History Main / EndangeringNewsBroadcast

* The infamous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_hostage_crisis Rizal Park hostage-taking incident of 2010]], where an ex-cop took a tourist bus hostage in the middle of the aforementioned park. While the incident ensued the perpetrator was [[ExploitedTrope watching the news]], which covered everything happening outside the bus. Meaning he knew the police's every move but they didn't know his, as he covered all the windows of the bus.

** In one episode where Marge was in a hostage situation, the criminal later broke out of jail to go after her... with a newspaper he was holding giving the address of the Simpson home ''[[UpToEleven and]]'' [[UpToEleven the security code for their alarm]].

* In the ''Series/{{iCarly}}'' episode, "iSam's Mom", when Freddie catches a criminal called the Shadow Hammer on video with special sunglasses that record video, one of the girls who lives in Freddie's apartment building [[WhatAnIdiot reveals where he lives despite Freddie's insistence not to say so]].

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* During Volume 3 of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', the villains [[spoiler:finally enact their plan by tricking Pyrrha into killing Penny on live TV after hacking the system and making it impossible for anyone to cut the feed]]. They then begin the invasion, with Grimm swarming the city, drawn to the fear and rage of the civilians, while the White Fang arrives and the Atlas robots go rogue. Cinder has Mercury live stream the attack, causing massive Grimm attacks across Remnant due to the negativity.
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* A plot point in ''Saving Lily''. Several kids, their families, and their teacher are raising money to buy an elephant from a cruel circus owner so they can deliver her to an elephant shelter. Lily's owner agrees to the deal if there is no outside publicity about it. The day before the deal happens, two well-meaning kids (not well acquainted with the main kids) get the local newspaper to publish an article about the efforts, which reaches the attention of the circus man. He cancels the deal but is convinced to uncancel it because all the money had been raised without media help and because canceling the deal means they're free to raise as much publicity as they want about it.

* In ''Film/DieHard2'', the same {{Jerkass}} GloryHound reporter from the first film (who is trapped on one of the planes alongside [[IHaveYourWife John's wife]]) manages to broadcast the fact that there is a terrorist threat (which the Dulles authorities have managed to keep quiet about so far) on national television (purely for personal glory -- by the time Holly knocks him out with a taser, he's halfway into delivering a speech through the phone to his TV station that if this is his final broadcast, that he hopes he'll be remembered as a hero or something), leading to a massive riot at the airport which gridlocks the police's mobilization and forces John to face the escaping terrorists on his own. It also nearly panics the plane's passengers, who are also watching a TV broadcast.

* In the ''Series/{{iCarly}}'' episode, "iSam's Mom", when Freddie catches a criminal called the Shadow Hammer on video with special sunglasses that record video, one of the girls who lives in Freddie's apartment building [[TooDumbToLive reveals where he lives despite Freddie's insistence not to say so]].

'''Holly:''' Listen, buster, you endangered my children. And you didn’t do it for anything as noble as the people. The only time you see the people is when you look down to see what you’re stepping on.

* The Discovery TV mini-series ''Series/ManhuntUnabomber'' (which [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory dramatizes]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the FBI's manhunt for Theodore Kaczynski]]) tosses an enormous complication on the investigation after the FBI is able to single out that Kaczynski is the most probable suspect and start to surveil his home and mobilize agents covertly to raid it when the time is right and they have iron-clad proof. What was meant to be a multi-month operation turns into [[RaceAgainstTime a mad dash to find enough evidence to present to the judge and strike within 24 hours]] when NBC catches wind of what is going on and the SmugSnake producer tells the director that he will only hold the story for that much time (even after the director insists that if Kaczynski ''is'' the Unabomber, then the broadcast may end up causing a bloodbath).

[[folder: Web Animation]]

** On the morning of April 9th, 1940, while German troops were entering Norway, the king, government and parliament evacuated Oslo, taking the first train north. The broadcasting company, still free at the time, broadcast: "The government and king have evacuated to Hamar..." Whoops! The Germans were in hot pursuit within two hours.

The news media is an important source of information for the general public about crises foreign and domestic. Unfortunately, the bad guys happen to be members of the general public, and at times, the media can give them important information that the rest of us would rather they not know. Maybe it was the name of a potential hostage that the antagonists can use. Perhaps a rescue attempt was spoiled by the news. Maybe it's an important MacGuffin that will come in handy. In any case, things just got a lot harder for the protagonists.

Related to UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom and IfItBleedsItLeads. See also CoincidentalBroadcast, LooseLips, TaughtByTelevision, and SayingTooMuch. Not to be confused with IsThisThingStillOn and EngineeredPublicConfession when the very guy holding his own secrets accidentally says it publicly. This may overlap with SocialMediaIsBad when the broadcaster uses social media rather than more traditional media outlets.

* During Volume 3 of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', the villains [[spoiler:finally enact their plan by tricking Pyrrha into killing Penny on live TV after hacking the system and making it impossible for anyone to cut the feed]]. They then begin the invasion, with Grimm swarming the city, drawn to the fear and rage of the civilians, while the White Fang arrives and the Atlas robots go rogue. Cinder has Mercury live stream the attack, causing massive Grimm attacks across Remnant due to the negativity]].

* The infamous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_hostage_crisis Rizal Park hostage-taking incident]], where an ex-cop took a tourist bus hostage in the middle of the aforementioned park. While the incident ensued the perpetrator was [[ExploitedTrope watching the news]], which covered everything happening outside the bus. Meaning he knew the police's every move but they didn't know his, as he covered all the windows of the bus.
* In the case of California serial killer Ricardo Ramirez, known in the media as the "Night Stalker", the mayor held a televised news conference which indicated that the key components of the investigation were ballistics evidence and footprints found at the crime scenes. This gave Ramirez the opportunity to dispose of his weapons and shoes.
* In UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, generals got a lot of use out of the local papers, which often reported troop movements in the area. Robert E. Lee was particularly fond of the Northern papers during his Maryland and Pennsylvania campaigns.

* Another UsefulNotes/WorldWarII example: At morning, April 9, while German troops were entering Norway, the king, government and parliament evacuated the city, taking the first train north. The Broadcasting company, still free at the time, broadcast: "The government and king have evacuated to Hamar..." Whoops! The Germans were in hot pursuit within two hours.
** In the war in the Pacific, Australian radio reported that the Japanese had landed on a particular island. As the only way they could have known that information was because a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastwatchers Coastwatcher]] was on the island, the Japanese immediately began searching for him.

* Prince Harry of UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily has had a few issues trying to serve in the military because of this. Particularly, a tour of duty as a foot soldier in 2008 had to be called off because, despite a media blackout to try and keep his presence in-country a secret from the Taliban, Australian news sources ignored the blackout and reported that he was there. In 2012 he switched to flying attack helicopters, which reduced the danger somewhat (the Taliban did announce they would be looking to capture and kill him, but since attack helicopters are really bad news for enemy soldiers on the ground, they wouldn't have the luxury of focusing on which one was piloted by British royalty), and, though nothing came of it, news sources still went out of their way to report exactly which base he would be flying from, exactly where in Afghanistan that base was, and exactly how long he would be in-country.

* The Kennedy Administration in ''Film/ThirteenDays'' do their best to defy the trope at first when they get photographic evidence of Soviet missiles in Cuba so that they don't tip off the Soviets to the fact that they know, even if it means keeping their press secretary in the dark and keeping up the President's previously-scheduled travel which would take him out of Washington. Eventually, though, ''The New York Times'' gets a hold of the story and intends to publish it (sitting on the Bay of Pigs the year prior caught them flak); the editor eventually relents and agrees to hold off on publishing when JFK points out that holding off would save lives (including their own), thus also subverting the trope.

* The infamous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_hostage_crisis Rizal Park hostage-taking incident]], where an ex-cop took a tourist bus hostage in the middle of the aforementioned park. While the hostage ensued the perpetrator was [[ExploitedTrope watching the news]], which covered everything happening outside the bus. Meaning he knew the police's every move but they didn't know his, as he covered all the windows of the bus.

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'': Angela Chen makes the friendship between Superman and Jimmy Olsen public, thereby causing one of Metallo's agents to target Jimmy. He lampshades it when begging her to recant.

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'': Angela Chen makes the friendship between Superman and Jimmy Olsen public, thereby causing one of Metallo's agents to target Jimmy.

* Done accidentally in ''[[Film/Shazam2019 SHAZAM!]]''. When Shazam catches a bus, that he caused to fall off a freeway overpass, a TV news crew films him arguing with Freddy, another boy in the foster home, about how he's using his powers for a quick buck, instead of being a real hero. Shortly after Freddy storms off, [[BigBad Dr. Zivana]] arrives, and mercilessly beats Shazam, who's's able to get away when he turns back into Billy inside the mall they smash into, and blends into the panicked crowd. When Zivana scans the crowd, he sees Freddy looking for Billy, [[CoincidentalBroadcast as the news clip shows Freddy arguing with Shazam.]]

Will often lead into a BrokenMasquerade if a {{Masquerade}} was involved.

Related to UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom and IfItBleedsItLeads. See also CoincidentalBroadcast, LooseLips, TaughtByTelevision and SayingTooMuch. Not to be confused with IsThisThingStillOn and EngineeredPublicConfession when the very guy holding his own secrets accidentally says it publicly. This may overlap with SocialMediaIsBad when the broadcaster uses social media rather than more traditional media outlets.

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Vento of the Front casts a spell that causes anyone who bares ill will toward her to be knocked unconscious, no matter where they are in the world. Naturally, when the media reports on the strange woman dressed in scantily yellow robes and blowing holes in buildings to the public, they only succeed in knocking out a vast majority of the population until the spell ends, since the majority of viewers thought "that lady is a jerk" or "that lady has to be stopped" or something similar.

* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'': Parodied in "The Daily Star". Luke is trying to sneak around the back of the saloon to ambush the bad guys, and tells Horace as much. Horace then sells the latest edition of the Daily Star revealing Luke's plan, a copy of which is bought and read by the bad guys. Luke's ambush fails, he starts angrily telling off Horace... before telling him that his plan failed, so he's going to try from the front this time. Horace prints another run, the bad guys move into position... and Luke sneaks up on them from behind. The sheriff is later confused that Luke didn't do as the paper claimed he did.

* A plot point in ''Saving Lily''. Several kids, their families, and teacher are raising money to buy an elephant from a cruel circus owner so they can deliver her to an elephant shelter. Lily's owner agrees to the deal, if there is no outside publicity about it. The day before the deal happens, two well-meaning kids (not well acquainted with the main kids) get the local newspaper to publish an article about the efforts, which reaches the attention of the circus man. He cancels the deal, but is convinced to uncancel it because all the money had been raised without media help, and because canceling the deal means they're free to raise as much publicity as they want about it.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DanVS'' episode "Dan VS the Superhero", Dan becomes the supervillain Dr. Jerk, and learns of his superhero enemy's only weakness in a televised interview.

* The massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany was a tragic example. The hostage takers were watching the news which was covering the rescue plans and attempts in depth (case in point: they watched plainclothes police take position on the roof right above them and their balcony ''live''). By using the news to know when and where they were going to make a rescue attempt they managed to stay ahead enough that the confrontation turned into what it's known as today: The Munich Massacre.
* During the Falklands War in 1982, the BBC was accused of giving away too much information in its news coverage. It was pointed out that the Argentinean Embassy in London, which had not been closed down or otherwise ordered to leave, was monitoring news channels in Britain and sending digests of useful news home. This was due to technology having advanced faster than the existing guidelines for reporting from war zones could be modified, as the old rules were more suited to the 1950's and an era before satellite communications or even widespread use of TV.
* The infamous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_hostage_crisis Rizal Park hostage-taking incident,]] where an ex cop took a tourist bus hostage in the middle of the aforementioned park. While the hostage ensued the perpetrator was [[ExploitedTrope watching the news]], which covered everything happening outside the bus. Meaning he knew the police's every move, but they didn't know his, as he covered all the windows of the bus.

Related to UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom and IfItBleedsItLeads. See also CoincidentalBroadcast, LooseLips, TaughtByTelevision and SayingTooMuch. Not to be confused with IsThisThingStillOn and EngineeredPublicConfession when the very guy holding his own secrets accidentally says it publicly.

* Likewise in ''Film/ThirteenDays'', though the news editor points out they also sat on the Bay of Pigs, which turned out to be a complete disaster.

* The Discovery TV mini-series "Manhunt: Unabomber" (which [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory dramatizes]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the FBI's manhunt for Theodore Kaczynski]]) tosses an enormous complication on the investigation after the FBI is able to single out that Kaczynski is the most probable suspect and start to surveil his home and mobilize agents covertly to raid it when the time is right and they have iron-clad proof. What was meant to be a multi-month operation turns into [[RaceAgainstTime a mad dash to find enough evidence to present to the judge and strike within 24 hours]] when NBC catches wind of what is going on and the SmugSnake producer tells the director that he will only hold the story for that much time (even after the director insists that if Kaczynski ''is'' the Unabomber, then the broadcast may end up causing a bloodbath).

!!Examples

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder:Fanfic]]
* In the ''[[Series/TheXFiles X-Files]]'' fanfic [[http://manicmea.com/bodhisattva-206 "Bodhisattva,"]] Mulder is chucked in prison as the prime suspect for the bomb mailed to Assistant Director Skinner. A Federal agent in Federal prison, his only hope is that no-one identifies him... Guess whose face is plastered all over the news?
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fic ''Fanfic/SpotsOff'', Alya accidentally films Ladybug transforming back into Marinette during a livestream, and, despite Alya deleting the video and attempting to contain the damage, the footage ends up on Youtube, getting tens of thousands of views in a few hours. By the following morning, Marinette's name, her parents names, and the name of her school are on the TV news and the Dupain-Cheng bakery is surrounded by news reporters, none of whom seem particularly concerned about making a teenager and her family a target for [[BigBad Hawkmoth]].

[[folder: Film]]

* In the sci-fi movie ''{{Runaway}}'', a news cameraman follows Ramsay into a house with a homicidal gun-wielding robot endangering a baby. His presence hinders Ramsay's actions greatly until he stupidly gets himself shot by the robot.

[[folder: Literature]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]
* Averted in the ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' episode "[[Recap/TheAdventuresOfSupermanS2E6TheDefeatOfSuperman The Defeat of Superman]]." Clark comments on how glad he is that Lois didn't say anything about Kryptonite in her latest article. Lois and Jimmy quickly assure him that their lips are sealed.

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

[[folder: Web Original]]
* ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'': The eponymous IneffectualSympatheticVillain has a blog, which he uses to talk to his fans about various things he's done and his plans for future schemes. This backfires on him in Act II when it turns out his viewing audience includes [[ArchEnemy Captain Hammer]] and the LAPD, who are waiting for him when he shows up to sabotage a speech.

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS13E4AHunkaHunkaBurnsInLove A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love]]": After the police surround Snake's hideout when [[HostageSituation he takes Homer and Gloria hostage]], Chief Wiggum proves why you shouldn't talk to the press.
-->'''Kent Brockman''': We're in minute two of this stand-off. What's the situation, Chief?
-->'''Wiggum''': Well, we have an officer sneakin' around the house, Kent. So unless they have a television in there, or can hear my loud talking--
-->(''A gunshot is heard. Officer Eddie runs away from the hideout, holding his arm in pain.'')
-->'''Eddie''': Ow! Ow! Ow!
-->'''Wiggum''': Well, I guess that answers that, doesn't it?

[[folder: Real Life]]