Newswipe
Charlie Brooker's Newswipe is a spinoff of Screenwipe, Charlie Brooker's television-review show, focused especially on news reporting. It's especially interesting because Charlie Brooker admits in the first episode that he hardly knows anything about current events, the news, or anything else, and was hoping to learn more as part of this show. This gives the show more accessibility than most shows about the news, or indeed the news itself.
The show, while still funny, is usually quite bleak in tone, and not for the faint of heart in some instances. It exposes many of the lies and sensationalism inherent in much of the news reporting. Altogether educational but also disheartening at times.
The show also usually features a guest reporter supplying his view (it's his view) on news reporting and politics.
- Most News Tropes (pointed out with Charlie Brooker's trademark caustic wit)
- Awesome McCoolname: Shouty McHeadwoundman
- Catch Phrase: "I'm Doug Stanhope, and that's why I drink."
- Cloudcuckoolander: Resident Poet Tim Key, who delivers vague stream of consciousness poems only barely related to a topic that Charlie has just discussed
- Credits Gag: At the end of each show, you see Charlie Brooker messing around in some way in the fake news set while the credits scroll. In one episode London gets blown up while Brooker doesn't seem to notice.
- Deconstruction of the news.
- Double Vision: In a spoof of how rolling news presents breaking stories, Charlie acts as both studio anchorman and on-the-scene reporter filling time as they wait for a third Charlie to return home and continue the show.
- Human Interest Story: Brooker puts up the death of Jade Goody as the most disgusting version of this
- Incredibly Lame Pun: Subverted during a deconstruction of on-the-street news segments.
(Brooker as the narrator): "And then the final summary, ending on a whimsical shot of something nearby, accompanied by a wry sign off."
(Brooker as the street reporter): "Wordplay fit for a king or, in other words, a.. 'regent's treat.'"
Points to a sign for "Regent Street."
- My Friends and Zoidberg: Charlie Brooker described the telethon for Haiti's post-earthquake aid as "a collection of all the musicians you would ever want to listen to... and Sting."
- Self-Demonstrating Article: This piece on the cast-iron format of British TV news reports.
- Take That: The extremely crude censorship of one of the first guests on the show is (in this troper's opinion) a giant "fuck you" to the BBC and litigious lawsuits in general.
- "Imagine how disrespected he'd feel if we put his photo on the screen and called him a: Two foot prancing mosquito voiced tit-a-ma-boob, in a baby's hat, and a nincompoop, and a twerp, and a twit, and an oaf, and a git, and a..."
- Our Lawyers Advised This Trope: The disclaimer of 'It's his view' was put in to prevent controversy and lawyerness.
- And spoofed with Doug Stanhope Voice of America*
- Mr Stanhope's views do not necessarily represent those of America"