Line #36 Main/NewsParody


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4	[[quoteright:350:[[Website/TheOnion https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/man_walks_on_moon.jpg]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[Creator/OscarWilde If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh. Otherwise they'll kill you]]."'']]
6
7	->''"The show you are about to watch is a news parody. Its stories are not fact checked. Its presenters are not journalists. And its opinions are not fully thought through."''
8	-->-- ''Series/TheDailyShow''
9
10	News presented with a [[{{Satire}} satiric and snide tone]].
11
12	May be the entire premise of the series, or constitute one segment within a SketchComedy, such as the "Weekend Update" segment in ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', or the "Laugh-In News" on ''[[Series/RowanAndMartinsLaughIn Laugh-In]]''.
13
14	Note that, although some of these shows give plenty of useful information, watching one is less effective than reading a newspaper, a warning which Jon Stewart in particular works hard to make clear. Whether watching the [[NewsBroadcast "real" news shows]] that these shows parody is effective at all is more debatable.
15
16	A variation is the '''Faux News''' show or sketch, which satirizes elements of legitimate news shows but doesn't use factual information. The best examples are the British radio show ''On the Hour'' and its TV adaptation, ''Series/TheDayToday'', both of which feature writing and acting by Patrick Marber, who was later nominated for an Oscar for ''Film/NotesOnAScandal''. ''The Day Today'' had its own spin-off, ''Series/BrassEye'', which spoofed the PrimeTimeNews format. The most famous Faux News outlet in the US, on the other hand, is not on television: it's ''Website/TheOnion'' (which uses a mix of real and imaginary events), which has spread its tentacles to the Internet and other areas, as well. In the age of the Internet, a ShallowNewsSiteSatire will often spread NewsParody.
17
18	Not to be confused with KentBrockmanNews, a ShowWithinAShow parody of news shows, or (as "Faux News") with a common pejorative for Fox News Channel.
19
20	----
21	!!Examples
22	[[foldercontrol]]
23
24	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
25	* As noted above, the "Weekend Update" portion of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', which has been a part of the show since the very first episode in 1975. Might be the TropeMaker or TropeCodifier for this genre.
26	* ''Series/ThatWasTheWeekThatWas'', the British original (1962-63) and the American remake (1964-65), both fronted by David Frost.
27	* ''Series/TheDailyShow With Jon Stewart''. (See the official Creator/ComedyCentral [[http://www.thedailyshow.com site.]]) Now that Jon Stewart has left, it's ''Series/TheDailyShow with Trevor Noah''.
28	* ''Series/TheChasersWarOnEverything''
29	* ''The Half Hour News Hour'' was Fox News Channel's attempt to counter ''Series/TheDailyShow'''s perceived liberal bias with an explicit conservative bias. The show tanked and was canceled after a few months.
30	* ''Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld'' (The Fox News Channel's much more successful comedy offering. Hovers between News Parody, Faux News, ''and'' Fake Pundit Show [because it's like ''The View'', if ''The View'' had a decidedly pro-CampGay bias]. {{Dissimile}} and absurdist tangents abound.).
31	* ''Series/TheGregGutfeldShow'': Segments that parody Cable news are done very often on the show, such as jokes about a hive of bees running for president, and Tyrus being the press secratary.
32	* ''Series/NotTheNineOClockNews'' (one of the earliest dedicated NewsParody shows, which went out at 9 PM on Creator/{{BBC}}2 directly opposite the ''real Nine O'Clock News'' on [=BBC1=])
33	* ''Series/NotNecessarilyTheNews'' (modeled on the above though with no specific time reference, one of the earliest dedicated NewsParody shows in the US)
34	* ''Series/TheDayToday'', Creator/ChrisMorris's surreal spoof of the ''style'' of news reporting.
35	* ''Series/HaveIGotNewsForYou'' is considered to be the quintessential British version. It's more of a quiz/panel show than a News Parody, although there's plenty of fun-making about the news.
36	* ''Series/MockTheWeek'' is a DarkerAndEdgier version of the above.
37	* The news section of ''Series/TopGear'', introduced initially as a [[TwoGamersOnACouch three-presenters-on-furniture-scavenged-from-cars]] way to mention "boring but important cars" quickly. Has expanded somewhat to include car news, politics as it relates to driving, and the presenters poking fun at each other whenever possible.
38	* ''The Jeselnik Offensive'', a ''very'' [[BlackComedy dark]] Creator/ComedyCentral show hosted by infamously harsh comedian Anthony Jeselnik, which is mostly dedicated to mocking deaths and other tragedies from the news.
39	* ''Crossballs'', a short-lived Creator/ComedyCentral show that was a portmanteau of CNN's (now-defunct) ''Crossfire'' and MSNBC's ''Hardball''. Often pairing up a revolving cast of comedians with actual experts as they argued with each other on the topic at hand.
40	* ''Series/TheColbertReport'', a SpinOff of ''Series/TheDailyShow'' that was pitched to the network as Colbert parodying Bill O'Reilley.
41	* ''Series/TheNightlyShow'', another ''Daily Show'' spinoff, parodies panel-style shows.
42	* ''Series/{{CNNNN}}'' ([[Creator/TheChaser Chaser]] Non-stop News Network): An Australian parody show spoofing CNN and Fox News.
43	* In English-speaking Canada, there's ''Series/ThisHourHas22Minutes'' and ''Series/TheRickMercerReport''.
44	* And on the French side of Canada, ''La Fin du Monde est a Sept Heures'' ("The end of the world is at seven o'clock"), and ''Infoman'' have trended toward this at times (at other times trending toward light-hearted humorous commentary on the news, musical numbers, or out-and-out silliness).
45	* ''Jimmy [=MacDonald's=] Canada'', with the added bonus of being set in TheSixties and starring Richard "[[Franchise/ResidentEvil Albert Wesker]]" Waugh as Jimmy.
46	* ''Broken News'' does the Faux News variant, cutting between snippets of different styles of news show, such as "Look Out East" spoofing BBC local news broadcasts, a BBC News parody with presenters who keep interrupting each other, an ITV News parody skewering the channel's overuse of flashy graphics, an American network news parody that's usually oblivious to what's going on in the rest of the episode (and features Creator/ClaudiaChristian as one of the hosts), and several others, and frequently cuts between the various sub-shows in mid-sentence in a way that's supposed to represent a bored viewer flicking between channels. It's the SpiritualSuccessor to ''The Sunday Format'', a radio series by the same writers that does much the same with newspapers.
47	* ''Series/LesGuignolsDeLInfo'' is a French version of this trope using puppets. It aired at 8PM (the time of real news) and the anchor was based upon a real news anchor who worked for years on another channel.
48	* Another French version: various incarnations of satirical show ''Groland'' (especially the earliest ones) took the form of fake news shows.
49	* The Italian version is "Striscia la Notizia", a daily news parody who nonetheless manages to make also very serious points, exposing local cases of corruption and frauds which usually don't appear on the "real" news programs.
50	* In Germany: ''Rudis Tagesshow'' (1981 - 1987) and its SpiritualSuccessor ''Series/DieWochenshow'' (1996 - 2002).
51	** Since 2009 it's the ''Series/HeuteShow''.
52	* ''Series/{{Studio 3}}'' has a kids' version in one of its regular segments, where it's two young hosts act as decrepit, old-fashioned news presenters.
53	* One of the recurring sketches in the Australian sketch show ''Full Frontal'' was ''Australian National Nightly Network News'' (''ANNNN''), which started in Series 2 as a series of short one-liners about the events of the week, but evolved in the third series as a complete news report, spoofing more segments and expanding the number of characters: newsreaders Ian Goodings (played by John Walker) and Norelle Parkinsom (Kitty Flanagan), reporter David McGahan (Creator/ShaunMicallef), and weatherman Phil Toinby (Francis Greenslade, only in series 3). By the second half of series 4, only Ian Goodings stayed as a character in ''ANNNN'', but the news parody continued until the end of the show, three series later.
54	* The Philippines had the ''Sic O' Clock News'' and ''Wazzup Wazzup''.
55	* Indian news/media commentary portal ''Newslaundry'' has a series known as ''Clothesline'', where the anchor, veteran journalist Madhu Trehan does this for news media, mostly television, crossing over with {{MST}}, by adding her own commentary. A more actual news parody is the series ''Newslaundry Lite''.
56	* The Israeli ''Series/EretzNehederet'' runs almost entirely on this format, alternating between mocking remarks about recent events in the style of Seth Myers on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive,''[[note]]The show was clearly influenced by ''SNL'' in general.[[/note]] interviews with actors playing public figures, and skits in the formats of news reports.
57	* The Argentine show ''Caiga Quien Caiga'' (lit. "Whoever May Fall"), commonly shorthanded to ''CQC''. Among other countries to which the format was imported, it is also very popular in Spain and Brazil (where the acronym stands for ''Custe o Que Custar'', i.e. "Whatever It Takes").
58	* Chilean Show ''Series/TreintaYUnMinutos'', is half this, half WorkCom with puppets!
59	* OlderThanTheyThink local news example from the UsefulNotes/TwinCities. For a decade in UsefulNotes/TheSixties and UsefulNotes/TheSeventies; Minneapolis-St. Paul Creator/{{CBS}} station WCCO-TV 4 would air a satirical newscast titled "''The Bedtime Nooz''" using the station's on-air talent; including iconic news anchor Dave Moore and weatherman Bud Kraehling.
60	* ''Series/DropTheDeadDonkey'' was a news parody in two different ways; it was a WorkCom set in a newsroom, where many of the jokes were based around real news stories.
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Music]]
64	* Music/LouReed's [[Music/NewYork1989 "Sick Of You"]], which the book ''Between Thought And Expression: Selected Lyrics of Lou Reed'' described as a "fantasy newscast."
65	-->"All the beaches were closed, the ocean was a red sea\
66	But there was no one there to part it in two\
67	There was no fresh salad, 'cause there's hypos in the cabbage\
68	Staten Island disappeared at noon\
69	And they say the Midwest is in great distress\
70	And UsefulNotes/{{NASA}} blew up the moon\
71	The ozone layer has no ozone anymore\
72	[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And you're gonna leave me for the guy next door?]]"
73	[[/folder]]
74
75
76	[[folder:Radio]]
77	* And on BBC radio is the PanelShow ''Radio/TheNewsQuiz'', which is about 13 years older than ''Have I Got News'' and follows a different format. The host asks a question whose answer is current news to one of the four 'contestants' (usually comedians and occasionally politicians), who then proceed to mock that particular story. After each answer, the host will provide scripted mockery of that story (often involving puns), [[ThePointsMeanNothing award points]], and move on. Each round, a cutting from newspapers or online news will be read out, and the final round has no points awarded as each guest reads out their own cutting instead. [[AudienceParticipation These cuttings are generally sent in by listeners from across the country, resulting in some being from obscure local papers.]] The cuttings were dropped in the post-Miles Jupp era.
78	* BBC radio also provides the much more straightfoward News Parody ''Radio/TheNowShow'', where Hugh Dennis, Steve Punt and rotating guests (special or otherwise) thoroughly mock a news story of their choice. There is frequently, but not always, a musical segment.
79	* The Creator/{{NPR}} show ''Radio/WaitWaitDontTellMe'' could be considered an example of this.
80	* Creator/{{CBC}}'s ''Radio/ThisIsThat'', a parody of CBC's current issues interview shows, like ''Radio/AsItHappens''. It features discussion of fictional current affairs along with outraged listeners calling in.
81	* ''Radio/RoyalCanadianAirFarce''
82	* ''On the Hour'', the original radio version of ''Series/TheDayToday''.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Web Original]]
86	* ''Website/TheOnion'' is a rare example of the NewsParody in print. And, via [[http://www.theonion.com/ its website]] and the miracle of streaming audio and streaming video, a NewsParody of radio and television news as well.
87	* The Website/BabylonBee satirizes the news with fake parody stories from a conservative/evangelical angle. They've managed to become something of a SitcomArchnemesis to the more left-leaning Website/{{Snopes}} in the process, which cannot resist "fact-checking" even its most ridiculous articles.
88	* [[http://tfradio.net Radio Free Cybertron]], a Franchise/{{Transformers}} podcast, has a segment called "News From Cybertron", done from an in-universe point of view.
89	* A video on Website/YouTube called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpVTUdfcEMg "The World's Most Generic News Report"]] from British TV show Charlie Brooker's ''Series/{{Newswipe}}''. It breaks down a typical news segment exactly in a very funny way.
90	* ''Website/NewsBiscuit'' is to Britain what ''Website/TheOnion'' is to America, albeit a bit less well-known.
91	* ''Website/TheBeaverton'' is yet another country's own parody newspaper, this time from Canada.
92	* ''Website/MinistryOfHarmony'' is the Chinese version of ''TheOnion''; it even markets itself as such.
93	* A popular online parody that also appears in print (notably in some alternate newspaper markets), is ''[[http://www.borowitzreport.com/ The Borowitz Report.]]'' It was acquired by ''Magazine/TheNewYorker'' in 2012.
94	* The Headlies section of ''Website/{{WrestleCrap}}'', in a parody of less reputable Wrestling Newz sites.
95	** This was followed by Kayfabe News.
96	* Venezuela's ''[[Blog/ElChiguireBipolar El Chigüire Bipolar]]''.
97	* Spanish comedy/satire website ''El Mundo Today''.
98	* Mexican comedy/satire website ''El Deforma''. They have a seccion for fake-sounding-but-actually-real news with a NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer specifically so they are not confused with its actual humor content.
99	* Colombia has the parody/satire website ''Actualidad Panamericana'', which [[PoesLaw because of its serious-sounding name tends to have a lot of people sharing its contents]].
100	* ''WebVideo/MockTheDummy,'' which is a Website/YouTube parody of conservative politics...with dummies.
101	* ''Website/TheHardTimes'' ("A ''very'' real punk news site") is a parody news website focused on punk and other music subcultures that also spoofs real life current events. It has several spin-offs: ''Website/HardDrive'', which parodies gaming journalism and nerd and video game culture, and ''Hard Money'', which parodies business and financial advice sites.
102	* Israel has ''[[https://dailyfreier.com/ The Daily Freier]]''[[note]]A Yiddish term meaning "sucker" that has been adopted into Modern Hebrew[[/note]], an English-language website which focuses on satirizing the culture of Tel Aviv, especially recently immigrated English-speaking Jews. There's also ''[[http://www.preoccupiedterritory.com/ PreOccupied Territory]]''.
103	* ''Website/TheBetootaAdvocate'' is Australia's answer to ''The Onion''.
104	* ''[[https://twitter.com/SuspiciousNews SusNews]]'' aka ''Suspicious News'' posts fake articles with headlines like "WesternAnimation/{{Pingu}} Dead After Shootout with Rival Gang" and "[[Franchise/TheIncredibles Mrs. Incredible]] says that she will start an [=OnlyFans=]".
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Western Animation]]
108	* ''WesternAnimation/TheWrongCoast'' presents fake celebrity news through eccentric {{Claymation}} characters.
109	[[/folder]]
110

Context Main / NewsParody