History Main / WorstNewsJudgmentEver

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', anything plot-relevant will always be in the front page of the papers. Apparently, the characters (or at least Trafalgar Law) expect this, since at one point, he tells [[spoiler:Don Quixote Doflamingo that if Doflamingo's resignation from the Seven Warlords does not appear on the front page of the next day's paper, Law will not return Doflamingo's head scientist back]]. There is no mention on what Law would do if the announcement happened anywhere else in the paper. [[spoiler: Indeed, Doflamingo's resignation was put on the front page, though the same paper also mentions the teaming up of several notorious pirate captains, Luffy and Law included, placed in the newspaper's middle pages.]] [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], however, in that [[spoiler:Doflamingo has the clout needed to demand the press to put exactly what he wants into the papers in order to get what he wants]].

** While [[{{Narrator}} Cecil's]] sense of what ''makes'' a news story noteworthy is often [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight a bit skewed]], he usually does manage to pick out the relevant stories to report on. However, he really drops the ball in Ep. 31, "A Blinking Light up on the Mountain". He neglects to mention (first) that the mountain is new, (second) that the new mountain rose out of a new set of mud plains, and (third) ''that the mud plains are currently covered by an invading army.''

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS13E18IAmFuriousYellow I Am Furious (Yellow)]]", one ''WebAnimation/AngryDad'' short involves the titular character reading a newspaper with a headline that says "[[ThisLoserIsYou You Suck, Angry Dad]]".

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' the newspapers in [[GayParee Paris, France]] apparently consider events in the hospitality industry [[SeriousBusiness worthy of the front page]], instead of the business or lifestyle sections. Sure, the French take their food a bit more seriously than the inhabitants of other countries, but not to that extent.

* ''Film/Anchorman2TheLegendContinues'', which is set in 1980, sends this up by having Ron Burgundy and his crew effectively inventing the trope -- at least as far as its use by TwentyFourHourNewsNetworks is concerned. Stuck in a 2 AM timeslot and having made a bet with the prime time anchor that they could get higher ratings, they decide to give people what they want to see, so rather than actual news they present cute animal stories, tributes to American patriotism, gimmicky sports highlights, and celebrity fluff. This works spectacularly.

* Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem: Invoked but the MACUSA to cover up the existence of magic. They replace a story about a magical creature wreaking havoc with one about unseasonal rainy weather.

* WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug: In the episode “Glaciator 2”, someone decided that Alya removing all photographs of Ladybug kissing Cat Noir (at Marinette’s request, due to the latter being annoyed at them being taken out of context to call the superheroes a couple) from the Ladyblog was worth opening a news report.

* The local paper in ''Film/ChristmasWithTheKranks'' felt that a story about a couple not celebrating Christmas that year was worth being put on the front page. Really. Given that the townsfolk become an angry mob when they hear that [[SeriousBusiness the title characters aren't celebrating Christmas]], what would stop some newspaper?

* The inverted version is shown in ''Film/DogSoldiers'': The screen shows an article depicting the events of the film, only to quickly pan out, revealing it as a secondary story to the main headline (the result of an International Football match). The secondary story is about the only survivor of a British soldier unit who were attacked by Werewolves.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Ponyville Confidential" the Cutie Mark Crusaders write stories about such gossip as the Mayor dying her mane or [[GodEmperor Princess Celestia]] acting like a normal pony. This is hardly the Cutie Mark Crusaders' fault, however, as any attempts at normal news are thrown out by the paper's editor ([[AlphaBitch Diamond Tiara]]) who insists that the paper exclusively prints stories that basically turn it into a gossip rag. What makes it even worse is that when the CMC try to quit the paper, she ''blackmails them into continuing''. Luckily she gets her comeuppance at the end, getting fired from her editor position and relegated to the unglorious and dirty job of running the presses, while the colt that was previously doing that job gets promoted to staff photographer.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BrandyAndMrWhiskers'' episode "The Tortoise and the Harebrain", when Mr. Whiskers challenges the tortoise to race, it cuts to a huge newspaper headline, with an announcer proudly declaring ladies' pantsuits are 50% off, before the camera pans to the tiny corner of the paper, with the announcer much less enthusiastically saying that the tortoise and hare will race. The gag is then reused at the episode's end when the tortise and Mr. Whiskers tie.

* A classic ''Radio/BobAndRay'' bit combines this with WeirdnessCensor, as newsman Wally Ballou doggedly interviews a cranberry grower in Times Square even as sirens, gunshots, screams, etc. are heard in the background. Revisited in their 1979 Creator/{{NBC}} TV special; see it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pBMzx0W5Vw here]].

* A classic ''Radio/BobAndRay'' bit has newsman Wally Ballou doggedly interviewing a cranberry grower in Times Square, even as sirens, gunshots, screams, etc. are heard in the background. Revisited in their 1979 Creator/{{NBC}} TV special; see it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pBMzx0W5Vw here]].

** In the alternate future (courtesy of Biff), Doc holds up a newspaper where the front page story is about how he was proclaimed insane and committed. While he is a strange, prominent figure in the town, it doesn't really merit the front page. Particularly implausible is the fact that "Doc Brown" is used to identify him in the banner headline, while the sub head refers to him as "local inventor" or whatever. Because yeah, only a minority of readers would require clarification.

* [[http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics66.html This]] web site lists several [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Franchise/{{Superman}} examples.

** Invoked in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E25WhoShotMrBurnsPartOne?from=Recap.TheSimpsonsWhoShotMrBurns "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)"]]; after Springfield Elementary strikes oil, Superintendent Chalmers visits Skinner to celebrate, and Skinner poorly tries to cover an unflattering write-up.

** Invoked in [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E25WhoShotMrBurnsPartOne?from=Recap.TheSimpsonsWhoShotMrBurns "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)"]]; after Springfield Elementary strikes oil, Superintendent Chalmers visits Skinner to celebrate, and Skinner poorly tries to cover an unflattering write-up.

-->'''Skinner:''' Superintendent, we made the front page today!\\

* ''Film/SpiderMan2'': "SPIDER-MAN NO MORE" gets a front page picture in the ''Bugle'', while a story about Doc Ock gets pushed to the back pages.

* Invoked in the flash game ''[[http://pope.jeffsys.net/play.php?g=trt The Republia Times]]''. You play as the newspaper editor of a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny and ordered to puff up pieces that keep people entertained (to bring in more readers) or inspire loyalty while downplaying negative news. Thus [[spoiler:until you're contacted by LaResistance]] you're encouraged to produce papers with huge articles about a celebrity wedding while stories like a terrorist bomb causing 600 casualties being relegated to the side column.

* In a ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' arc by Todd [=McFarlane=], Spider-Man went to Canada to investigate a string of savage murders allegedly committed by the {{Wendigo}}. During the arc, he encountered Franchise/{{Wolverine}}, who revealed that a mundane human serial killer was the real culprit. The actual murders received banner 72 point headlines, but when the truth was revealed to the public, the retraction was buried on page 15 or so. Sadly, a case of TruthInTelevision (during the [=McCarthy=] hearings, while his flamboyant accusations were front-page news, whenever any of his accusations were proven wrong, the retractions were buried near the obituaries).

** ''CNNNN'', similar to ''The Onion'' example, parodied this in the wake of a scandal surrounding AFL star Wayne Carey with "Iraq war continues, Melbourne newspaper struggles for Carey angle" in the news {{crawl}}.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' does this all the time, often [[LampshadeHanging pointed out]] by having the "top story" edge out an article along the lines of "China Invades US" or "End of World Confirmed".

** ''CNNNN'', similar to ''The Onion'' example, parodied this in the wake of a scandal surrounding AFL star Wayne Carey with "Iraq war continues, Melbourne newspaper struggles for Carey angle" in the news ticker.