The most memorable fictional reporters, journalists, and news figures

Peter Finch won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as the over-the-top anchorman in 1976's satirical, black-comedy Network. How many newspeople threatened to kill themselves on the air because they've been let go from their job? Beale is not a likable character, but Finch is so delicious in the role that there should always be a place for him on lists like these.

Sure, Murphy (five-time Primetime Emmy winner Candace Bergen) was a tenacious and hard-nosed investigative reporter, then anchor, at FYI. She was also a born leader who knew how to handle a true cast of characters in her professional life. Murphy was quick with a wisecrack and had no trouble putting anybody in their place. She was also realistically vulnerable as a recovering alcoholic and single 40-something trying to balance work with a mediocre personal life.

Based on famed New York columnist and author Candace Bushnell, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) chronicled love and dating through her weekly "Sex and the City" column. Almost entirely, Carrie's column topics stemmed from social/romantic adventures and those of friends Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Samantha (Kim Cattrall). In the HBO Max revival series And Just Like That..., Carrie becomes a podcaster.

For years, the dapper and self-absorbed Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) was the most famous and beloved news anchorman in San Diego. Starring on KVWN Channel 4, Burgundy was the leader of the action news team and known for his love of scotch, talent on the jazz flute, luck with the ladies, in-depth knowledge of San Diego's history, and his signature closing tag, "You stay classy, San Diego." Just don't mess with his teleprompter.

It seemed unthinkable that anybody could displace local San Diego legend Ron Burgundy on the Channel 4 anchor desk. Then came Ms. Corningstone (Christina Applegate), an energetic, career-focused, and hard-hitting reporter who took advantage of Burgundy's misfortune with a burrito to vault herself into a co-anchor role. While tensions heated up between the co-workers and lovers, Corningstone rose to prominence in the business. Eventually, she and Ron reconciled to fulfill their professional and personal goals.

Yes, reporter Aaron Altman (Albert Brooks) and anchorman Tom Grunick (William Hurt) are well worthy of praise, but for our money, the true star of Broadcast News (1987) is one Jane Craig. Played by the great Holly Hunter, Jane is a dedicated, ambitious yet rather neurotic and uptight television news producer. She's consumed by her job and not afraid of confrontation, which makes the audience equally loathe and feel for the character.

The fictional voice of the then-Cleveland Indians from the Major League franchise of films, Doyle (Bob Uecker) was not really a reporter or journalist. Still, he's among the great fictional media figures of all time. It's debatable whether Harry was sober for most broadcasts and was usually pretty generous when spewing tidbits about the personal lives of the ballplayers he covered. He was a national treasure to sports fans.

Within the confines of The Great Space Coaster, newsman Gary Gnu might have been the most popular figure from the famed kids' television show that ran during the 1980s. Host of The Gary Gnu Show, Gary began his broadcasts with the token line, "This is Gary Gnu, and the 'No Gnews Is Good Gnews Show.'" Gary rarely delivered any hard-hitting news and is often ribbed by his crew on set. Still, Gary's (voiced by Sesame Street veteran Jim Martin) commentaries can be playfully entertaining.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show's Lou Grant (Ed Asner) made his name as a producer, and eventually executive producer, of news at WJM-TV in the Twin Cities. The gruff but secretly compassionate Grant had a knack for handling the many characters that made up the station's news staff. Grant would go on to serve as city editor of the Los Angeles Tribune (in the spinoff Lou Grant), where he took a more serious approach to the news and his professional surroundings. 

The Paper's Hackett (Michael Keaton) was a work-obsessed metro editor of the New York Sun. He didn't like to get beat on stories and would head out into the field to get a piece right if that's what it took. Hackett is an appreciated fictional figure for those who have experienced the occasionally fast-paced deadline life of daily newspapers. He tends to put his professional life over his personal one, but he means well and really cares about accurately reporting the news.

One of the great reoccurring characters from Parks and Recreation. Perd (Jay Jackson) is one of southern Indiana's most recognizable television news personalities -- and a Pawnee staple. He's hosted such local favorites as Ya Heard? With Perd!, The Final Word With Perd and The Perdples Court. Known for his baritone voice and lack-of-hard-hitting questioning, Perd is usually on hand to cover the biggest stories in the Pawnee area: Councilman Bill Dexhart scandal or the uproar over a painting. During his role as a local film critic, Perd panned E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, but can deliver a mean version of "the worm."

For those who never caught After Life during its Netflix (2019-22), well, get on it. Ricky Gervais is definitely entertaining as a features writer at the Tambury Gazette. He's having a hard time dealing with the death of his wife in this black comedy, and opts to take it out on just about anyone he comes in contact, while also harboring suicidal thoughts He really doesn't care what he says, or how he acts. Of course, Tony eventually realizes that there are people and things he does care about. The path to that breakthrough is fun to watch.

Is Bridget Jones the Carrie Bradshaw of the United Kingdom? While her official occupation was a television producer and reporter, she's best known for her diary of writings. She most notably chronicled her vices of drinking, smoking, eating, and men. Renée Zellweger brought Bridget to life on the big screen, for which she earned an Academy Award Best Actress nomination. The fictional Bridget is such an honest, relatable character that she's become beloved worldwide. 

No offense to fellow reporter Clark Kent, editor Perry White, or budding photog Jimmy Olsen, but the true pit bull is Lois Lane, a standout reporter at the Daily Planet (within the Superman universe of comics, television shows, and films). She's a determined and intelligent reporter, willing to regularly put her life on the line to get the story. It also doesn't hurt that she has a  personal relationship with Superman. For our money, Margot Kidder from the original series of Superman films and Teri Hatcher (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) stood out in the role.

It's a real no-brainer. Putting two Hollywood big wigs like Jennifer Aniston (Levy) and Reese Witherspoon (Jackson) together would be a huge success when it came to The Morning Show. However, it's the authenticity of the Apple TV+ series, which kicked off in 2019, that's been a key part to its success. Levy is the veteran, established host, who also might be past her prime, but is strong and resilient, when it comes to dealing with the nonsense and ugliness of the television news business, especially after her longtime co-host (Steve Carell) is fired. Meanwhile, Jackson is the inconsistent field reporter, who has the looks, but maybe not the talent, until she gains confidence in her ability and beliefs, while joining Levy as the new co-host. This is a strong example of two extremely empowering, yet humanly vulnerable, fictional female characters. Each earned a Golden Globe Award nomination, while Aniston was nominated for a Primetime Emmy, 

The Newsroom spanned just 25 episodes over three seasons on HBO in early 2010. One of the stars of this underrated Aaron Sorkin creation was Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy, the veteran news anchor and managing editor of the News Night broadcast. Though there's a liberal tilt to News Night, the conservative McAvoy stands out — maybe because he's often combative with co-workers and superiors and as stubborn as they come.

From The Incredible Hulk television series of the late 1970s and into the '80s, tabloid newspaper reporter Jack McGee (Jack Colvin) became obsessed with pursuing the real story of the giant green creature, spotted from time to time throughout the county. Dr. David Banner (Bill Bixby) was well aware of McGee's intentions and determination to break what he believed was the story of the century.

The straitlaced, bow-tied news reporter from Cincinnati's WKRP radio station. Les Nessman (Richard Sanders) was a consummate professional, though naïve. At the end of the day, however, Les was a harmless personality and a valuable member of the WKRP staff. He might be best known for his "man-on-the-street" report of the infamous WKRP "Turkey Drop" promotion that went horribly wrong. 

The belief is that The Devil Wears Prada antagonist was based on famous Vogue editor Anna Wintour. However, there might not be anybody real or fictional media personality more fierce than Miranda (Meryl Streep), the cold, cunning, and calculated editor of Runway. She is the fashion tastemaker in America and around the world. Miranda's power is endless, and she loves every bit of it. Deep down, though, she is rather lonely and appreciates hard work, even if she rarely acknowledges it in others.

Based on spellbinding novel of the same name, Camille is one dysfunctional character. In this version from the 2018 HBO miniseries, Amy Adams delivers her usual stellar performance as the troubled crime reporter, who is still dealing with a tragic past. She's an alcoholic and even spent time under psychiatric care for consistently harming herself. Now back in her Missouri hometown, Camille must deal with those past and present demons, while tasked with reporting and investigating on the murder of two girls. Adams was lauded for the role, earning Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Award nominations. 

Working for Mr. Grant, Mary (Mary Tyler Moore) was the associate producer of Twin Cities-based WJM-TV's Six O'Clock News broadcast. Though she could be vulnerable and even gullible at times, Mary tackled challenges head-on. She ultimately grew confident and blossomed into one of the most influential and beloved female characters in television history.

A native of Canada and former pop star north of the U.S. border, How I Met Your Mother's Robin (Cobie Smulders) transitioned to broadcast journalism in America. She went from being a news reporter and anchor for New York's Metro News 1 to working for a national news organization. Robin achieved various levels of professional success but often was her own worst enemy when it came to her job. 

For as questionable as Trainwreck's Amy (Amy Schumer) is a men's magazine reporter, it's important to keep in mind that her boss (an unrecognizable Tilda Swinton) and co-workers seem more incompetent than she comes off. That said, if it wasn't for her care-free, have-a-good-time, alcohol/weed-fueled, promiscuous social life, she might have potential to succeed and progress at her gig. However, Amy is completely hilarious, and a lot of fun to watch. Especially while doing an expose on a prominent New York City sports surgeon (Bill Hader), who she unintentionally falls for.

Actor-turned-news anchor Tom Tucker (voiced by Seth McFarlane) is the face of Channel 5 news in Quahog, Rhode Island. With his trademark blue suit, 1980s mustache, and baritone voice, Tucker is the stereotypical anchorman. Arrogant, completely rude, offensive to co-anchor Diane Simmons, and always believes he is the star of the show regardless of what type of news story he's reading within The Family Guy universe.

Jason Priestley's famous Beverly Hills, 90210 character eventually went on to become a professional journalist. His best work seemed to come in high school at The Blaze. Pushed by a perfectionist editor Andrea Zuckerman (Gabrielle Carteris), Brandon broke the story about steroid abuse within the West Beverly High boys' track and field team and teamed with a student from an inner-city Los Angeles school to columnize a gang-related shooting at a high school football game.

Gale (Courteney Cox) has been through a lot during her time within the Scream film universe. A one-time tabloid-headline-obsessed television reporter, Gale didn't care how many lives she needed to ruin to break a story. Then came her involvement, and near death, in the Ghostface murders, and Gale realized she might be more useful, and safer, working with former nemesis Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and bumbling local cop Dewey Riley (David Arquette), who she ends up marrying, to catch the killers. She eventually moves to New York City and is divorced from Dewey. She also writes a book that exploits the events of Scream 2022. While Gale tries several ties to rehab her image, we never seem to buy what she's selling -- or reporting.