# Is this news clip real? (reporters faking the news) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-news-clip-real-reporters-faking-the-news/949792 "2021-08-30T18:45:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-news-clip-real-reporters-faking-the-news/949792/1 "2021-08-30T18:45:22Z")
It shows tense reporters in the recent hurricane, wearing wind-blown parkas, struggling to stand upright----while people in the background casually saunter into the picture, wearing shorts and Tshirts. > **[r/weather - cutting edge weather reporting... too dangerous!! do not try this at...](https://www.reddit.com/r/weather/comments/penaq5/cutting_edge_weather_reporting_too_dangerous_do/)** > > 245 votes and 17 comments so far on Reddit This is a 20-second video clip that seems to be news from a local TV station. And it is outright fraud, and misleading the public. If the clip is real, then the reporters deserve to be fired, and the station managing them should lose its license to broadcast.(But , of course that won’t happen) (source: This link is to a post on a reddit forum about weather, which is a generally trustworthy source, mostly for serious people interested in meteorology. Apparently, the poster copied the video from the Weather Channel on cable TV.) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-news-clip-real-reporters-faking-the-news/949792/2 "2021-08-30T19:05:48Z")
He appears to be leaning with the wind (not into it). Maybe between trying to stand still with his back to the wind made it a little harder to stand straight up. Couple that with being a bit dramatic OR not realizing the wind isn’t quite as strong as he thinks it is made have made him look like he was trying extra hard to brace himself. To be fair, it does look pretty windy out. Maybe he’s drunk. Also, we don’t know the context, do we? I remember a while back during some flooding (NOLA?) when Anderson Cooper got raked over the coals for being up to his knees in standing water even though people were walking on dry land right behind him. People said he was falsifying how bad the flooding was. As I recall, if you heard the entire thing and not just the part that went viral, he was demonstrating how deep the water can be in one area even though just a few feet away the ground is barely wet (plus, wasn’t it from an entirely different flood). ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-news-clip-real-reporters-faking-the-news/949792/3 "2021-08-30T19:16:55Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > To be fair, it does look pretty windy out. Yeah, unless they brought in a wind machine and had someone shaking the street sign, it still looks pretty damn windy out. Yeah, maybe he’s exaggerating a little, but maybe the guys in the back are just more used to it. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-news-clip-real-reporters-faking-the-news/949792/4 "2021-08-30T19:26:42Z")
The reporter is in the median in the middle of the street. The guys in the background are near a building, which is probably shielding them from much of the wind. As for the heavy jacket, the reporter is probably expecting to spend much of the day outside, while the other guys may only be making a short trip. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-news-clip-real-reporters-faking-the-news/949792/5 "2021-08-30T20:06:27Z")
Reminds me of this infamous Today Show clip from awhile back (reporter is in canoe, acting like she is in deep water, then a couple guys walk past): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cgm3_jzcNm4/hqdefault.jpg "Today Show Canoe") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgm3_jzcNm4) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-news-clip-real-reporters-faking-the-news/949792/6 "2021-08-30T20:29:56Z")
The funny part of that (which I was already getting ready to google before I saw your link) is how her own colleges immediately sold her down the river (see what I did there?) instead of playing along and hoping nobody noticed. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-news-clip-real-reporters-faking-the-news/949792/7 "2021-08-30T20:33:09Z")
I know, especially Matt Lauer, showing some early signs of his colossal dickishness. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-news-clip-real-reporters-faking-the-news/949792/8 "2021-08-30T20:33:22Z")
To be fair (looking closer) at some point in their walk those guys were in water crotch-deep.