Watch almost any
TV newscaster with the sound off.
Try not to laugh.
Look at their eyes.
Look at them twitch.
See them struggle not to move their head more than a quarter of an inch in any direction.
Watch how they work to keep a straight face as they soothingly regurgitate whatever words are plopped on the TelePrompTer in front of them. Whatever words. Whatever they may mean.
Watch their brow nod forward every once in a while to convince you that what they are saying is important. Notice the exact same head moves by the person in the following toothpaste commercial.
Will you ever take these people seriously again? Will you ever believe a word they say again?
Depends on the drug, I guess.
- Jello Biafra, Depends on the Drug, from the spoken word album If Evolution is Outlawed, only Outlaws will Evolve.
One of the segments developed for Michael Moore's series TV Nation (but never aired) was a series of various lie detection devices applied to TV news broadcasts. The machines produced results stating that the anchormen were lying almost every second they were on the air - the lie detection lights went on as soon as the show started and stayed on.
Of course, there is mechanical failure and margin of error. Of course, people on TV don't comport themselves as regularly sincere people do. And of course, these findings weren't newsworthy - you didn't hear of them until now, did you?