constantly presents RealLife news in this manner in order to provoke laughs from the audience. The News Dude is constantly disheveled, presents news in an over-the-top, bombastic manner, speaks to inanimate objects, has no sense of (or pretense of) objectivity at all and frequently dives into sarcasm, crude sex humor and petty insults towards the subject of the week's broadcast.

* This reporter outs herself as the owner of the medical marijuana store she just covered, then comes out with this: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRPYaWLtgWg "Fuck it, I quit."]] (shrugs and walks off)

* One of the news anchors in ''Film/DieHard'' speculate that the hostages have developed "Helsinki Syndrome, named after Helsinki, Sweden," and the other corrects him - [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Helsinki's in Finland]][[note]]They're talking about StockholmSyndrome[[/note]]. Then the cut back to Nakatomi Plaza shows quite clearly that they're talking out of their asses.

[[folder:WebAnimation]]

* In the mid to late 1970s, UsefulNotes/TedTurner's then-tiny TV station, WTCG-17 in UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}} was required by the FCC to produce a newscast. Not having the resources or drive for it, he assigned station employee Bill Tush to anchor a pre-recorded newscast, taped late in the evening and aired around 2-3AM between movies. Though it started as a straight newscast, ''17 Update Early in the Morning'' as it was eventually called soon evolved into more of a comedy show, featuring the antics of Tush, co-anchor Tina Seldin, the off-camera crew, and various others while they read the news. It became relatively popular, especially after WTCG went coast-to-coast with satellite transmission in 1976. However, in 1979 (after the station became known as [=SuperStation=] WTBS, which would evolve into today's Creator/{{TBS}}), they had to end it after a Congressional investigation was launched into if Turner was fulfilling his FCC requirements with this show; not only that, he was about to launch Creator/{{CNN}} and having a thing like this would present credibility issues. Tush stuck around for a long while after, hosting a sketch comedy show on WTBS (simply named ''Tush'') from 1980 to 82 (with [[Series/SaturdayNightLive Jan Hooks]] and [[Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun Bonnie and]] [[Series/That70sShow Terry Turner]] among the cast), and later became CNN's senior entertainment correspondent.

* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' has actual Los Angeles Creator/{{Fox News|Channel}} anchor John F. Beard (who also appears in [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0063906/ several other Fox shows in the same capacity]] in a landmark '''15''' episodes, which ties him with Henry Winkler/Barry Zuckercorn for the most appearances of a cast member/character not featured in every episode.

* ''Series/TheDailyShow'' and ''Series/TheColbertReport'', spoofs of "traditional" news shows, use these tropes frequently. And were naturally delighted to discover a RealLife example on Creator/{{MSNBC}}, when anchors segued from footage of a cute jumping squirrel to ''the UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} school shooting'' using the words [[http://www.cc.com/video-clips/ggx7it/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-squirrelly-situation "On a serious note..."]]

* {{Creator/MSNBC}} anchorwoman [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mika_Brzezinski Mika Brzezinski]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqwYVor8NtA refused to read a story about]] Creator/ParisHilton. Brzezinski also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp76cHN2FDU laughed after learning about a chlorine gas attack at]] [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom a furry convention]].

* In TheEighties, the closest Australia had to this trope was Clive Robertson, the main news presenter for the Creator/SevenNetwork in Sydney, whose dry wit, outspoken manner and odd tangents made him popular with viewers. (Ironically, Robertson later admitted that he engaged in this behavior in a deliberate bid to get himself fired, which obviously backfired.)

-->-- '''[[TropeNamers Kent Brockman]]''', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4jWAwUb63c (over)reacting to]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext an ant floating towards a camera in space]], ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''

* ''Detroiters'' has Mort Crim, longtime broadcaster who among other things was cited by Will Ferrell as an inspiration for Ron Burgundy-- playing a version of himself. Crim delivers his lines professionally, although the copy for his news segments is often absurd and/or inappropriate. (Example: "And the proof turned out not to be in the pudding, but in the murderer's blood and semen.") And then there's his "Chump of the Week" segment, where Crim highlights a local who's offended, pissed off, or just annoyed him in some way; viewers respond to the segment by mailing the Chump of the Week ''boxes of shit''.

%%* The spoof news show ''Series/TheDayToday'' and its documentary spin-off ''Series/BrassEye'' both used pretty much every single one of these tropes.

* [[Series/WheelOfFortune Vanna White]] and George Hamilton play news anchors in ''Film/DoubleDragon''. In one broadcast, George laments the end of the (fictional) relationship between {{Music/Madonna}} and Creator/TomArnold.

* Each ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' game features popular in-universe idol group or band that hosts a news program that plays whenever you boot up the game, alerting the player to the current playable stages (each mode uses a map rotation system) and any new updates (be it new weapons, a Splatfest, or a gameplay patch). They usually lapse when it comes to giving any useful advice to the player however, and instead start rambling, gossiping, and generally going on tangents more often than not.

* Each ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' installment features a music group (Squid Sister in ''1'', Off the Hook in ''2'', and Deep Cut in ''3'') that hosts a news program that plays whenever you boot up the game, giving the player a live update of the current playable stages and any new additions to the game. They usually lapse when it comes to giving any useful advice to the player however, and instead start rambling, gossiping, and generally going on tangents more often than not.

'''Marie:''' Uh...Paint more than the other team?\\\
'''Callie:''' I... Um... Uh... Stay fresh?\\
'''Marie:''' Can somebody please fix the teleprompter?!

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' has the Squid Sisters, Callie and Marie, newscasters who double as popular idol singers. They open every game with a live update of the current playable stages and any new additions to the game, but they usually lapse when it comes to giving any useful advice to the player, and instead start rambling, gossiping, and generally going on tangents more often than not.

* [[HatesTheJobLovesTheLimelight Very visibly could honestly not give two shits about the news, the audience, professionalism or anything to do with his/her job except for his/her ego.]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtzG3wdF_IU "I'll give you some lessons on how to become a reporter later."]] Almost certainly the inspiration for SNL's Herb Welch sketches mentioned above.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8Bc7eRTdWY&feature=related A rather awkward on-air moment.]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYAMDhVT50I An anchor who doesn't realize her mic is on.]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QLSRMoKKS0 A weatherman]] {{corpsing}} on live TV.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df3FWKbSYP4 WGN in Chicago somehow thought a staged plane crash setpiece]] for ''Series/ChicagoFire'' was an actual plane crash.

-->-- '''Kent Brockman''', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4jWAwUb63c (over)reacting to]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext an ant floating towards a camera in space]], ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''