History Main / ImmoralJournalist

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'': Nobliss Gordon isn't a journalist himself but he is a CorruptCorporateExecutive with stakes in the Earth Sphere media and near the end of the series, he [[spoiler:uses his media connections to turn public opinion in favor of [[CorruptPolitician Rustal Elion]], while smearing the reputation of Tekkadan.]]

* In ''[[Film/FifteenMinutes 15 Minutes]]'', the murder of a famous detective is filmed by the perpetrator as part of an elaborate scheme to get off on an InsanityDefense and become rich and famous from the sale of the tape. Afterward, the murderer calls Robert Hawkins, the host of a tabloid TV show named ''Top Story'', and offers to sell him the tape. Hawkins buys it for one million dollars to run on his show, much to the shock of the entire city.

* Literature/AlexRider has Harold Bulman, who decides on his own to expose Alex's secret to the world, regardless of the consequences. UsefulNotes/MI6 have him declared [[{{Unperson}} legally dead]] and arrested for his own murder before he can publish it.

* As part of the backstory of ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'', a [[IntrepidReporter good journalist]] was [[FrameUp framed]] as being one of these. [[spoiler:The {{yandere}} main character's mother, Ryoba, was also a yandere in high school, and a local journalist began investigating her school after the suspicious deaths of several students. The journalist quickly settled on Ryoba as the main suspect, but Ryoba turned the tables by accusing him of [[MistakenForPedophile being a pervert who was obsessively stalking her]]. When his evidence proved insufficient to convict her and she got away with her crimes, Ryoba's stories about the journalist became widely believed. Afterwards, he was fired and became an infamous disgrace.]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* 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]].
[[/folder]]

* 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]].

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.

* 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. [[spoiler:Then he reveals that he's a SerialRapist on top of that]].

* ''Series/MurdochMysteries'': Louise Cherry is a woman journalist, determined to succeed in the business. She's willing to manipulate her reports so that her articles sell better or bribe people to get the best information. In "Murdoch Without Borders", she outs herself as a xenophobe who sees all immigrants as invaders and criminals. Her article unfairly pins a Greek man for murder and it's meant to create violent protests and incite deportation. Later episodes downplay this slightly, showing her as sensationalist but not usually vindictive.

* ''Series/MurdochMysteries'': Louise Cherry is a woman journalist, determined to succeed in the business. She's willing to manipulate her reports so that her articles sell better or bribe people to get the best information. In "Murdoch Without Borders", she outs herself as a xenophobe who sees all immigrants as invaders and criminals. Her article unfairly pins a Greek man for murder and it's meant to create violent protests and incite deportation.

* ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'': BigBad [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Elliot Carver]] wants to start a global war just to boost his TV company's ratings. Moreover, he frequently uses his influence to strong-arm his enemies and has developed a notorious reputation for stirring and reporting mayhem. In fact, Carver has done it ''[[EvilIsPetty many times]]'' just for profit and doesn't merely report the news — he loves ''creating'' it. His media company is the first to report on scandals and disasters because ''it'' causes them to happen.

* ''Series/BlackMirror'' features one in "The National Anthem", its very first episode--fitting, as the entire plot is a criticism of the 24-hour news cycle and sensationalist journalism. Although the entire industry is called out, the main culprit is Malaika, a journalist at the fictional United Kingdom News. She has a contact at 10 Downing Street and uses [[IHaveBoobsYouMustObey topless shots]] to bait him into leaking her government information so she can get a scoop. Later, she uses that information to try to infiltrate the (supposed) hiding place of the kidnapped Princess Susannah. In most stories, she would be a classic IntrepidReporter, but this instance makes it clear that she's only making matters worse for everyone involved and cares more about getting an exclusive story than anyone's safety--and she ends up [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome getting shot by government soldiers when they discover an unidentified civilian sneaking around a top-secret facility.]]

** In season 8's "Clean Sweep," while at a crime scene, Mac is approached by a reporter named Jennifer Walsh who openly flirts with him, trying to get him to corroborate/comment on things she's speculating about...even going so far as to ask if HE would compromise ''his own values'' in order to close a case. When he shuts her down, she worms her way into the lab to accost him in his office with the same questions. He promptly dismisses her, again.

** "Homer Badman" features ''Rock Bottom'', a cable news program that blatantly manipulates footage to sell stories. Homer agrees to an interview to explain [[ItMakesSenseInContext why he grabbed a gummi Venus de Milo 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):

* In ''Film/AceInTheHole'', the cynical and unscrupulous reporter Chuck Tatum ends up taking a job with a small New Mexico newspaper. The job is pretty boring until he finds a man trapped in an old Indian dwelling. When Tatum learns that the rescuers can get the man out in about 12 hours by shoring up the inside of the mine, he convinces the rescue crew to drill in from above instead, a job that will take 6 days and will give Tatum enough time to whip the story into a real career-changing event. The story ends well [[spoiler:for neither Tatum nor the caved-in man]].

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 abd 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.

** The page image is Nick Katzenberg, a photographer who exists as a contrast to Peter Parker. He took the pictures JJ ''wanted'' (ie ones that showed Spider-Man as a criminal), regardless of how deceptive they were, and was not above blackmailing people with his photos if he thought he could get away with it. Spidey once commented that whoever said the camera never lies had never met Nick.

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'': Nobliss Gordon isn't a journalist himself, but he is a CorruptCorporateExecutive with stakes in the Earth Sphere media, and near the end of the series he [[spoiler:uses his media connections to turn public opinion in favor of [[CorruptPolitician Rustal Elion]], while smearing the reputation of Tekkadan.]]

* ''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.

* In ''[[Film/FifteenMinutes 15 Minutes]]'', the murder of a famous detective is filmed by the perpetrator as part of an elaborate scheme to get off on an InsanityDefense and become rich and famous from the sale of the tape. Afterward the murderer calls Robert Hawkins, the host of a tabloid TV show named ''Top Story'' and offers to sell him the tape. Hawkins buys it for one million dollars to run on his show, much to the shock of the entire city.

* Music/BoBurnham's "Channel 5 News" is about an awful, dishonest news channel, with reporters that delight in seeing people hurt and upset, and who are willing to fabricate drama to get views, regardless of who it affects. The OnlySaneMan is weatherman Max, who spends his whole verse being openly remorseful and disgusted by the actions of his channel, and who gets his segment cut short due to going off-script.

* 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 United States of America was founded on the defeat and oppression of Indians.[[/folder]]

* In the ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'' video game ''Alibi In Ashes'', TV reporter Brenda Carlton is first shown accusing Nancy of committing arson by burning down the Old Town Hall. We soon see that she tends to not only twist things that people say or trip them into making incriminating statements but also that she has illegal, invasive, and unethical means for getting information. Worse, we find out that [[spoiler:she was the one who burned down the Town Hall after luring Nancy to it, hoping to use the fire to frame Nancy for it, to kill her or both!]]

* Nancy Gribble is shown to be like this when she gets particularly power hungry in ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill''. As she once told Mihn Souphanousinphone, "Just because I'm blonde doesn't mean I'm harmless, sug. Do you ever wonder what happened to the weathercaster before me?"

* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E23PonyvilleConfidential Ponyville Confidential]]" has Diamond Tiara fulfill a J. Jonah Jameson-esque role as she forces the Cutie Mark Crusaders to write unflattering or outright untrue stories about Ponyville's citizens under the pseudonym of Gabby Gums, such as the Cakes divorcing, excerpts from Rarity's diary, or trying to portray Twilight as a snob, Applejack as lazy, and Rainbow Dash as a softy. When they begin to have doubts, Diamond Tiara keeps them in line by threatening to reveal embarrassing photos of them. When Rarity learns the truth and shares it with her friends, the entire town turns on the Crusaders, which not only makes them pariahs but ruins their chances of getting gossip. Diamond Tiara does this all to get "juicy" stories and more attention for herself. Thankfully in the end, the CMC reveal themselves as Gabby Gums to apologize to the town and tell the whole story. In a bit of LaserGuidedKarma, Diamond Tiara gets demoted to printer while CameraFiend colt Featherweight becomes the new editor.

** "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 to 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.

* Music/{{Queen}}'s "Scandal" is a scathing indictment about the dishonesty and intrusiveness of the British tabloids as they were giving both Music/FreddieMercury (over his health problems, resulting in a picture of him looking haggard and emaciated on the front page of The Sun) and Music/BrianMay (over his divorce and subsequent marriage to actress Creator/AnitaDobson) a hard time in the late 80s.

* ''Omertà: La loi du silence'' has Bertrand Fournel, an independent journalist who publishes articles about anything he's told about, without much thought, and occasionally pesters both the law enforcement and the mafia for juicy rumors. Naturally, [[HateSink he's despised by those who interacted with him]], and thus must only be relied on as an extreme last resort.

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/SpiderMan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nick_katzenberg.jpg]]]]

** Robert Murdock appears in a few season 5 episodes. He runs a sleazy newspaper and revels in printing stories that make the NYPD look bad, particularly when the "blue flu" hits. Although, he subverts it himself later when he prints a tribute to a fallen officer.

* The journalist in ''VideoGame/PapersPlease'', who walks up carrying nothing but an invalid international press pass to get through a strictly controlled border, offers a lose-lose scenario through sheer jerkishness. Deny them entry? They write an article complaining about how they couldn't get through and how this shows clear prejudice to journalists, and so the border patrol institutes Reason for Denial forms to add another set of paperwork to the pile. Let them through? Not only do you get a citation for messing up, but the reporter instead writes an article mocking the border for being too ''weak'', and the border patrol institutes the same forms.

The purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with useful, accurate information they can use to make better decisions about their lives, their communities, their societies, and their governments.

Immoral Journalists don't really care about that. At best, they're too lazy to waste time checking if that juicy story is actually true -- getting it out as soon as possible to sell more newspapers is what truly matters. Or maybe they exaggerated some details or made up the whole thing because they think it doesn't matter anyway. They may also be {{plagiaris|mInFiction}}ts.

The worst Immoral Journalists are actively malicious, or at least it feels that way. They have zero consideration for their subjects, 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 for {{Corrupt Politician}}s. In extreme cases, they may cause some kind of disaster just because they think it'd make a good story.

{{Paparazzi}} is a subtrope. OldMediaAreEvil is a supertrope.

* Okunagi from ''Manga/DomesticGirlfriend'' who tries to ruin Natsuo's career and later tries to murder Hina.

** One VillainOfTheWeek in the first season of is Takashi Inagaki, a journalist who wrote an exaggerated piece on a politician accused of accepting bribes, ruining the lives of the politician and his family. While he did publish a retraction, he did so in such a way that almost nobody actually reads it and he gets sent to Hell by the politician's son despite Hajime's attempts to convince the kid otherwise. Hajime even stopped working for Inagaki a few years before over his lack of ethics and refuses a new job from him when told to fudge an article. Given that Hajime sells celebrities' secrets back to them to make ends meet, that's saying a lot.
** An episode in season three involves a murderer who was inspired by a recently-published book. One of the three protagonists for the episode is a reporter who wrote a well-researched article on the case, only to have it replaced by a highly sensationalized article that her boss did no research on and published under her name. The reporter sends her boss to Hell for destroying her reputation and livelihood as journalist.

* 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]].

** {{Zig Zagging|Trope}} with J. Jonah Jameson Jr., the head editor of the ''Daily Bugle'' and one of Spidey's most recurring supporting characters. He constantly runs articles that [[HeroWithBadPublicity defame Spidey]], making him out to be the bad guy working with the supervillains, both because it drives up sales and furthers his personal vendetta against masked individuals. However, JJJ is also mentioned to be a crusading journalist when not covering Spider-Man, and has won a Pulitzer Prize for his investigative work. He's also fiercely protective of his staff despite his treatment of them, has gone to jail several times for protecting his sources, is one of the only voices in the mainstream media to advocate for mutant rights, and has stared down more than one supervillain when they try to shake him down for information. As such, he doesn't really qualify for this trope ''except'' when it comes to [[SitcomArchNemesis Spider-Man]].

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Cassandra Arnold helps the White Magician maintain his status as a hero by helping him be a VillainWithGoodPublicity through her broadcasts in exchange for getting intel ahead of time about when he's going to be fighting so that she can be the first on scene (sometimes getting there and setting up before the fight starts, and usually on her way there before the fight starts), getting exclusive interviews, misrepresenting things on scene, and intentionally confusing, misleading and cutting away from bystanders to support her narrative.

* 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 knew him from Adam and did it out of pity) even when she literally begs them to stop]].
* In ''Film/JohnDoeVigilante'', John Doe films the process of his killings and sends it to the media. However, the mainstream media edits the films, showing only the execution, not the reason. John Doe then gives the films to a smaller outfit, which publishes them uncut, on the internet. Their head journalist, Sam Foley, rides the wave of popularity surrounding John Doe to his own advantage; parlaying into fame and success. It is strongly implied that John Doe is providing Sam with advance warning of his killings, and that Sam is withholding this information from the authorities.
* Wayne Gale in ''Film/NaturalBornKillers'' pursues OutlawCouple Mickey and Mallory Knox, filming their crimes in lurid detail and turning them into a cult icon purely to keep himself in business. The two get sick of him at the end and kill him following their escape from prison.

* In ''Film/SherlockCaseOfEvil'', Henry Coot is a reporter for a scandal sheet who follows Franchise/SherlockHolmes around: always ready to trumpet his triumphs for a sensational headline, but equally ready to tear him him down if he makes a mistake. He is also always ready to attack the police, much to Lestrade's disgust.

* In ''Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace'', one of the plot's minor antagonists is David Warfield, a Rupert Murdoch-esque tycoon who [[MajorityShareDictator buys a majority share of the]] ''Daily Planet'' and immediately turns it into a tabloid newspaper. The two trashy articles that influence the plot the most are the declaration that Superman told a kid who wrote him a request to help create world peace to drop dead when Supes answers that he's reluctant to meddle so much with mankind's affairs, and the declaration that Superman is dead when he is injured during his first fight against Nuclear Man and doesn't shows up for a few days (the other newspapers that appear in the same montage don't go that far in terms of speculation, just saying that they are worried he hasn't been seen).
* ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'': BigBad [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Elliot Carver]] wants to start a global war just to boost his TV company's ratings. Moreover, he frequently uses his influence to strong-arm his enemies, and has developed a notorious reputation for stirring and reporting mayhem. In fact, Carver has done it ''[[EvilIsPetty many times]]'' just for profit and doesn't merely report the news — he loves ''creating'' it. His media company is the first to report on scandals and disasters because ''it'' causes them to happen.

* ''Literature/TheLostHonourOfKatharinaBlum'' has Werner Tötges, who harasses the title character throughout, frequently makes up quotes and distorts facts to make her life fit a salacious narrative of a promiscuous woman who aids and abets anarchists and terrorists, and doesn't care if she's innocent or not.
* In ''Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy'', RabidCop Faste offers a unscrupulous journalist inside information into the investigation of Dag and Mia's murder in exchange for the journalist making insinuations about rival Detective Modig.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': In season 1, Mitchell Ellison cares more about keeping the circulation numbers of the ''New York Bulletin'' up as opposed to cover hard-hitting news, to the point that he's constantly roadblocking Ben Urich's efforts to break stories about Wilson Fisk's criminal activities. He mellows out after Fisk kills Ben, and it turns out that Fisk had an insider at the ''Bulletin'' on his payroll.

* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': Christine Hill from season 4 is initially just a bit unscrupulous, sexing it with up with Detective Quinn and then using their pillow talk in her reporting, which is really his own fault for being stupid enough to share confidential information with her. [[spoiler:Then it's revealed that she was the one who shot Agent Lundy and is the daughter of the Trinity Killer, whom she tried to cover for.]]

* ''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/MurdochMysteries'': Louise Cherry is a woman journalist, determined to succeed in the business. She's willing to manipulate her reports so that her articles sell better or to bribe people to get the best information. In "Murdoch Without Borders", she outs herself as a xenophobe who sees all immigrants as invaders and criminals. Her article unfairly pins a Greek man for murder and it's meant to create violent protests and incite deportation.

* ''Series/OurMissBrooks'': Stephanie Forest in the episodes "The Model Schoolteacher" (the radio original) and "The Model Teacher" (the television remake). Forester is at Madison High School to do a profile on the day in the life of a schoolteacher, but really views her role as requiring a hatchet job on Miss Brooks - taking as many insulting and unrepresentative photographs as possible. Miss Brooks covertly removes the unflattering photos, and, in the television version, disposes of Miss Forest by noon; Miss Forest receives a telegram stating her editor wants her in Florida, ''immediately''.
-->'''Stephanie Forest''': Now, as I was saying my dear. I don't want you to do a thing for this picture. Realism is what our readers want. The eyelids practically stuck together, the little straggly clumps of hair flopping over the ears, and those little tired lines around the mouth that look as if you just tasted a raw lambchop. We want you just the way you are!
* ''[[Series/BroenBron Pagan Peak]]'': Charles Turek is an ambitious journalist with a reputation, for this reason he is chosen by the [[SerialKiller Krampus Killer]] to [[FameThroughInfamy publicise his story]]. Turek happily goes along with receiving the information the killer sends to him about his murders, allowing him to control the narrative rather than turning over the information to the police, simply so more people will read his articles. Even leaking tapes of the killer torturing people online, and publicising the information that Detective Ellie Stocker is having an affair with her superior. After believing the killer is dead, he even publishes a book glamorising his own role in the events.
* ''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.

* Music/BoBurnham's "Channel 5 News" is about an awful, dishonest news channel, with reporters that delight in seeing people hurt and upset, and who are willing to fabricate drama to get views, regardless of who it effects. The OnlySaneMan is the weather man, Max, who spends his whole verse being openly remorseful and disgusted by the actions of his channel, and who gets his segment cut short due to going off-script.

* Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry", which is about the callousness of TV news reporting as well as the tabloidization of all news. It's told from the point of view of a news anchorman who "could've been an actor, but I wound up here", and is thus not a real journalist. The song's theme is that TV news coverage focuses too much on negative and sensationalist news; in particular, deaths, disasters, and scandals, with little regard to the consequences or for what is important.
* Exaggerated in [[Music/TouhouFanMusic Moja stick]]'s "Illusory Retrospective". It's about some lunatic who destroys everything, kills everyone and then writes about it in her newspaper even though no one is around to read it.
* Music/OysteinSunde's "Smi mens liket er varmt" is about a journalist who's a pretty terrible person: He doesn't care about the truth as long as the paper sells, and never bothers to check his facts because it "takes too long". He encourages people to bully losing athletes when they're already feeling terrible about losing. He chooses to takes pictures of an injured boy instead of calling the ambulance right away. After the boy dies, the journalist takes pictures of his mother while she's crying over him, and then ruins her life with follow-up stories.

* ''VideoGame/BioShock2'' has Stanley Poole, who after being put as TheMole inside a dissident's CultOfPersonality, gets control to a region and runs it into the ground, going through extreme measures to cover it up.

* In the ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'' video game ''Alibi In Ashes'', TV reporter Brenda Carlton is first shown accusing Nancy of committing arson by burning down the Old Town Hall. We soon see that she tends to not only twist things that people say or trip them into making incriminating statements, but also that she has illegal, invasive and unethical means for getting information. Worse, we find out that [[spoiler:she was the one who burned down the Town Hall after luring Nancy to it, hoping to use the fire to frame Nancy for it, to kill her, or both!]]

* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': Downplayed with Aya Shameimaru. She frequently twists the truth in her writing to her own advantage and has written lies several times. However, she ''can'' be thoughtful about the effect her stories will have, and is more interested in pursuing the truth than ruining other peoples' reputation for the sake of it.
* As part of the backstory of ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'', a [[IntrepidReporter good journalist]] was [[FrameUp framed]] as being one of these. [[spoiler:The {{yandere}} main character's mother, Ryoba, was also a yandere in high school, and a local journalist began investigating her school after the suspicious deaths of several students. The journalist quickly settled on Ryoba as the main suspect, but Ryoba turned the tables by accusing him of [[MistakenForPedophile being a pervert who was obsessively stalking her]]. When his evidence proved insufficient to convict her and she got away with her crimes, Ryoba's stories about the journalist became widely believed. Afterwards he was fired and became an infamous disgrace.]]

* Nancy Gribble is shown to be like this when she gets particularly power hungry in ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill''. As she once told Mihn Souphanousinphone, "Just because I'm blonde doesn't mean I'm harmless, sug. Do you ever wonder what happened to the weather caster before me?"
** When Nancy decides to try and spice up a fluff piece about a kid who brought his ferret to school, she focuses on how said school doesn't have any security guards and postulates on what might've happened if an intruder armed with a loaded gun got into the school instead. She even calls the report "Dark Day in Durndle." Hank's the only person who doesn't get worked up over the report, repeatedly exclaiming nothing actually happened and Nancy just spouted a bunch of hypotheticals to scare people. Unfortunately, Nancy's bullshit gets her a better reporting job wherein she spends her time sabotaging her coworkers to the degree even Peggy and Minh are freaked out by her behavior. After Nancy gets drunk and humiliates herself during a parade, she's bumped back to her local station. It turns out the only reason Nancy isn't like this all the time is she usually spends most of her energy dealing with her husband Dale's {{Manchild}} behavior.
* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E23PonyvilleConfidential Ponyville Confidential]]" has Diamond Tiara fulfill a J. Jonah Jameson-esque role as she forces the Cutie Mark Crusaders to write unflattering or outright untrue stories about Ponyville's citizens under the pseudonym of Gabby Gums, such as the Cakes divorcing, excerpts from Rarity's diary, or trying to portray Twilight as a snob, Applejack as lazy, and Rainbow Dash as a softy. When they begin to have doubts, Diamond Tiara keeps them in line by threatening to reveal embarrassing photos of them. When Rarity learns the truth and shares it with her friends, the entire town turns on the Crusaders, which not only makes them pariahs, but ruins their chances of getting gossip. Diamond Tiara does this all to get "juicy" stories and more attention for herself. Thankfully at the end the CMC reveal themselves as Gabby Gums to apologize to the town and tell the whole story. In a bit of LaserGuidedKarma, Diamond Tiara gets demoted to printer while CameraFiend colt Featherweight becomes the new editor.

** "Homer Badman" features ''Rock Bottom'', a cable news program that blatantly manipulates footage to sell stories. Homer agrees to an interview to explain [[ItMakesSenseInContext why he grabbed a gummi Venus de Milo 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):

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* Okunagi from ''Manga/DomesticGirlfriend'' who tries to ruin Natsuo's career and later tries to murder Hina.

* 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]].

* ''Film/FlorenceFosterJenkins'' offers an interesting version of this trope that's paired with ProtagonistCenteredMorality. Throughout the film, Florence's husband St. Clair Bayfield is shown paying off critics of all kinds to write flattering reviews of her [[GiftedlyBad absolutely horrendous singing]]. When Earl Wilson, of the ''New York Post'', decides to write a truthful piece instead, he's depicted as something of a bad guy, even though he's ''literally'' just doing his job (he doesn't have any personal vendetta against Florence or St. Clair, either) and even turns down a massive bribe to run the story. So he's only immoral in the sense that Florence is the hero; in another movie, Earl would be praised for his crusade.
* In ''Film/SherlockCaseOfEvil'', Henry Coot is a reporter for a scandal sheet who follows Franchise/SherlockHolmes around: always ready to trumpet his triumphs for a sensational headline, but equally ready to tear him him down if he makes a mistake. He is also always ready to attack the police, much to Lestrade's disgust.

* ''Literature/TheLostHonourOfKatharinaBlum'' has Werner Tötges, who harasses the title character throughout, frequently makes up quotes and distorts facts to make her life fit a salacious narrative of a promiscuous woman who aids and abets anarchists and terrorists, and doesn't care if she's innocent or not.

* ''Series/OurMissBrooks'': Stephanie Forest in the episodes "The Model Schoolteacher" (the radio original) and "The Model Teacher" (the television remake). Forester is at Madison High School to do a profile on the day in the life of a schoolteacher, but really views her role as requiring a hatchet job on Miss Brooks - taking as many insulting and unrepresentative photographs as possible. Miss Brooks covertly removes the unflattering photos, and, in the television version, disposes of Miss Forest by noon; Miss Forest receives a telegram stating her editor wants her in Florida, ''immediately''.
--> '''Stephanie Forest''': Now, as I was saying my dear. I don't want you to do a thing for this picture. Realism is what our readers want. The eyelids practically stuck together, the little straggly clumps of hair flopping over the ears, and those little tired lines around the mouth that look as if you just tasted a raw lambchop. We want you just the way you are!

* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': Monica Hunter, the VillainofTheWeek in the episode "[[Recap/LeverageS02E05TheThreeDaysOfTheHunterJob The Three Days of the Hunter Job]]", is a self-aggrandizing sleaze-monger willing to destoy lives for ratings, [[EstablishingCharacterMoment first appearing in this episode]] by lying about a school bus driver who had an accident being mentally ill and a risk to children (which almost led to the man committing suicide). The Leverage team get payback by making her believe she ran into an apocalyptic GovernmentConspiracy and then making her bosses believe she snapped, getting her fired.

* The ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' episode "A Tale of Two Hamlets" has Murdoch, a reporter from the ''Causton Echo'' who embellishes or outright fabricates stories about the actor whose murder he is covering. Eventually he is told off by DCI Barnaby.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', the killer is a journalist whose career peaked when covering the murder spree of a serial killer some years before, and decided to try reviving his career by committing copycat murders so that he could cover that story again.
* In her first appearance in ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'', D'Anna Biers is accused of stoking tensions in the fleet behind the veneer of investigative journalism. The issue is rendered moot when it is revealed that [[spoiler: she was never a real journalist but a Cylon agent]].
* ''Series/BlackMirror'' features one in "The National Anthem", its very first episode--fitting, as the entire plot is a criticism of the 24-hour news cycle and sensationalist journalism. Although the entire industry is called out, the main culprit is Malaika, a journalist at the fictional United Kingdom News. She has a contact at 10 Downing Street and uses [[IHaveBoobsYouMustObey topless shots]] to bait him into leaking her government information so she can get a scoop. Later, she uses that information to try to infiltrate the (supposed) hiding place of the kidnapped Princess Susannah. In most stories, she would be a classic IntrepidReporter, but this instance makes it clear that she's only making matters worse for everyone involved and cares more about getting an exclusive story than anyone's safety--and she ends up [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome getting shot by government soldiers when they discover an unidentified civilian sneaking around a top-secret facility.]]
* In the British satirical show ''Series/TheDayToday'', there's Peter O'Hanraha-hanrahan, an aggressively incompetent journalist who either makes up or bungles stories so frequently (during 9/11, live from New York, '''''he reported on WTC "negotiations"''''') that he often elicits an angry rant from the newsreader.
* ''Series/{{V 1983}}'': Kristine Walsh is one of many journalists reporting on the initial FirstContact with the alien Visitors, but soon becomes a spokesperson for their cause because of the boost it will give to her career. As the Visitors become increasingly tyrannical by rounding up scientists, this gets her chewed out by an older journalist she used to look up to by calling her [[PropagandaMachine "Goebbels"]]. Kristine has a HeelRealization and later tries to expose the Visitors on live air, but it's too little, too late: [[RedemptionEqualsDeath Diana immediately blasts her]].
* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' had two.
** Robert Murdock appears in a few season 5 episodes. He runs a sleazy newspaper and revels in printing stories that make the NYPD look bad, particularly when the "blue flu" hits. Although, he subverts it himself later when he prints a tribute to a fallen officer.
** In season 8's "Clean Sweep," while at a crime scene, Mac is approached by a reporter named Jennifer Walsh who openly flirts with him, trying to get him to corroborate/comment on things she's speculating about...even going so far as to ask if HE would compromise ''his own values'' in order to close a case. When he shuts her down, she worms her way into the lab to accost him in his office with the same questions. He promptly dismisses her, again.
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': Christine Hill from season 4 is initially just a bit unscrupulous, sexing it with up with Detective Quinn and then using their pillow talk in her reporting, which is really his own fault for being stupid enough to share confidential information with her. [[spoiler:Then it's revealed that she was the one who shot Agent Lundy and is the daughter of the Trinity Killer, whom she tried to cover for.]]
* ''Series/{{Narcos}}'': Valeria Velez is a reporter and anchorwoman who seduces notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar to gain more insight into his operation, but just becomes a mouthpiece for the cartel in the process [[spoiler:and ends up getting her killed]]. Valeria was loosely based on a RealLife reporter, Virginia Vallejo.
* ''Series/LawAndOrder'':
** "Juvenile" starts with the attempted murder of an investigative journalist who claims gangbangers targeted him for his series on how they use old ladies to smuggle drugs. It turns out that the entire story is a fabrication, one that actual gangbangers find quite amusing. He did accidentally get close enough to the truth to make someone nervous in connection with another story, though.
** "Public Service Homicide" has a cable news producer who engineers a confrontation between a victim of child sex abuse and the man who abused her as part of a ''Series/ToCatchAPredator''-style documentary, knowing full well that the abuse victim will likely behave violently towards her abuser. The abuser ends up dead and [=McCoy=] has the producer tried for depraved indifference manslaughter.
* ''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.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': In season 1, Mitchell Ellison cares more about keeping the circulation numbers of the ''New York Bulletin'' up as opposed to cover hard-hitting news, to the point that he's constantly roadblocking Ben Urich's efforts to break stories about Wilson Fisk's criminal activities. He mellows out after Fisk kills Ben, and it turns out that Fisk had an insider at the ''Bulletin'' on his payroll.
* ''Series/QuincyME'': In "[[Recap/QuincyMES1E3AStarIsDead A Star is Dead]]", when Reardon arrives, Quincy makes it clear he dislikes him even more than most nosy reporters, claiming that he publishes stories other papers have too much honesty to print. [[spoiler: Ultimately, it comes to light that he drove Roberta to kill herself, painting her in the most negative light possible to pressure her into giving him the dirt on her and Congressman Sinclair's relationship.]]
* ''Omertà: La loi du silence'' has Bertrand Fournel, an independent journalist who publishes articles about anything he's told about, without much thought, and occasionally pesters both the law enforcement and the mafia for juicy rumors. Naturally, [[HateSink he's despised by those who interacted with him]], and thus must only be relied on as an extreme last resort.
* ''Series/Charmed1998'': Prue once had to contend with a reporter who saw her using telekinesis and was desperate to out her and her sisters as witches. At one point, he sabotaged her car to make her desperate enough to confess on camera.

* Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry", which is about the callousness of TV news reporting as well as the tabloidization of all news. It's told from the point of view of a news anchorman who "could've been an actor, but I wound up here", and is thus not a real journalist. The song's theme is that TV news coverage focuses too much on negative and sensationalist news; in particular, deaths, disasters, and scandals, with little regard to the consequences or for what is important.
* Chamillionaire's song "Hip Hop Police" and "Evening News" features the rapper himself (in whiteface) portraying Bob O'Wildy, a smug news anchor who alternates between insulting him and misleading his viewers before switching to commercials.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' and its sequels have Khalisah bint Sinan al-Jilani, who tries to interview Shepard once per game and each time makes outrageous accusations and takes every opportunity to try and make Shepard look bad. A Paragon Shepard will beat her at her own game and come out looking even more heroic. A Renegade Shepard will probably just punch her lights out.
* 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. [[spoiler:Then he reveals that he's a SerialRapist on top of that]].
* The journalist in ''VideoGame/PapersPlease'', who walks up carrying nothing but an invalid international press pass to get through a strictly controlled border, offers a lose-lose scenario through sheer jerkishness. Deny them entry? They write an article complaining about how they couldn't get through and how this shows clear prejudice to journalists, and so the border patrol institutes Reason for Denial forms to add another set of paperwork to the pile. Let them through? Not only do you get a citation for messing up, but the reporter instead writes an article mocking the border for being too ''weak'', and the border patrol institutes the same forms.

* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E23PonyvilleConfidential Ponyville Confidential]]" has Diamond Tiara fulfill a J. Jonah Jameson-esque role as she forces the Cutie Mark Crusaders to write unflattering or outright untrue stories about Ponyville's citizens under the pseudonym of Gabby Gums, such as the Cakes divorcing, excerpts from Rarity's diary, or trying to portray Twilight as a snob, Applejack as lazy, and Rainbow Dash as a softy. When they begin to have doubts, Diamond Tiara keeps them in line by threatening to reveal embarrassing photos of them. When Rarity learns the truth and shares it with her friends, the entire town turns on the Crusaders, which not only makes them pariahs, but ruins their chances of getting gossip. Diamond Tiara does this all to get "juicy" stories and more attention for herself. Thankfully at the end the CMC reveal themselves as Gabby Gums to apologize to the town and tell the whole story. In a bit of LaserGuidedKarma, Diamond Tiara gets demoted to printer while CameraFiend colt Featherweight becomes the new editor.

* Nancy Gribble is shown to be like this when she gets particularly power hungry in ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill''. As she once told Mihn Souphanousinphone, "Just because I'm blonde doesn't mean I'm harmless, sug. Do you ever wonder what happened to the weather caster before me?"
** When Nancy decides to try and spice up a fluff piece about a kid who brought his ferret to school, she focuses on how said school doesn't have any security guards and postulates on what might've happened if an intruder armed with a loaded gun got into the school instead. She even calls the report "Dark Day in Durndle." Hank's the only person who doesn't get worked up over the report, repeatedly exclaiming nothing actually happened and Nancy just spouted a bunch of hypotheticals to scare people. Unfortunately, Nancy's bullshit gets her a better reporting job wherein she spends her time sabotaging her coworkers to the degree even Peggy and Minh are freaked out by her behavior. After Nancy gets drunk and humiliates herself during a parade, she's bumped back to her local station. It turns out the only reason Nancy isn't like this all the time is she usually spends most of her energy dealing with her husband Dale's {{Manchild}} behavior.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'': Eddie Brock is a sleazy hack, plain and simple. Not only was he fully prepared to expose Curt Connors as the Lizard and ruin his life to benefit his career, he also takes advantage of Jonah's hatred of Spider-Man to frame him for the theft of a rare mineral in order to get his job at the ''Daily Bugle'' back.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/HisGirlFriday'', which features an ethically-challenged editor and a flock of equally morally dubious sensationally covering an upcoming execution.

-->-- '''Music/OysteinSunde''', "Smi mens liket er varmt" (translated: forge while the body is hot) (translated from Norwegian)