Conan O'Brien Exposes Blatant News Scripting

For a short time in the late 90's I did some consultation work for a local newspaper. All of the journalists had a newsgroup type of program installed on their PC's that posted stories. They're all wired into the same database.

It's basically a giant circle jerk from one of the big news outlets.

I would imagine that the information comes from a giant red entity with fangs and horns sitting on a throne made from the bones of the apostles. It's a wild guess...but I'm pretty good at this sort of thing. People often call him "they".

Not so much "scripted" as a reflection of the cost cuts in the local media.

Most local affiliates run a bare-bones operation any more, using just the minimum number of people needed to keep the operation on the air. So they don't have real reporters or writers anymore.

They are obviously all subscribing to some sort of national news service which is providing all of them with the same story text and B-roll footage. Or they could just all be reading an AP or Reuters story.

Not so much a conspiracy as an illustration on how the news is now a profit center, and the best way to make a profit is to reduce the costs to nothing.

And if you have a Gannett-owned local newspaper, you've probably seen it with more and more USA Today-produced material being inserted.

I first woke up to this in NASCAR back in the '80s. I used to get some fan-related weekly newspapers- regional and national - and used to read all of these columnists who interviewed the drivers and got lots of great quotes. Imagine my surprise when I got my first pit pass and got access to the media center. On tables were stacks and stacks of material and quotes from the drivers provided by the teams and the sponsors. The writers would just gather them all up, then wrote their stories as if THEY had tracked down the drivers and conducted the interviews themselves!

And I suspect a lot of what passes for "news" these days is the same thing. Lifting provided copy and video footage and passing it off as their own.

Polly wants a cracker after that one...

Thats all BS.......

That video was edited, diced and spliced with some phony voice overs added to it.

So put your dicks back in your pants!

That makes sense, thanks!... So which group of Elites sends the news co's their info?

who can forget the "BRILLIANT OBAMA" news anchor compilation

[link to newsbusters.org]

Well, you can...but you just look like a douchebag.

You don't need us to tell you that news is scripted.

Ever wonder why its socially acceptable for comedians to tell some truth while unacceptable for others? Maybe they want us to learn to laugh at the truth?

"You dont need me to tell you that americans are too yellow to take back their country"