-->''[[MemeticMutation And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords]]. I'd like to remind them as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in [[TheQuisling rounding up others]] to toil in their underground sugar caves.''
-->--'''Kent Brockman''', ''TheSimpsons''

If TV writers need cheap exposition, the easiest way is to have a news ShowWithinAShow do it. Usually, the news anchors provide a PracticalVoiceOver. Sometimes, they do more than that (see CoincidentalBroadcast and NewsMonopoly).

Of course, it gets boring having bland talking heads give information, so animated shows spice up their PracticalVoiceover with a little parody. On any animated show intended for adults, you are likely to see anything ''but'' a news anchor simply telling the news. Instead, you will see anchors who:

* Bring way too much of their personal life into their discussion of the news.
* Feud with each other, or with the field reporters.
* Have a blatant [[StrawmanPolitical political bias]], and bring it to every story they cover.
* Indulge in bizarre (usually sexual) habits when they [[IsThisThingStillOn think the cameras aren't on]].
* Try to make their stories more interesting with [[{{Metaphorgotten}} tortured metaphors]] and unfunny jokes, with bonus points when it's about something that isn't at all funny.
* Speak in a weirdly smarmy monotone that never changes no matter what the story is (they say "eight hundred people died in an earthquake" and "happy new year" in the same way).
* [[MoodWhiplash Segue without a beat from a horrific or bizarre story to a "lighter side" one.]] Especially if we only hear the wrap-up of the horror story. (As in, "...which if true, means death for us all. And now, preschoolers playing with kittens!")
* Give all their air time to weird, random stories instead of anything important.
* Ask leading questions to a few favored guests on their show, and ask randomly hostile questions to everybody else.
* Skew any "human interest" stories to allow the most blatant emotional manipulation of their audience.
* Are unable to finish their story because of sudden [[DeadLineNews crises within the newsroom]].

Though live-action comedies do them occasionally, these routines are much more common in animated shows. This may have to do with the fact that animated shows usually use multiple characters per actor, and can afford to have a diverse supporting cast.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* The characters on ''CowboyBebop'' sometimes got their info on new bounties from a news show called "Big Shot", which was ''aimed at bounty hunters''. The cowboy hosts were a black man with a Mexican accent ("Punch") and a blonde bimbo ("Judy"). In one of the last ''Bebop'' episodes, it's revealed this was all an act:
-->'''Punch''': We've been cancelled! Adios Amigos!
-->'''"Judy", in a very different tone''': WHAT?!
** In the next episode, Faye sees Punch picking up his mother at the spaceport, but cannot figure out why he looks familiar. Probably has difficulty because he doesn't have the weird accent.
*** Note that Punch's weird accent shifted from Mexican to Texan whenever he said the show's various catchphrases - in the sub, he simply said the catchphrases in English.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* The live-action movie ''Anchorman'' had one of these as its main character, although he was a consummate professional until the events of the film take place.
* Another live-action film example comes from ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'', where between skits a newscaster would pop up with oddball news flashes like "I'm not wearing any pants, FilmAtEleven."
* The 1989 ''Batman'' film featured newscasters on a Gotham City news show, talking about a recent rash of killings by The Joker, when a female newscaster starts laughing uncontrollably and her astonished partner looks on in disbelief, trying to ignore her, before she collapses dead on the ground.
* The two classic movie examples: ''{{Robocop}}'' and ''{{Starship Troopers}}''.
-->'''Casey Wong:''' "On the international scene the Amazon nuclear facility has blown its stack irradiating the worlds largest rainforest. Environmentalists are calling it a disaster."\\
'''Jess Perkins''': "But don't they always."\\\
"Do you want to know MORE?"
** Both, not uncoincidentally, directed by Paul Verhoeven. He likes this trope.
* The early Woody Allen movie ''Bananas'' had Howard Cosell himself providing live commentary on the assassination of the leader of San Marcos.
* One of the news anchors in ''DieHard'' speculate that the hostages have developed "Helsinki Syndrome, named after Helsinki, Sweden," and the other corrects him - [[CompletelyMissingThePoint Helsinki's in Finland]]. Then the cut back to Nakatori Plaza shows quite clearly that they're talking out of their asses.
** Considering the fact that they're talking about ''Stockholm Syndrome'', and that it's generally only true in cases of emotional hostage takings, means that no one has ''any'' idea what they're talking about.
* In ''BruceAlmighty'', Bruce/God's "adjustments" to Evan Baxter's brain reduce Evan to babbling incoherence: "Kaa kaa poo poo pee pee..."
** Not to mention Bruce's own live televised reactions to the news that Evan got the anchor position...
---> Bruce: Back to you, ''fuckers''!!
* In the Live-action/cartoon movie OsmosisJones, cellular newscasters get into a brawl againts eachother as the film peeks 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.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* On ''The WeirdAl Show'', while flipping through channels, Al would always pass by a newscaster (also played by Yankovic) who would be reporting on a mundane, nonsensical, or just plain pointless "story". ("This just in...Ping-Pong spelled backwards is Gnop-Gnip.")
* ''RedDwarf'' used 'Channel 27' News to explain the Better Than Life game. Featured subtle jokes such as having a month called 'Geldof'.
* ''TheMuppetShow'' had the recurring "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C1rh4vTI_0 Muppet News Flash]]" sketch, where a myopic commentator would deliver some odd bit of news, for example a downpour of anvils or localized tidal waves hitting people, and then [[DeadpanSnarker snidely comment]] on how ridiculous it was. Whatever it was would then [[DeadlineNews happen to him]]. An alternate version had him interviewing some eccentric character played by that week's SpecialGuest.
* In the '70s ''SesameStreet'' would frequently send reporter Kermit the Frog to cover the re-enactment of some classic fairy tale or nursery rhyme; these would never go as planned.
* Miranda Veracruz de la Jolla Cardinal from ''MarriedWithChildren'', who really didn't like her job.
* The improv show ''WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' features the game "Weird Newscasters," where the actors perform a quick bit of KentBrockmanNews.
** Not to mention "Newsflash", where the twist is that the 'reporter on the scene' has no idea what he's reporting on. The two "anchors in the studio" usually open the sketch with a vaguely sexual comment before they "realize" the cameras are rolling.
* The spoof news show ''TheDayToday'' and its documentary spin-off ''BrassEye'' both used pretty much every single one of these tropes.
* ''TheDailyShow'' and ''TheColbertReport'', spoofs of "traditional" news shows, use these tropes frequently.
** And were naturally delighted to discover a RealLife example on MSNBC, when anchors segued from footage of a cute jumping squirrel to ''the Columbine school shooting'' using the words [[http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-february-26-2004/on-a-serious-note "On a serious note..."]]
* ''[[MontyPythonsFlyingCircus Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' sent up BBC News in a great many ways.
** This is helped by the fact that Richard Baker, an actual BBC newscaster, often appeared in this role on the show.
* ''Jimmy Mcdonald's Canada'' portrayed a 1960s-era conservative pundit gradually going mad because of the liberalism of the time. The last episode ended with 'technical difficulties' as Jimmy went AxCrazy on set.
* In classic first season episodes of ''SaturdayNightLive'', Chevy Chase was responsible for the "Weekend Update" news segment. It would always begin with him on the phone with an unidentified lover, saying things like "No, lots of people scream." This is unique in that the implied perversion is at the start of the report, rather than interrupting it.
**From then on, "Weekend Update" has often incorporated this trope; the most memorable examples being those in the Not Ready For Prime Time Players era (seasons 1-5) that had such characters as Roseanne Roseannadanna, and John Belushi's editorials where he started off quite well but then breaks into his trademark catchphrase: ''But nooooooooo!'' and goes into a flurry of madness.
** More recent non-"Weekend Update" examples include a reporter (Kristen Wiig as Michelle Dison) who clumsily hits on her attractive female subjects in the middle of interviews, and a promo for a Sioux City newscast that brags about being "America's most Youtubed news team", though it turns out to be for things like constant off-color bloopers.
* ''TheFastShow'' had a repeating sketch where a news reporter would appear to offer a special report, which was always something inane such as her American friend pronouncing "yogurt" differently. They also had "Chanel Nine" news, which seems to use some elements of this trope. It's hard to tell, since it's done entirely in ForeignSoundingGibberish.
* ''MockTheWeek'' has done "Things a newscaster would never say" as an improv sketch, naturally almost entirely composed of examples of Kent Brockman News.
* In the pilot episode of ''JustShootMe'', Maya gets fired from a news program after rewriting the teleprompter so that a pompous anchorwoman says that a decrease of gang violence was due "to the removal of the frontal lobe of my brain. And in related news, I wet myself."
* ''Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!'' has a carryover from their previous show ''Tom Goes to the Mayor'' in Jan and Wayne Skylar, the "Channel 5 Married News Team". They added John C. Reilly as Dr. Steve Brule (who has since gotten his own bits) who provides useless health information.
* Robin on ''HowIMetYourMother'' has done numerous silly things on the air, especially when Barney's getting her to do a bet.
** Metro News One was made of this trope -- ridiculous CouldThisHappenToYou stories, {{Incredibly Lame Pun}}s, and bizarre fluff pieces. When she transferred to Japan, Robin got to report actual news -- with a chimpanzee.
* Minor version on ''PushingDaisies'', where after the CoincidentalBroadcast, the follow-up is bizarre: "Up next: kittens on parade!" and "Can apes drive? We'll find out!"
* ''DropTheDeadDonkey'' was mostly about the chaos ''behind'' the cameras, but occasionally Henry's temper or Sally's idiocy would carry through to the broadcast. There's also Damian's sensationalist field reports (which always resulted in the cameraman being injured).
* Occasionally seen in sitcoms set in TV/radio stations: ''TheMaryTylerMooreShow'', ''WKRPInCincinnati'', ''MurphyBrown'', ''NewsRadio'', ''Back to You'', etc.
* The cases on ''BostonLegal'' are occasionally commented on by outspoken legal analyst Gracie Jane, a parody of Nancy Grace. One episode also featured a reporter named Wolfgang Blitzkrieg.
*ArrestedDevelopment has actual Los Angeles FoxNews 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.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: New Media ]]

* Micah Tannenbaum from ''MuggleCast'' throws in snide remarks and personal opinions, all while being a DeadpanSnarker.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Radio ]]

* The 'weird, random stories instead of anything important' version was a staple of radio satirists [[BobAndRay Bob & Ray]], usually personified by inept roving reporter Wally Ballou (Bob). Sent to meet interesting people at the airport, Wally manages to find the guy who was headed to Paris to lobby for tunafish as the traditional meal for Bastille Day. Even when Ballou found himself pursuing an actual legitimate story, it quickly lapsed into absurdity - as when he discovered that a paperclip company was able to keep costs down because they only paid their workers 14 cents a week. ("How in the world could they live on that?" "Well, we don't pry into the personal lives of our employees, Wally...")
** Additional amusing touch: Wally's broadcasts always started in mid-spiel. "-lly Ballou here.."

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* [[http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pG4UMxP3HsM My coworker has the night off, he was murdered.]]
** This looks more like a case of reading two consecutive sentences off the teleprompter without a pause. His co-anchor is named Dana, and the murder victim is Jimmy Frezghi.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=965dWZuSsVo This weatherman with Tourette Syndrome doing a live promotional spot.]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOc4XgBespw "I'll give you some lessons on how to become a reporter later."]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWCeriGsFkA And now, Child Molestor with the weather.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Video game example: ''Ratchet: Deadlocked'' had a male alien and female robot (Dallas and Juanita) as news anchors, who alternated between snarky comments about each other, showing off their extreme personality flaws on camera, and slandering the titular character (until they required him for survival after the BigBad's going crazier, that is).
** Earlier ''RatchetAndClank'' games had recurring robot reporter Darla Gratch.
* Fehn Digler from ''BeyondGoodAndEvil'' is a [[TheQuisling Quisling-flavored]] news anchor with a habit for outrageous propaganda, flip-flopping sides, and a tendency to get a bit too... "in your face," shall we say.
* [[VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines]] 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.
* 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.
* GTARadio is full of this, especially WCTR in ''GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''.
* {{Disgaea}} 2 has a news show with two anchors - one of whom is entirely mute, between each chapter of the game, talking about demon-interest pieces or actual plot relevant information. Inverted in one such "episode", where only the mute character is present; the entire episode is spent in silence, giving absolutely no information at all.
* Trivia game ''You Don't Know Jack'' 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."

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* ''PennyArcade'' occasionally features stories by anchorman Randy Pinkwood, who will report on gaming news with the comic's characteristic farcical style. He ends each one by making some sort of reference to his incredible, and often bizarre, sexual escapades.
* ''SomethingPositive'' had one strip starting with a news anchorwoman saying: "...And that's all for the Baby Pageant Massacre" and then segues into (IIRC) about [[TheLibby Kharisma]] getting arrested.
* The [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=980202 Nifty News 50]] team from ''SluggyFreelance'' fits this trope pretty darn well (one of them is even named "Qwirky").
-->'''Reporter:''' We have just received word that news is breaking on the set of ''Sluggy Freelance''. We are not sure what the news is at this time, but we wanted to beat the other networks to it. I'm sure we will have more information ''any'' moment.
-->''(pause)''
-->'''Reporter:''' Well, while we are waiting, let's speculate wildly. Is Torg forming a cult? Is Riff a lesbian in a man's body? And what happened to that annoying "Sam" character? Foul play?
* [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=20 This]] VGCats strip.
--> '''Anchor:''' In other news, I'm not wearing any pants. More on this after the weather.
*Kelly, editorial cartoonist for TheOnion, is close to one of these. [[http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/dec-08-2008 This]] is a good example.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Anchorman Kent Brockman of ''TheSimpsons'' (for whom this trope is named) had it all, and may have been the first example of this trope (or at least the character who popularized it). He blatantly skews reports to fit his political or personal interests, and his helicopter newsman hates him. He has been fired in mid-story at least once, quit in mid-story at least once, and always brings his personal views to a story. In "Radio Bart," he ignores the rescue of Bart from a well to cover a squirrel that looks like Abraham Lincoln (soon afterwards, the squirrel is assassinated, and a shaken Brockman pledges to "cover this (story) all ''night'' if we have to").
** At one point it's implied that Brockman only covered the fall of the Berlin Wall because his infant daughter convinced him to.
** This troper's favourite is the tail-end of a report: "...leaving the vice-president in charge." It's accompanied by a very small picture of the White House, with a thin trail of smoke leaking out. He then goes on to cover some plot-related local issue.
*** In the same vein: "...making this the most recent Segway accident to claim more than 1000 lives."
*** or "..and the fluffy kitten played with the ball of string all through the night. On a lighter note, a Kwik-E-Mart clerk was brutally murdered last night."
*** Played with in another episode when, having delivered the plot related exposition and complained about the slow newsday Kent is ''then'' given a breaking report that "Paris is no more. The legendary city of lights has been extinguished forever as a massive-" (the television is switched off before we hear what happened).
**** Brockman once did a story about a military acadamy at Springfield. "The government calls it a training facility. But we at Channel 6 like to call it... '''The Killbot Factory'''."
* {{Futurama}} has co-anchors Morbo and Linda. Morbo claims to be a scout for his species' upcoming alien invasion, and regularly voices his hatred and contempt for all things - especially humanity - on air. His co-anchor, Linda, always responds to his threats with an empty-headed laugh.
-->'''Morbo:''' ''(all the time)'' "I WILL DESTROY YOU!"
** The casual attitude taken to his threats could be explained by his behaviour with his wife - at a party she adjusts his bow-tie and he snaps at her, "Stop it, it's fine, I will DESTROY you!". This would suggest that's just the way his species acts normally. Then again, he has also stopped reporting to take a note about human weaknesses and referenced his people's mighty space fleet readying for an attack in the near future. You can't help but love him though, indeed, Fry said as much when seeing the news back in the 20th century in Bender's Big Score. 'I miss Morbo'.
*** "Kittens give Morbo gas!"
* In the ''SouthPark'' episode "Krazy Kripples," the reporter tries to liven up his story with creative metaphors ("If irony were strawberries, we'd all be drinking smoothies now, Tom.") Possibly a reference to Dan Rather.
** In an episode of South Park where a whale is stolen from an aquarium, one on-site reporter makes a fairly on-topic joke: "It certainly is a WHALE of a problem down here." To which the reporter at the desk responds, "Yes, I can hardly BEAR it." Cue odd looks.
** ''SouthPark'' also has a variety of weird field reporters to do remotes, the form is usually "Live, with that story, is:"
*** "A quadraplegic Swiss man on a pony." (He's lashed to it with ropes)
*** "A midget in a bikini." (A very short man in a polka-dot two-piece)
*** "An asian man who looks like Ricardo Montalban."
*** "A normal-looking guy with a funny name." (His name, "Creamy Goodness")
*** "R. Kelly"
**** Curiously, almost all the weird field reporters, when on-screen, appear to be consummate professionals for the most part ("Thanks, Tom!...").
** During the fourth season, a recurring gag in news stories was to have the scene begin with the character(s) watching the tail end of a story about the ever-increasing size of Hillary Clinton's ass.
* The ''KidsNextDoor'' episode "OP CAKED-FOUR" features an annoying, pointlessly judgemental reporter who speaks in a smarmy monotone [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed remniscient of Howard Cosell]] no matter what's happening -- until he gets scared, which promptly reveals that the monotone isn't his real voice.
* The reporters on ''FamilyGuy'' are constantly blurting out odd things that they would never say if they remembered that the cameras were still on. They also have a blatant hatred for one another ("We now go live to Diane being a bitch. Diane?").
** Also poked fun at is the tendency of news organizations to relegate minorities to support staff (try and find an anchor on national news who's not white), with "Asian Reporter Tricia Takanawa", and black weatherman Ollie Williams and his "Blackuweather Forecast," where he just blurts out a loud one-liner. ("ISS GON' RAIN!")
***Thank you Ollie.
*** In response to the parenthetical above, I present [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Holt Lester Holt]].
****He still ain't prime time, baby. He's the WEEKEND anchor...fewer people watch the national news on the weekend than they do when it's a weekday and they're cruising in from work.
*** Sir TrevorMacDonald, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, George Alagiah, Moira Stewart (black and female...) - the UK has done quite well on this score over the years...
** Lest we forget, the second episode of Family Guy involves the TV transmitter getting destroyed, taking out TV for all of Quahog. This results in the following situation:
---> '''Tom''': Since we're not broadcasting, we can say pretty much whatever we want. I'm the Lord Jesus Christ! I think I'll get drunk and beat up some midgets. Diane?\\
'''Diane''': Well, Tom, I just plain don't like black people.\\
'''Camera Operator''': Uh, guys, we're still on in Boston.\\
''Silence from the anchors''
* In ''TheOblongs'', the local TV news show is completely biased in favor of the mayor, who in turn is completely biased in favor of the town rich.
* ''A Pup Named ScoobyDoo'' used a newsflash wherein the newscaster [[NoFourthWall conversed with the Scooby gang]].
* ''DarkwingDuck'' features news anchor Tom Lockjaw, arguably inspired by the same real life personality as Kent Brockman, the famous Tom Brokaw. Lockjaw is considerably less often used than Brockman, but is nonetheless very much a whimsical addition to the show.
* ''TheFairlyOddParents'' has Chet Youbetcha, who like [[AdultsAreUseless all the other grown ups, is very dim]]. He's also very short, and has size issues. He often reports on the aftermath of Timmy's wishes. He has a daughter called Yvette who takes his job when the kids take over the world. In the episode, "The Secret Origin of Denzel Crocker!", his mother, Nanette, was also an anchorwoman, and in the episode "The Good Old Days!", his grandfather, Chester, was a radio announcer.
* The two cheerful sports commentators in ''CelebrityDeathmatch''.
* ''Sheep In The Big City'' had two anchors, one of whom would give "unrelated" stories that were obviously related, once repeating the same story.
* ''AmericanDad'' features two news anchors who are gay and married. They often bring their domestic lives into the news.
* ''{{Drawn Together}}'', of course, has several versions of KentBrockmanNews, which, like ''every other'' aspect of the show, is deranged and non-sensical. The anchors usually state something that either CrossesTheLineTwice or inexplicably correlates to the characters directly.
* Ace Palmero from ''TheReplacements''.
* Hank Anchorman from ''JohnnyTest''.
* A Realistic Fish Head from ''SpongebobSquarepants''.
* ''TheProudFamily'' has Marsha Mitsubishi, who very clearly hates her job and frequently comments about it on air.
* Tovah Hernandez Carlson on [[ClerksTheAnimatedSeries Clerks: The Animated Series]] is a newscaster of the monotone variety.
* Mike The TV from ''ReBoot'' fits this role, often with huge amounts of LargeHam.
* ''Planet Sketch'' has Mike Today and Sally Van who have gender related arguements when they do their newscasting.
* Hector Ramirez, the parody of investigative reporter Geraldo Rivera from GIJoe and {{Inhumanoids}}
* Stan Blather from ''ChipAndDaleRescueRangers'' is a parody on both Dan Rather and Walter Kronkite.
* ''TheTick'' - events on the show are often reported by news anchor Brian Pinhead (pronounced 'Pin-ADE').

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* [[DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog "Next up, who's gay!"]]

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