Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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BSTV

Bin Credulity
 
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On April Fools' Day (1st April), UK newspapers and news programmes frequently run "spoof" news reports along the lines of "Spaghetti Harvest Fails" etc. This adds a real frisson to newswatching, and leads to a suspension of the credulity I usually bring to printed/ broadcast media.

I propose all news media should run a couple of false stories per day, just to keep us on our toes, and keep our critical functions engaged. The offending items would be identified on the following day, so there would be minimal danger of widespread disinformation. On the plus side, everyone would be forced to think about what they were being told, rather than just accept it.

For some journals, this may not require a significant change to current practice.

whimsickle, Nov 19 2002

Indymedia http://www.halfbake...a/www.indymedia.org
Information for the politically ert [General Washington, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

GTA: Vice City Commercials http://db.gamefaqs....ity_commercials.txt
[ghillie, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]

Not The Nine O'Clock News http://www.museum.t...nine/notthenine.htm
(We were just talking about this show somewhere else.) [Nick@Nite, Oct 17 2004]

The Onion http://www.theonion.com/
(And we talk about this one all the time: a weekly dose of healthy disinformation.) [Nick@Nite, Oct 17 2004]

[link]






       // For some journals, this may not require a significant change to current practice //   

       For "a significant" read "any apparent".
8th of 7, Nov 19 2002
  

       I love this! Might even get people to pay more attention to the news, because of the fun of figuring out which stories were fake.
krelnik, Nov 19 2002
  

       New Labour vows to be "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime". They "will not increase personal taxation".
angel, Nov 19 2002
  

       I take your point, [calum], although the Sport tends not to have any accurate reporting at all (except perhaps for "Busty Anna Is A Real Sizzler"). I was actually thinking along the lines of something more credible, like "Blunkett abolishes right to jury trial for all immigrants".
whimsickle, Nov 19 2002
  

       [Nick] hint, hint - gorillas.
po, Nov 19 2002
  

       [N@N] I'm with you 100% - The Onion should syndicate its content to newspapers across the US. Some of the stories are almost believable ("Microsoft Patents Ones, Zeroes" is a favourite of mine).
whimsickle, Nov 19 2002
  

       Or have DO NOT BELIEVE THIS MAN in big flashing letters marqueeing under the anchorman. Might have to be a tv-set add on.
General Washington, Nov 20 2002
  

       Dang! I missed the surprise appearance by Jesus on the 700 Club!
thumbwax, Nov 20 2002
  

       They'd probably give Him some industrial strength eyelashes and an enormous white/pink wig.
thumbwax, Nov 20 2002
  

       This sounds like a tv show in the Grand Theft Auto games series... they have radio stations that feature all fake ads, and they are hilarious! Snippet of a "Farewell Ranch" nursing home commercial:   

       Male: Howdy partners! It's 4:30 in the morning here at Farewell ranch. And it's time to get up and work the old cow. get up ya oaf! At Farewell Ranch, old people don't sit around stagnating watching game shows and talking about the good old days. Sinking into the grave with a urine soaked mess. At Farewell Ranch they sweat and toil until the breakingpoint. Keep that miserable contemplation of mortality at bay. Hell, at steering time, we'll work grandpa so hard he'll wish he was dead. At the end of the day he'll sit down in the blue grass eat a bowl of commemorative beans and enjoy a sing along at one of our nightly funerals. It's the cowboy’s code. Work hard, don't shower and die in your boots. Right Norm?   

       Norm: Ahh, my prostate!   

       Male: Farewell Ranch, the only way to ride into the sunset.   

       They're hilarious, see link for more! GTA3 commercials are pretty good, too...
ghillie, Jun 03 2004
  

       Ah, I gotta post another one (Musty Pines nursing home):   

       Female: Are you tired of your couches getting ruined?   

       Male: Oh grandpa.   

       Grandpa: I made tinkles again!   

       Male: If you've got old people cluttering up your home. Why not send them to Musty Pines? We'll help bring back dignity and we promise it'll be thebest three months of their lives. They'll enjoy bingo, complaining,mumbling incoherently, skinny-dipping and organ donation. And once a month it's our famous lucky dip medication switching night. Musty Pines is located at a luxurious location overlooking Vice City's state of the art sanitation facilities. You can still visit your old people,but now you have the comfort of knowing you don't have to. After they pass on to something better, guaranteed in three months or less, you can start enjoying their money. Finally, you can have quality family time again. Musty Pines, now you don't have to say goodbye. Drive through service also available.   

       Ha!
ghillie, Jun 03 2004
  
      
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