Its not just that kind of news, either.
Local news did a story of our family interest in drag racing. That would be my dad, brother, uncle, and myself. Mom could care less. Anyway, we agreed to let them do the story. They brought their pretty little blonde reporter and of course the equipment, bought it all to the track for a 2 part story. Part two was the pretty lady getting a ride in a real race car.
Of course they only air what they want to and what they did air pissed me off something bad. I had actually entertained hiring an attorney, but figured it wouldn't do me any favors, so I let it go--but not without warning to their editors.
But yes part 2 was sorta fun. I spent the entire saturday night rigging up a 5 point harness and a passenger seat for a 90 lb blonde, adjusted the 4 link, threw a little nitro in with the methanol and we went for a ride. Little did I know how much (or little) it takes to make a big difference. Stood that old car up nearly on the bumper and rode it out about 80 foot or so. I think the lady was about to puke when she got out of the car but I figured most of that was the nitro/methanol fumes. Both of us were white as a ghost and she was shaking like a leaf. That part was fun. The rest of it was just work. But the entire ordeal taught me that the media only tells 1/3 of the story.
Then years later I got in on a show (at the track and a local shop) where they were airing it on ESPN2 as a mini-series reality show, before reality stuff really took off. It flopped. What a rig job. They had the whole thing rigged to support a local business and nothing more. Had I known that was going to happen, I would have never agreed to do the show, period. That particular business was real shady; I felt like advertising for them would have been the wrong thing to do. It was a front for other activity that goes on behind the scenes. The producers and editors were pieces of hollywood trash. They way they had it set up, 4 teams, 8 shows. After E2, one team was out. E4 another team was out, etc. After I got wind of how they were allowing certain things to happen outside of the "rules", I basically quit trying, giving my thoughts to the producer. Producer said ok, you want out, we'll make sure you're out. Couldn't come fast enough. Whole thing was rigged from the get-go.
"Reality TV"? Ain't nothing "real" about it. All show business and nothing more.