News Releases
NEWSBREAKERS
When News Breaks, We Bust It.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
www.newsbreakers.org
NEWS TEAM TRIES TURNING TABLES ON TABLE TURNERS
Cub reporter no tiger tamer says one witness
(GOFFSTOWN, NH) - June 10, 2005 - A reporter from WMUR (Channel 9) disrupted a television news intervention by the iconoclastic media watchdog group NEWSBREAKERS.
The reporter had just finished a live news report in which a woman appeared walking a "tiger" on a leash. NEWSBREAKERS senior political correspondent Buck "Lucky" Owens concluded an interview with the reporter, when he began screaming and waving his hands behind Owens. Video of the event is available HERE.
"I will give him credit for trying, but I suspect that outburst will go over as well as the 'Dean Scream,'" Owens said.
NEWSBREAKER Ted Michaels said he is never surprised by the reactions of news people to his group's outreaches.
"Just keep the camera on, and you never know what you'll get, man," Michaels said. "Sometimes it's hard to tell the real news people from the fake."
NEWSBREAKERS used the event to introduce its newest member, Selda Manhiemer. Ms. Manhiemer is a New Hampshire resident and played a key role in preparing for the bust.
"Seriously, you guys have too much fun," she said.
NEWSBREAKERS is a nonpartisan media watchdog group. It offers comment and critique on the role of television news in informing the public. The group relies on parody and nontraditional media interventions and transformations.
The group is currently at work shooting an instructional video for distribution to international anarchist lending libraries.
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RANDOM ACTS OF CHAOS DOMINATE LOCAL NEWS; ACCOUNTABILITY SCARCE
(PITTSBURGH, PA) - June 13, 2005 -A reporter from WPXI (Channel 11), questioned at the completion of a live report about a suspect accused of a grisly attack, could not explain why television news is saturated with violent content.(more)
CABLE COMPANY NIXES LOCAL NEWS, ANNOUNCES LAYOFFS
(ROCHESTER, NY) May 30, 2005 - Time Warner Cable unveiled a new plan to scrap local news and weather coverage at its cable systems in Syracuse, Rochester and Albany.(more)
SCOOP: NEWSPAPER MAN CONFRONTS TV CREW ON AIR
(BUFFALO, NY) May 11, 2005 - A cagey newspaper reporter fed up with seeing his work lifted by TV colleagues blew the whistle on recycled news.(more)
MEDIA ATTACK CAUGHT ON TAPE; NEWSBREAKER RECOVERING
(HOPKINTON, MA) - MAY 11, 2005 - A video has surfaced of two television workers, at least one of whom is from Boston's WHDH (Ch. 7), viciously attacking a member of the pacifist media watchdog group NEWSBREAKERS.(more)
CHEESE NINJA BUSTS FOX AFFILIATE
Clear Channel suffers second sting
(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY) - April 20, 2005 - A mysterious ninja crept into a live television broadcast, whizzing processed cheese toward a news team and quietly tiptoeing through their report.(more)
EVANGELIST EXORCISES CLEAR CHANNEL NEWSCAST
(ROCHESTER, NY) - APRIL 15, 2005 - The Reverend Utah Snakewater "exorcised" Clear Channel demons from a Rochester, New York live television broadcast. (more)
'COLUMBINE' REPORTER GETS ROUGH ON LIVE SHOT PASSERBY
(NEW YORK, NY) - APRIL 4, 2005 - A reporter resorted to fisticuffs when a man reading a Bible wandered too close to the reporter's live broadcast. (more)
EGGMAN SCRAMBLES NEW YORK BROADCAST TO UNVEIL NEW 'VNI' SERVICE
(NEW YORK, NY) - March 24, 2005 - The firebrand media watchdog group NEWSBREAKERS rolled out its new Visual News Interpretation (VNI) service Monday in midtown Manhattan.(more)
CABLE COMPANY URGED JOURNALISTS TO SEARCH REGION FOR SATELLITE CUSTOMERS
(ROCHESTER, NY) - March 22, 2005 - Time Warner Cable asked journalists to turn in the names and addresses of local residents who subscribe to satellite television service. (more)
NEWS DIRECTOR DESCRIBES VIDEO LEAK AS 'UNPRECEDENTED' AND 'INTOLERABLE'
(ROCHESTER, NY) - March 19, 2005 - A Rochester, New York news director has admonished his staff for an alleged leak of news video to the unorthodox media watchdog group NEWSBREAKERS. (more)
NEWSBREAKERS INFILTRATE GANNETT MEDIA EMPIRE
Group goes undercover to bust Phoenix broadcaster
(PHOENIX, AZ) - February 28, 2005 - The unconventional media watchdog group NEWSBREAKERS made a protest appearance on KPNX-TV (Ch. 12) Friday. (more)
NEWSBREAKERS ANNOUNCE ONLINE SCRAPBOOK 'AWAKENING'
(UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) - February 18, 2005 - The controversial media watchdog group NEWSBREAKERS has published an online legal scrapbook outlining its tussle with a New York broadcaster.(more)
DEATH VISITS SINCLAIR LIVE SHOT. . . SURPRISE, SURPRISE
(COLUMBUS, OH) - February 4, 2005 - Sinclair Broadcasting affiliates FOX WTTE-TV (Channel 28) and ABC WSYX-TV (Channel 6) had an unanticipated brush with Death on their noon news broadcasts today. (more)
GROUP LIBERATES LIVE TV EVENT, LAUNCHES 'NEW CHAPTER IN MEDIA CRITICISM'
(Rochester, NY) - January 6, 2005 - The media watchdog group NEWSBREAKERS freed two live broadcasts today, one from CBS affiliate WROC Channel 8 and the other from NBC affiliate WHEC Channel 10. (more)