The Chaser: Difference between revisions

The Chaser
The Chaser
	The full Chaser team (from left to right), Julian Morrow, Dominic Knight, Charles Firth, Craig Reucassel, Chas Licciardello, Chris Taylor, and Andrew Hansen appearing on the War on Everything studio together.
Medium	Print, online, radio, television, stage & Christmas crackers
Nationality	Australian
Years active	1999–present
Genres	Satire
Subject(s)	Politics
Notable works and roles	The Chaser (1999–2005) ; The Election Chaser (2001); The Chaser Decides (2004 & 2007), ; CNNNN (2002–2003) ; Cirque du Chaser (2005) ; The Chaser's War on Everything (2006–2007, 2009) ; The Chaser's Age of Terror Variety Hour (2008) ; Yes We Canberra (2010) ; The Hamster Wheel (2011–2012) ; The Hamster Decides (2013) ; The Chaser's Media Circus (2014–2015) ; The Chaser's Election Desk (2016)
Members	Charles Firth ; Andrew Hansen ; Dominic Knight ; Chas Licciardello ; Julian Morrow ; Craig Reucassel ; Chris Taylor
Website	Official website

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The Chaser is an Australian satirical comedy group best known for their television programmes and satirical news masthead. The group take their name from their satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste. The group's motto is "Striving for Mediocrity in a World of Excellence".^[2]

Founding

The Chaser's earliest foundations was a satirical school paper called The Tiger, created by future members Charles Firth, Dominic Knight and Chas Licciardello as a way to "wring as much money as [they] could out of their expensive private school" while attending Sydney Grammar.^[3]

The three then met Julian Morrow, Craig Reucassel and Andrew Hansen at the University of Sydney while working on the University newspaper Honi Soit.^[4] Chris Taylor also attended the University of Sydney but never knew the others during that time, joining The Chaser later after volunteering as a contributor while working as a journalist in Melbourne.

In 1999 the group began their first newspaper project titled The Chaser as their time at university drew to a close, in "an attempt not to grow up" as described by Firth.^[5]

The Chaser members

The "Boys"

The founding members of the Chaser became colloquially known as "The Chaser Boys" in the media due to their undergraduate style hijinks during the War On Everything.

Charles Firth. Firth decided in 1999 that the founding members should produce a newspaper, and was at the helm of the newspaper until its collapse in 2005.^[4]^[6] Firth appeared in The Chaser's television and radio productions until 2004 when he moved to the United States so his wife could finish her PhD, instead serving as The Chaser's "American correspondent" until returning to take over the Chaser's publishing business in 2015.^[7]
Dominic Knight was one of the founding members of the team. Although he initially performed in the Chaser's early TV and stage shows, Dom moved to a behind the scenes role after 2004. He regularly features in the team's podcast and radio work.
Julian Morrow. He became the executive producer of the television series after Andrew Denton left the role in 2004.^[8]
Craig Reucassel was a founding member of the team, and is described by the team as "the one successful one".
Chas Licciardello started work on The Chaser newspaper in 1999 under a pseudonym. Licciardello refers to himself as a writer and not a performer, which is why he does the 'edgier' stunts in the television series.^[9] Licciardello has stepped back from appearing in Chaser roles since 2016's Election Desk due to commitments with his current affairs show Planet America.
Chris Taylor had gone to the University of Sydney but never personally knew the four founding members. Initially a long distance contributor, Taylor spent two years emailing his articles to The Chaser, before quitting his job to do a television series based on the 2001 Australian federal election with the team, eventually becoming a member of troupe.^[5]^[10] Chris has not appeared in the Chaser's TV shows since 2009, stating that he though they were "getting a bit s--t"^[11], though he has continued contributing to their print, radio, and online work.
Andrew Hansen started working with the online Chaser website in 2000 writing columns as a favour to his friend Firth. After two years, he was considered for a part in the Chaser's television series due to the need for a musical performer, and joined the team permanently in after that.^[4]^[12]

The Checkout team

Following the end of The War on Everything, a number of researchers and writers were elevated to on screen roles for the new series The Hamster Wheel, with this team growing through four seasons of The Checkout, to 2016's Election Desk.

Ben Jenkins
Zoe Norton-Lodge
Kirsten Drysdale
Scott Abbott
Alex Lee
Mark Sutton
David Cunningham
Hannah Reilly

The Interns

Following the relaunch of the Chaser website in 2015 The Chaser held a competition recruiting "interns" to help execute stunts and pranks without being recognised by the public. This team took over the Chaser's social media channels in 2016 following the viral success of some Election Desk clips, with the interns now producing daily videos and satirical articles with occasional contributions by the founding team.

Gabbi Bolt
Aleksa Vulovic
Lachy Hodson
Caz Smith
Zander Czerwaniw
John Delmenico

The Chaser projects

The Chaser newspaper

The newspaper, first published in 1999, was The Chaser team's first enterprise. Though the paper initially had a circulation of well under 30,000, the paper gained national infamy when their February 2003 edition published Prime Minister John Howard's private home number on its front page with the headline "Howard ignores the people. So call him at home on (02) 9922 6189". The prank came in response to Howard's dismissive attitude to half a million protesters marching against the invasion of Iraq. Howard's number was blocked by the afternoon after being flooded with calls, and federal police raided The Chaser's office.^[5]^[13]

In 2005, after six years and 91 issues, The Chaser decided to cease publication of the newspaper, due to an inability to meet production costs and the "large amount of time it takes to produce a paper nobody reads".^[13]^[14]

The newspaper was revived in 2015 as a quarterly publication, following a successful $50,000 crowdfunding campaign. The magazine managed to last just 20 editions before folding due to financial insolvency, with founding member Firth stating "in hindsight we probably shouldn't have spent $40,000 on our bar tab".^[15]

The Chaser Annual

The Chaser have released yearly annuals since 2000, initially based on the best of The Chaser newspaper, and then featuring a selection of articles from The Chaser's website since 2005. This was later expanded into a live touring show The War On The Year, as part of the Chaser's attempt to "squeeze some money out of the wildly successful and even more wildly unprofitable website".^[16]

Web

In 1999 The Chaser became one of the first independent Australian publications to launch a website, after Firth, a former computer shop owner, and Lichardello, a computer science student, built their own CMS from scratch. The site initially featured articles from The Chaser's newspaper, as well as a popular fan forum, and a directory of internet oddities run by Andrew Hansen which included stern faced reviews of all the pornography he found.^[11]

The Chaser's web presence expanded exponentially in the year 2000 after the spinoff site Silly2000.com, a parody Sydney Olympic website, went viral, gathering millions of views and international reviews.^[17]^[18]

In 2010 The Chaser caused media outrage after becoming the first and only Australian news service to be approved on Apple's iPad at the time of launch.^[19] Though the app generated a large subscriber base, the team stopped updating it within a year due to their "frankly idiotic belief that the iPad would be a fad".^[11]

In 2016 the largely abandoned Chaser website was relaunched with a focus on social media. By 2020 The Chaser website once again ranked as one of Australia's most successful media outlets, with the site's stories regularly topping the chart of Australia's most engaged Facebook posts.^[20]

Live Tours

In March 2005, The Chaser team wrote and performed a stage production Cirque du Chaser, the name a parody of Cirque du Soleil, performing stand-up comedy, sketches, live music, and video satire in a sell out national tour. The format was later pitched to the ABC as the show which would become The War On Everything.

In 2008, the team revived the format with the nationally touring stage show, The Chaser's Age of Terror Variety Hour.

In 2016 The Chaser teamed up with satirical website The Shovel to produce a new live tour titled The War On The Year, wrapping up the news headlines of the last 365 days. The show continued to tour nationally in a sell out run until 2020, when it was re-packaged as the online sketch show The Chaser's War On 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Radio

Following the success of the Chaser newspaper, the Chaser team were in high demand to bring their brand of satirical news coverage to the airwaves, with the team at one point providing satirical news updates simultaneously for three rival radio networks^[21]. In 2002, Morrow was tapped by 2UE to provide a regular weekly comedy slot of topical news headlines. In 2004–5, Taylor and Reucassel hosted the Triple J radio drive programme Today Today. From 2006 to 2007 Taylor and Reucassel returned to Triple J to host Bloody Sunday, while Licciardello and Knight also hosted a show on Triple M called Chas and Dom from 'The Chaser'. In 2010 Hansen performed the Aria award winning parody show The Blow Parade on Triple J in what would be the team's final stint on youth radio.

The Chaser team returned to Triple M in 2018 with the afternoon show Radio Chaser, though the group opted to move from live radio to the podcast The Chaser Report in 2019, with Firth explaining they were "sick of the high pay rates and adoring fans that come with a free to air radio show."^[22]

Television

After two years of running their satirical newspaper, and various radio roles, The Chaser attracted the attention of TV star Andrew Denton in 2001. Denton signed the team on with ABC, stating "They've got the talent, the work ethic, the fearlessness, the desire".

Election specials

Main article: The Chaser election specials

Denton helped the Chaser to produce their first television program The Election Chaser in 2001, a parody of the national election tallyroom. The show was nominated for the 2002 Logie for "Most Outstanding Comedy Program".^[23]

The Chaser Decides returned again in 2004, winning a Logie award, and was re-commissioned in 2007 to cover the 24 November election, winning the ratings in its timeslot.^[11]

The team returned with a similar formats in 2010 and 2013 with Yes We Canberra! and The Hamster Decides. The ABC chose not to recommission the election special in 2019, following the widely panned 2016 Election Desk.^[24] A podcast Democracy Sausage was instead produced by Reucassel and Taylor for the ABC, alongside a national live tour The War On The F*%king Election produced by Firth.

The Chaser's War on Everything

In 2006 The Chaser team signed with the ABC to produce a variety comedy show based on news reviews, studio monologues and confrontations with politicians. The project would be performed in front of a live audience compared with their previous news format television productions and was named The Chaser's War on Everything.^[25] The first season of The Chaser's War on Everything premiered on ABC TV on 17 February 2006.^[26] The series aired late on Friday evenings where it developed a cult following, drawing an average national audience of between 591,000 and 821,000 viewers each episode.^[27]

The Chaser's War on Everything returned for a second season in 2007, regularly attracting more than a million viewers per episode, with a brief break in June to cover the Federal election.^[28]

After a hiatus in 2008 to tour a live show, the team returned for the third and final series of The War in 2009.

The Chaser's Royal Wedding Commentary

Originally set to air on 29 April 2011 on ABC2, a Chaser special was to be shown based on the Wedding of Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton featuring live commentary from the team members. However, a diplomatic row ensued, after the ABC were forced by the BBC and APTN to pull the show from being aired due to concerns from Buckingham Palace. In response to the decision by the ABC, Julian Morrow from the Chaser said, "For a monarchy to be issuing decrees about how the media should cover them seems quite out of keeping with modern democratic times... but I suppose that's exactly what the monarchy is."^[29]

The Hamster Wheel

In 2011 the Chaser produced a new topical news show for the ABC called The Hamster Wheel. The series aimed to "examine the contemporary media landscape, where everyone from journalists to political fixers is perpetually at risk of spinning out of control".^[30]

The Unbelievable Truth

In 2012 the Chaser made their commercial TV debut with the quiz panel show The Unbelievable Truth on Channel 7. Adapted from the popular BBC radio show by the same name, the show featured guests attempting to lie about a given topic, while slipping in truths which they hope will be undetected by their fellow players.

The Chaser's Media Circus

In 2014 The Chaser produced a panel news quiz The Chaser's Media Circus for the ABC.^[31] Hosted by Reucassel the show featured a panel of guests, and Licciardello as a 'brain's trust', interjecting occasionally with 'fact-checks'.

Other TV Projects

In 2005 the team produced Chaser News Alert (CNA), aired on ABC2.

Members involved in projects

The Chaser productions

Year	Title	Type	Charles Firth	Andrew Hansen	Dominic Knight	Chas Licciardello	Julian Morrow	Craig Reucassel	Chris Taylor
1999–2005	The Chaser	Print	writer	writer	writer	writer	writer	writer	writer
2000–2010	The Chaser Annual	Print	writer	writer	writer	writer	writer	writer	writer
2001	The Election Chaser	TV	writer, performer		writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer
2002–2003	CNNNN	TV	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer, producer	writer, performer	writer, performer, script editor
2004–2005	Today Today	Radio						writer, performer	writer, performer
2004	The Chaser Decides	TV	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer, producer	writer, performer	writer, performer, script editor
2005	Cirque du Chaser	Stage		writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer
2005	Chaser News Alert	Online	guest performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer, executive producer
2006–2009	The Chaser's War on Everything	TV	writer, guest performer	writer, performer, composer	writer, guest performer	writer, performer	writer, performer, executive producer	writer, performer	writer, performer, script editor
2006–2007	Bloody Sunday	Radio						writer, performer	writer, performer
2007	Chas and Dom from 'The Chaser'	Radio			writer, performer	writer, performer
2007	Dead Caesar	Stage		performer, composer					writer
2007	The Chaser Decides	TV		writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer, executive producer	writer, performer	writer, performer
2008	The Chaser's Age of Terror Variety Hour	Stage		writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer
2008	The Race Race	Radio				guest performer		writer, performer	writer, performer
2009	Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure	TV		creative consultant	creative consultant	creative consultant	creative consultant, executive producer	creative consultant	creative consultant
2010	The Blow Parade	Radio		writer, performer, composer	bass guitar				writer, performer
2010	Yes We Canberra!	TV		writer, performer, composer	writer	writer, performer	writer, performer, executive producer	writer, performer	writer, performer, script editor
(2011)	The Chaser's Royal Wedding Commentary^[32]	TV		writer, performer	writer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer
2011	The Chaser's Empty Vessel^[33]	Stage		writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, performer
2011	Lawrence Leung's Unbelievable	TV		creative consultant, guest performer	creative consultant	script editor, producer, guest performer	executive producer, script editor, producer, guest performer	creative consultant	creative consultant
2011–2012	The Hamster Wheel	TV		writer, performer	writer, guest performer	writer, performer	writer, performer, executive producer	writer, performer	writer, performer, script editor, director
2012	The Unbelievable Truth	TV		writer, performer			writer, performer, executive producer	writer, performer
2013	The Hamster Decides	TV		writer, performer	writer, guest performer	writer, performer	writer, performer, executive producer	writer, performer	writer, performer, script editor, director
2013	The Checkout^[34]^[35]	TV				script editor, producer	writer, performer, executive producer	writer, performer
2014–2015	The Chaser's Media Circus	TV		writer, performer		writer, performer	writer, performer, executive producer	writer, host	writer, performer
2016	The Chaser Quarterly	Print	founder, managing editor	contributor	contributor			contributor	contributor
2016	The Chaser's Election Desk	TV	writer	writer, performer		writer, performer	writer, performer, executive producer	writer, performer
2017	Radio Chaser	Radio	writer, performer	writer, performer	writer, anchor	guest performer		guest performer	writer, performer
2017–2020	Extreme Vetting/The Chaser Report	Podcast	writer, co-host	writer, co-host	writer, co-host	guest performer		guest host	guest performer
Total:			9	22	19	20	19	21	22

Controversies and well known stunts

In July 2006, Licciardello faced charges of "offensive conduct" from the New South Wales Police Force, after turning up at a rugby league football match between the Canterbury Bulldogs and the St George Illawarra Dragons on 14 July 2006 dressed up as a Bulldogs fan and attempting to sell fake knives, knuckledusters and balaclavas for a War on Everything sketch.^[36]^[37]

In April 2007, a 15-year-old boy duped YouTube into deleting all clips posted from The Chaser's War on Everything by claiming to be a representative of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.^[38] They were later reinstated.

At the 2007 Logie Awards some of the Chaser team were "manhandled" by Crown Casino security staff on the red carpet before being closely supervised for the rest of the evening.^[39]

During Dick Cheney's visit to Australia in 2007, members of The Chaser team were included on the official list of terrorists, anarchists, and protesters deemed to pose a threat to the US Vice-President.^[40]

The Eulogy Song

The Chaser team gained notoriety and considerable media attention over "The Eulogy Song", written by Chris Taylor and performed by Andrew Hansen on 17 October 2007 episode of The Chaser's War on Everything. The song satirised the media's posthumous praise of deceased celebrities, regardless of their behaviour in life, and mentioned among others John Lennon, Peter Brock, Stan Zemanek, Princess Diana, Steve Irwin, Donald Bradman, and Kerry Packer. The song attracted comment from both the media and politicians including Prime Ministers Kevin Rudd and John Howard.^[41]

APEC arrest

Morrow and Licciardello were arrested by NSW Police on 6 September 2007 after driving a fake motorcade into the APEC security zone.^[42] The Chaser crew entered a secure area by masquerading as the Canadian delegation to APEC. They were arrested by police after Licciardello emerged from the car dressed as Osama bin Laden, near the hotel where U.S. President George W. Bush was staying.^[43] They were subsequently detained and charged with "entering a restricted area without special justification" under the APEC Meeting (Police Powers) Act 2007.^[44]^[45] The charges were dropped near the end of April 2008.

The day after the APEC stunt, police questioned Craig Reucassel, Chris Taylor and Dominic Knight and a film crew from the Chaser after they were involved in a second stunt in central Sydney.^[46] The three were released by police after being briefly questioned for carrying around black cardboard boxes dressed up as limousines.

The 'Make a Realistic Wish' skit

On the 3 June 2009 episode of The War On Everything, Taylor and Hansen were involved in a skit which was set in a terminally ill children's ward of a hospital, which centered around a spokesman portraying himself along with a doctor, from the fictional 'Make a Realistic Wish Foundation' (a spoof of the real Make-a-Wish Foundation). The premise of the skit was that if the terminally ill children are only going to live for a few more months before passing away, it is not worth spending money on lavish gifts for them.

The sketch recieved widespread negative coverage from media commentators.^{[citation needed]} That morning, the Chaser team along with the ABC managing director, Mark Scott, apologised for airing the skit, and the ABC announced the following Friday that the show would be suspended for 2 weeks.

In 2021, following their most successful week fundraising on social media, The Chaser team announced that they would be donating the $2000 of profits to the Make-a-Wish Foundation as a "way to mend an old bridge", raising a further $3000 for the foundation from fans.^[47]

Opera House Stunt

In October 2018, the Chaser made national headlines following a guerrilla stunt that saw the words 'Advertise here, call Alan" projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House. The projection also contained the personal phone number of broadcaster Alan Jones. The stunt was conducted in response to a decision by the NSW government to force the Opera House to advertise a horse race on its sails, after Jones lambasted the Opera House CEO Louise Herron on air for refusing the ad.^[48]

As the Chaser were not producing any TV shows, the entire project was crowdsourced, with the team using social media to rally together a projector, generator, volunteers and a large barge; the latter going un-used after security on the Harbour was increased in response to the Chaser's tweets.^[49]^[50] ^[51] Footage and photos of the stunt were circulated via social media before being picked up by various news programs.

The stunt caused a second uproar when broadcaster Kerri-Anne Kennerley publicly aired Chaser member Charles Firth's phone number on air in retaliation for the prank. Firth reported that his phone was "immediately inundated with texts of support and praise".^[52]

George Pell Plaque Amendment

The team made news in August 2019 following a spat with the Catholic Church over a plaque for cardinal George Pell, who had been convicted on child abuse charges (later overturned by the Australian High Court). Following the conviction, the Chaser team affixed an amendment to a public plaque commemorating Pell as the "Eighth Archbishop of Sydney", adding the addendum "and convicted paedophile" underneath. The Church's spokesperson denied to the press the addition had been made, claiming the video was "doctored on Photoshop". The Chaser's Charles Firth responded by saying "well, this wouldn't be the first time the Catholic Church tried to cover something up for which there is overwhelming evidence."^[53]^[54]

Twitter ban

In 2020 the Chaser's account was briefly banned from twitter for election interference, after the group changed their profile to match that of President Donald Trump and encouraged the public not to vote for him on the day of the Presidential election.^[55]^[56] This led to widespread confusion due to the Chaser's verified status on twitter, with many members of the public thinking Trump had abandoned his campaign. Following Trump's election loss, the Chaser team claimed responsibility, stating that they "almost certainly influenced the hundreds of votes that decided crucial swing states."

Facebook News Ban

In 2021 the Chaser website briefly took on the slogan "Australia's only news site" after a spat between Facebook and the Australian government saw all news pulled from the platform.^[57]^[58] The Chaser's Facebook page was re-instated within hours of the ban, much to the consternation of the rest of Australia's media, after the team changed their twitter profile to mirror Mark Zuckerberg and tweeted at Facebook instructing that their page be re-instated.^[59]

The Chaser responded to their new status as 'Facebook's only news site' by publishing a 600 point list detailing every instance of the sitting government's corruption while in office, which immediately went viral.^[60]^[61]

News Corp Cancellation Service

In 2018 The Chaser launched a service offering to "sit on the phone and cancel your News Corp subscription" in a campaign to force the news publisher "to stop fear mongering about trans children". By 2021, they reported having cancelled over 2000 subscriptions from customers unhappy with News Corp's journalism, reportedly costing the organisation $500,000.^[62]^[63]

Fairy Bread Prank

In April 2021 the Chaser Interns started a hoax petition calling for fairy bread, a popular children's snack, to be banned, in an attempt to bait News Corp into running an obviously fake story. Despite being called out on air by talk back radio host Ben Fordham, the prank was a success, with the story being picked up by multiple News Corp mastheads leading to a national outrage before being revealed as a hoax.^[64]^[65]^[66]

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^ The Chaser : 20 years of mediocrity. Charles Firth, Chaser. Glebe, NSW. 2019. ISBN 978-1-76064-146-7. OCLC 1122631220.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
^ The Chaser : 20 years of mediocrity. Charles Firth, Chaser. Glebe, NSW. 2019. ISBN 978-1-76064-146-7. OCLC 1122631220.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
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^ Braithwaite, David (6 September 2007). "Chaser duo held over APEC stunt". The Age. Melbourne. Archived from the original on 6 September 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
^ "Police question Chaser duo over APEC stunt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 September 2007. Archived from the original on 8 September 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
^ "11 people arrested in Sydney's CBD, continuing to assist with inquiries". NSW Police. 6 September 2007. Archived from the original on 7 September 2007.
^ "11 charged over Chaser APEC stunt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation News. 6 September 2007. Archived from the original on 8 September 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
^ "Police question Chasers over second APEC stunt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation News. 7 September 2007. Archived from the original on 9 September 2007. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ Clun, Rachel (8 October 2018). "Alan Jones apologises to Opera House boss over The Everest controversy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
^ "Does height matter when you're dating?". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 4 October 2018. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
^ "The Chaser on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
^ "The Chaser on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
^ "We haven't seen Kerri-Anne Kennerley this fired up in a long time". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
^ Keoghan, Sarah (27 August 2019). "The Chaser's war on the church over Pell plaque made permanent". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ "The Catholic Church accused us of faking the plaque, so we decided to provide them with some evidence they can't deny". reddit. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ "Amanda Knox slammed for election tweet". NewsComAu. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ "The Chaser Just Got Suspended From Twitter For Pretending To Be Donald Trump On Election Day". Pedestrian TV. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ "The day the news feed died". Sunraysia Daily. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ "Misinformation runs rampant as Facebook says it may take a week before it unblocks some pages". the Guardian. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ "https://twitter.com/jennhain/status/1362524930290581505". Twitter. Retrieved 4 May 2021. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
^ "The Chaser dropped an intensive, 7-year-long list of the Liberal Party's corruption (with receipts)". Happy Mag. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ "The Chaser are using their Facebook freedom to rinse Liberal Party corruption". The Brag. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ "The Chaser's war on News Corp has cost the media giant hundreds of thousands of dollars". Crikey. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ "Cancel your News Corp subscription online". The Chaser. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ "The Chaser Tricked A Bunch Of Murdoch News Sites Into Reporting That "Fairy Bread Is Cancelled"". Junkee. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ "'Un-Australian': Fairy bread 'cancel' campaign dupes Australian media". The New Daily. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ We faked the "fairy bread is cancelled" story and every news site ran it, retrieved 4 May 2021

External links

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[2] "Chaser history: The Chaser Decides". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 16 September 2004. Archived from the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2007. striving for mediocrity in a world of excellence

[CuttingtotheChaser-3] Idato, Michael (16 September 2004). "Cutting to The Chaser". The Age. Melbourne. Archived from the original on 9 August 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2008.

[radiohistory-4] Radio Ha Ha Episode 50. Archived 27 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine 10 November 2006. Accessed on 15 January 2008.

[defiantChaser-5] "Defiant thrill of the chase". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 April 2003. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2007.

[manic-6] Canning, Simon (27 September 2007). "Chaser founder loads up with new mag". Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2008.

[7] "War on reality just a Great Hoax" (Fee required). The West Australian. 25 November 2006. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2008.

[JokeChaser-8] "Joke still works for The Chaser". The Brisbane Times. 22 March 2007. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2008.

[9] Chester, Rodney (27 March 2007). "The Chaser pledge". The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 6 June 2007. Retrieved 17 January 2008.

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[:0-11] The Chaser : 20 years of mediocrity. Charles Firth, Chaser. Glebe, NSW. 2019. ISBN 978-1-76064-146-7. OCLC 1122631220.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)

[12] Moses, Alexa (12 July 2002). "Bad bunch". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2008.

[CalloffPursuit-13] Delaney, Brigid (2 February 2005). "Chasers call off the pursuit as readers fail to get the joke". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2008.

[14] The Chaser : 20 years of mediocrity. Charles Firth, Chaser. Glebe, NSW. 2019. ISBN 978-1-76064-146-7. OCLC 1122631220.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)

[15] The Chaser : 20 years of mediocrity. Charles Firth, Chaser. Glebe, NSW. 2019. ISBN 978-1-76064-146-7. OCLC 1122631220.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)

[16] The Chaser : 20 years of mediocrity. Charles Firth, Chaser. Glebe, NSW. 2019. ISBN 978-1-76064-146-7. OCLC 1122631220.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)

[17] Editors, ZDNet. "Parody site wins Olympic gold". ZDNet. Retrieved 4 May 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)

[18] Facebook; Twitter; options, Show more sharing; Facebook; Twitter; LinkedIn; Email; URLCopied!, Copy Link; Print (30 September 2000). "Of All Choice Seats to Pick, He Had to Go and Sit There". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 May 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)

[19] "The Chaser gets past Apple's app censors in time for Australian iPad launch". NewsComAu. 27 May 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

[20] "https://twitter.com/facebooktop10au/status/1363606454997946369". Twitter. Retrieved 4 May 2021. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)

[21] The Chaser : 20 years of mediocrity. Charles Firth, Chaser. Glebe, NSW. 2019. ISBN 978-1-76064-146-7. OCLC 1122631220.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)

[22] The Chaser : 20 years of mediocrity. Charles Firth, Chaser. Glebe, NSW. 2019. ISBN 978-1-76064-146-7. OCLC 1122631220.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)

[23] "Logie nominations for 2002". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 April 2002. Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2007.

[24] Cooper, Robert Moran, Nathanael (20 November 2018). "The ABC is 'in a death spiral': The Chaser launches war on Aunty". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[25] Molitorisz, Sacha (14 February 2006). "Behind enemy lines". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 14 February 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.

[26] "ABC Television: Program summary – The Chaser War on Everything". ABC Television. Archived from the original on 22 December 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2007.

[primetime-27] Browne, Rachel (28 January 2007). "ABC pranksters slated for prime time". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2007.

[28] Casey, Marcus (20 April 2007). "Chaser's war wins ratings". News Limited. Archived from the original on 3 June 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2007.

[29] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[30] "Chaser Admits To Attacking Hamster". ABC Media Release. 31 August 2011. Archived from the original on 7 September 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011.

[31] Knox, D. "Airdate: The Chaser's Media Circus". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2014.

[32] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[33] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[34] "Spicks and Specks, Chris Lilley, Joe Hildebrand and Chaser team return to ABC TV in 2013 – Mumbrella". Mumbrella.com.au. 29 November 2012. Archived from the original on 1 December 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.

[35] "The Chaser, Hungry Beast & Choice Team Up For New TV Series". Themusic.com.au. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2013.

[36] "Bulldogs prank not funny". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 July 2006. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2006.

[37] O'Dwyer, Erin & Dasey, Daniel (16 July 2006). "Chaser Canterbury joke gets no laughs". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2006.

[38] "Boy dupes YouTube to delete videos". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 April 2007. Archived from the original on 30 April 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2007.

[39] Bodey, Michael; Meade, Amanda (9 May 2007). "Chased, checked, chastened". The Australian. Archived from the original on 16 May 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2007.

[40] Moran, Joanthon (25 February 2007). "Chaser team on Cheney danger list". News Limited. Archived from the original on 6 March 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2007.

[41] "PM lashes Chaser crew when ambushed on morning walk". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2007.

[42] Braithwaite, David (6 September 2007). "Chaser duo held over APEC stunt". The Age. Melbourne. Archived from the original on 6 September 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.

[43] "Police question Chaser duo over APEC stunt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 September 2007. Archived from the original on 8 September 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.

[44] "11 people arrested in Sydney's CBD, continuing to assist with inquiries". NSW Police. 6 September 2007. Archived from the original on 7 September 2007.

[45] "11 charged over Chaser APEC stunt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation News. 6 September 2007. Archived from the original on 8 September 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.

[46] "Police question Chasers over second APEC stunt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation News. 7 September 2007. Archived from the original on 9 September 2007. Retrieved 7 September 2007.

[47] "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

[48] Clun, Rachel (8 October 2018). "Alan Jones apologises to Opera House boss over The Everest controversy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.

[49] "Does height matter when you're dating?". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 4 October 2018. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2018.

[50] "The Chaser on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2018.

[51] "The Chaser on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2018.

[52] "We haven't seen Kerri-Anne Kennerley this fired up in a long time". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.

[53] Keoghan, Sarah (27 August 2019). "The Chaser's war on the church over Pell plaque made permanent". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

[54] "The Catholic Church accused us of faking the plaque, so we decided to provide them with some evidence they can't deny". reddit. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

[55] "Amanda Knox slammed for election tweet". NewsComAu. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

[56] "The Chaser Just Got Suspended From Twitter For Pretending To Be Donald Trump On Election Day". Pedestrian TV. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

[57] "The day the news feed died". Sunraysia Daily. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

[58] "Misinformation runs rampant as Facebook says it may take a week before it unblocks some pages". the Guardian. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

[59] "https://twitter.com/jennhain/status/1362524930290581505". Twitter. Retrieved 4 May 2021. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)

[60] "The Chaser dropped an intensive, 7-year-long list of the Liberal Party's corruption (with receipts)". Happy Mag. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

[61] "The Chaser are using their Facebook freedom to rinse Liberal Party corruption". The Brag. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

[62] "The Chaser's war on News Corp has cost the media giant hundreds of thousands of dollars". Crikey. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

[63] "Cancel your News Corp subscription online". The Chaser. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

[64] "The Chaser Tricked A Bunch Of Murdoch News Sites Into Reporting That "Fairy Bread Is Cancelled"". Junkee. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

[65] "'Un-Australian': Fairy bread 'cancel' campaign dupes Australian media". The New Daily. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.

[66] We faked the "fairy bread is cancelled" story and every news site ran it, retrieved 4 May 2021

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v t e The Chaser
Charles Firth Andrew Hansen Dominic Knight Chas Licciardello Julian Morrow Craig Reucassel Chris Taylor
Literary productions	Satirical newspaper Annual
Television productions	The Election Chaser / The Chaser Decides / Yes We Canberra! / The Hamster Decides / The Chaser's Election Desk CNNNN News Alert War on Everything (episodes) The Hamster Wheel The Unbelievable Truth The Checkout Media Circus
Radio productions	Today Today / Bloody Sunday Chas and Dom The Race Race The Blow Parade
Stage productions	Cirque du Chaser Dead Caesar Age of Terror Variety Hour
Related articles	APEC pranks