Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons both appeared as themselves in a few
films.  You might even make a case that they had more power to make or
break films (or at least careers) than any similar "journalist" today.
There also seems to be a fairly common tendency to use local reporters
in films set in a particular city.  "Volcano" is the most recent
example i can think of; most of these seem to be almost large-scale
in-jokes.
 
Lang Thompson
http://members.aol.com/wlt4/index.htm
 
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