No news gives some the blues

I've been on the city desk for a little more than 2 months, but I've already seen the desperation that comes toward the end of the day when no major local news has happened. Panicked editors troll the wires or cross their fingers for a high-speed chase or some other minor catastrophe to occur so that we can have something juicy for the front page - the prayer usually includes a request for good photos too. We sometimes joke that if the day is too slow we'll have to start sending out staffers to create some news - but it's always in jest.

But you can always count on some slimeball* to take that joke and the desperate quest for news too far. This story, from the Times of India via The Guardian, recounts how one TV journalist in India tried to convince a distraught businessman to off himself and his family on camera. The journalist has since been arrested and charged with abetting* suicide.

*updated by kk.