An example of how ridiculous the media can be in copying “news” without putting it in the right context:

Cruise was only kidding
News sites take placenta-eating comment out of context and report it as fact

The Web is buzzing with the shocking “news” that Tom Cruise plans to eat the placenta after his girlfriend Katie Holmes gives birth. Cruise’s comment – a joke he made during an interview with GQ – is being taken out of context and reported as legitimate news. Some sites are going so far as to quote medical experts on the topic of placenta-eating.
Cruise, 43, told GQ: “I’m gonna eat the placenta. I thought that would be good. Very nutritious. I’m gonna eat the cord and the placenta right there.” When it was pointed out that it would be a big meal, Cruise replied: “OK, maybe I won’t.” But most sites aren’t making note of the fact that Cruise was kidding.

“Tom Cruise is reportedly planning to eat the placenta and umbilical cord after fiancée Katie Holmes gives birth to their child,” reports mtv.uk. iAfrica.com declares: “Tom Cruise is intending to eat Katie Holmes’ placenta after his fiancée has given birth to their baby.” “Hollywood actor and Scientologist Tom Cruise is planning to eat Katie Holmes’ placenta,” reports Ireland’s rte.ie. Britain’s itv.com says: “Sofa leaping father-to-be Tom Cruise has revealed his latest bizarre plan – to eat Katie Holmes’ placenta.”

At least one online news source “gets” it. At the Info About News site, the placenta remark merits only a passing mention deep down in a story about Cruise. “Oh, and he made a pretty nifty joke about eating the placenta,” reads the site. “Really, it was funny.”
(Source: Canada.com)

Fortunately there are still some reporters left with brains who think and listen/read first! Also ElitesTV:
The story circulating that Tom Cruise plans to eat the placenta of girlfriend Katie Holmes after she gives birth to their child is not true. The 43-year-old actor made the comment in an interview with ‘GQ’ magazine but it was meant to be taken as a joke. Many media organizations made note of the comments and treated them as serious.

‘I’m gonna eat the placenta,’ Cruise told a reporter from ‘GQ.’ ‘I thought that would be good. Very nutritious. I’m gonna eat the cord and the placenta right there.’ When it was pointed out that it would be a big meal, Cruise replied, ‘OK, maybe I won’t.’
The ‘Mission Impossible’ star’s comments were taken seriously on such diverse Web sites as MTV.uk and iAfrica.com and many of the British tabloids.

This follows intense media speculation about the term ‘silent birth,’ something practiced by Scientologists and initially widely misunderstood in the media. Initial reports said that Miss Holmes would have to be completely quiet during labor which is not true. ‘Silent birth’ simply involves keeping the atmosphere around the mother as calm and quiet as possible.

Cruise and Holmes’ baby is due in the next few weeks. Mr. Cruise has said the couple plans to marry later this summer.