News Bot

News Bot is anautomatonfrom theTransformers Animatedcontinuity family

"And now a Detroit News Flash: here are the results of the national sheepdog trials. All of the sheepdogs have been found 'not guilty'."

Whenever there is news to report,News Botis there! Whenever there is a scoop to be found, News Bot is there! Whenever the writers need toinflict comic violence against an unsuspecting putzandTutor Botisn't available, News Bot is there! Ever vigilant, ever hunting for the truth of the matter, and ever ready to be crushed under a taxi.

He also has a sweet hat.

Fiction

Animatedcartoon

Voice actor:David Kaye(English, "Headmaster"),Townsend Coleman(English, "The Return of the Headmaster")

Add another couple hundred to his therapy bills.

News Bot's first break into the media world came when he interviewed the AutobotBulkhead,in what was presumably a means of improving the compassionate but clumsy bot's standing with the people. News Bot quickly shifted into an interrogatory mode, however, and asked if Bulkhead (as the largest and most potentially destructive Autobot) ever feared for the damage he might do toDetroitand its people. Bulkhead's attempts to clear his good name quickly resulted in the dismemberment of the News Bot's boom-mike arm, which was followed up by "utter destruction" and "horrific carnage" as Bulkhead's attempts to save the city from a rogue missile did as much damage to the environment as the stray projectile would have. News Bot reported this all very thoroughly and only missed making a despairing plea of "Oh, the Humanity!" before being accidentally crushed under a car. The sight of his head protruding from the wreckage mildly traumatiseda nearby human child,a situation which Bulkhead then worsened by decapitating the hapless News Bot. Kid's gonna need some serious therapy to suppress these memories.

Autobots: Threat or Menace?

Suitably patched up within a few hours, the News Bot later reported on an attack at the Detroit Solar Fusion Power Plant. Though it was Headmaster enacting the carnage in Bulkhead's hijacked body, News Bot assumed Bulkhead was the party responsible, suggesting a chip on his shoulder, which was fair enough, given their history together.Headmaster

Some time later, News Bot provided coverage for a news conference hosted bySentinel PrimeandOptimus Prime,which quickly turned sour when Sentinel began condescending toward humans. Rightly deducing that Sentinel was little more than a poser with little of value to say, News Bot then attempted to grill Optimus on human-cyborg—er... human-Autobot-relations, which earned him the wrath of Sentinel.The Return of the Headmaster

Notes

• News Bot's design has many touchstones with media equipment and newscasting in general. He's mounted on three wheeled legs, much like a camera tripod. Besides his two conventional arms, which are forever scribbling in a notebook (as opposed to making any sort of digital record), he also has a microphone and still-images camera mounted on extra limbs. If he can also record footage through his optics, then this little bot can write a newspaper article and broadcast both radio and TV news segmentsat the same time.Sweetness.
• And of course, he's got the fedora hat and press pass that have been hallmarks of the "go-getter journalist" stereotype since time immemorial.
• News Bot was designed byBrianne Drouhard,following notes fromDerrick Wyatt.
• Strangely enough, both episodes featuring the News Bot have featured the Headmaster. Freaky.