Millions of Australians will remember The Chasers, and their hilarious stunts and pranks they pulled. While it was on air as ‘The Chasers War On Everything’, they were a very popular show, averaging between 600,000 and 800,000 viewers each episode at it’s peak. They used comedy satire to relate the news to the public, which most notably was evident in their ‘What Have We Learnt From Current Affairs This Week?’. And personally, that was one of my favorite segments on the show.
“The Chaser is a satirical media empire which rivals Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation in all fields except power, influence, popularity and profitability.” (The Chasers)
They’ve had to re-brand their show several times for various reasons, more recently their show was called ‘The Hamster Wheel’ which was more focused on the media, but it was announced that in late 2014, they would be airing a show called “We’ll have to leave it there”.
“This is a leaner and meaner Chaser, basing its attack less around public stunts and ambushes and more on substantial exposure of the absurdities and idiocies of the media.” (Ben Pobjie 2012)
But how did ‘The Chasers War On Everything’ actually contribute to debate in a mediated public sphere? Well, they brought the issues up, and weren’t afraid to embarrass themselves and get into trouble if it meant they got their message across. The Chasers aren’t what you call ‘Journalists’, they rather use the media’s and politicians own words against them in a hypocritical manner, but more importantly, in a humorous way. This allows the public viewers to understand and learn about what’s in the media, but more importantly, what seems like bullshit. The Chasers are great at nitpicking speeches and media reports, and finding inconsistencies.
They do of course, go ‘over the line’ often, whether it be a stunt, or a comment about an individual. This can cause controversy, and again cause people to question the validity of content in their show. It’s because of this, The Chasers War On Everything was pulled off the air. Their most famous ‘over the line’ stunt was when Australia hosted the APEC summit in 2007, where one of the Chasers dressed up as Osama Bin Laden, and managed to get inside APEC. The full video can be found here on Youtube.
The show had/has a large social side to it as well, it brings together the people who watch the show to talk about the content online, and discuss what was over the line, and reach even more people to educate them about what’s happening. And of course, there is the direct conversation, “Hey did you watch The Chasers last night”, and without even knowing it, their actively participating in a public sphere. To finish, here’s a two hour collaboration of every segment of ‘What Have We Learnt From Current Affairs This Week?’ aired, but I suggest only watching it when you have no homework to be done, because once you start, you wont be able to stop.
References:
1. No Author No Date, About, The Chaser, Viewed 6th April 2014, <http://www.chaser.com.au/about/ >
2. Pobjie, B 2012, ‘Biting Hamsters puts media in its place’, The Sunday Morning Herald, 18th October 2012, Viewed 6th April <http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/biting-hamster-puts-media-in-its-place-20121018-27smv.html >
jakepascoe.com 
I think how the chasers respond to the news stories is probably the best part about their whole gig. and i agree that they go over the line occasionally, but half the time all it does is throw more weight into whatever debates going on. so yeah i agree Jake, lovely post. also you were right about that video, was not a smart idea to hit play
In your digging, did you find anything about the Current Affairs parody by Chris Morris, Brass Eye? It attacked the attitude and behaviour of current affairs programs without needing to attack a single individual news story.
Here, if you want to check it out: http://youtu.be/tYSqqW6hH0w
You bought back some great memories of this show in this post, they were so clever in how they accomplished putting out the message that they wanted and I think you described that perfectly, especially in the social aspect.
What I like about The Chaser’s is that they make people question what they have seen in the media. People who may not be particularly interested in the 6 o’clock news may be interested in The Chasers approach to the media because of their approach and tactics. When presented in this way the news is not only easier to ingest, but also easier to criticise.
Hi Jake!
I found this post interesting and it gave an awesome overview of the Chaser and how they can challenge the ways in which people commonly view news and the media through their humour. The understanding of how someone can contribute to the public sphere by simply asking: ‘Hey did you watch The Chasers last night’ was a great way to show the responder how simple and how common contributing to the public sphere is in our day-to-day lives.
“The Chaser is a satirical media empire which rivals Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation in all fields except power, influence, popularity and profitability.” (The Chasers) This is what chaser’s are about, unravelling the media and its pitfalls for the publics enjoyment but more importantly learning. The more the public know about the media and media ownership, the more people can contribute to the public sphere !
Awesome blog post. I never used to view The Chasers in the way you describe. I always thought they were just a bunch of guys going around and making life hell for politicians and such, but you know in a numerous way! I want to watch that video at the end, but I can’t now and I’ll forget about it!
Hey Jake I really enjoyed your post. I really miss the Chaser as they produced some hilarious material, and made us think about the media in an entirely different way. With the famous dressing up as Osama Bin Ladin, they did cross the line. However, I think it was stunts like the “make a realistic wish foundation”, where they crossed a moral line, and the ending slogan “Why go to any trouble when they’re only going to die anyway”, was appalling and cruel to the “make a wish foundation”, and the kids with Cancer. Minus a few of the chasers stunts they are very witty and smart, and I miss the show. Good Post Jake 🙂
Such an awesome topic. I love your point and all you points about the Chasers but i have to disagree with the distinct point of going over the line. I feel as if satire should have no ends aslong as it is partially tastefull, I think the perception of over the line comes from the media aswell, think back to how much coverage was around the whole binladen ordeal and also the selling of riot gear at a bulldogs match, perfect timinig, hilarious critique and at the end of the day its just a satire of a serious, overlooked matter.
I did enjoy your little point about bringing people together and perpetuating discussion, very insightful remark!
Obviously a well researched posts. You make a lot of great, relevant, points in so few words and more importantly you have backed up all of your points with outside examples and referencing. Really interesting to read, well done 🙂
It appears you have quite a popular jake. Definitely was a great show that pointed fun at the media which so many allow to govern their lives and don’t bother to stop and think for themselves. I feel as if your conclusion wasn’t really existent however and didn’t really go anywhere. But the content was really well presented. Good on ya!
I love the topic that you used! The Chasers always interest me and make me think about this in the media… particularly a current affairs. I watched a video by them about the next generation of Journalists, you definitely have a look- very interesting and funny! Good work 🙂
Being a big fan of the Chasers, i’m glad someone decided to use them for one of their posts! I do agree how using comedy as a format of teaching works wonders, for it engages the audience as well as giving them informative facts. Great outlook on a memorable show, that always brought a lot of laughs to the lounge!