Then the tsunami in Japan happened, and it's all over the news, with newscasters pretending it hits them personally.

CNN: If you don't want to hear an edgy joke, don't listen

This was not surprising, since the Qatari channel had set the standard, and al-Arabiya actually poached some of its best-known newscasters.

ECONOMIST: Arab satellite television

Newscasters on the state television network Al-Iraqiya draped Iraqi flags around their necks as an on-screen clock counted down to midnight Monday.

CNN: Iraqis cheer -- and fear -- U.S. pullout from cities

When I lived in Boston or Philadelphia or New Jersey, I couldn't understand the big deal local newscasters made of weather forecasts.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Dog Days'

Politicians, newscasters and pundits are united around an idea I find wacky: that we can grow the economy forever on our finite planet.

FORBES: Why I Think The Economy Can't Grow Forever

As a regular Daily Show viewer, Jeremy Latour, a senior film major, says he actually trusts "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart more than other newscasters.

CNN: Emerson students get news on 'Daily' basis

At one point, so many shares were being dumped that the New York Stock Exchange ticker fell behind and TV newscasters couldn't tell how much the market had fallen.

NPR: Black Monday: A Bad Day Led to Many Changes

Newscasters really should get acting awards.

CNN: If you don't want to hear an edgy joke, don't listen

Fake newspaper-style headlines with exclamation points, in the manner of a Warner Bros. gangster movie from the nineteen-thirties, suddenly appear and disappear, and some of the voices that are supposed to be those of actual newscasters were clearly concocted by the filmmaker.

NEWYORKER: Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price