ABC Of Comedy

Is the ‘Chasers’ War on Everything’ the new model for Australian investigative journalism? The ABC TV program that glued a record 3 million viewers to their screens last night is billed as comedy, but at times it comes close to the most confronting, critical TV journalism on offer. After a decade of nobbling and political interference by the Howard government, the National Broadcaster has bordered on timidity at times, but satire has become a partial defence against benign reporting.

The role of these pseudo-journos was highlighted last week when they drove a 'Trojan Horse' through the security overkill surrounding APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation). As the country was whipped into an anti-terrorism frenzy, the city of Sydney went into lockdown to protect the so-called ‘Leader of the Free World’, George Bush, who was visiting for the APEC forum (or was it OPEC? George wasn’t sure). It was nigh on impossible to get to work, and as one Sydney resident found, just crossing the road in the general vicinity was enough to get you locked up without charge. So, when the Chaser boys (and they are all blokes) envisaged their security-breach stunt, they didn’t expect to get very far.

They may not have set out to scrutinise security procedures or comment on the highly politicised anti-terror hype surrounding the meeting, but that’s exactly what they achieved by pushing the boundaries of comedy to the point where they merge with enterprising journalism. Their scheme went like this: take a few large black cars, a Canadian flag, some extras to use as runners (picture Secret Service agents in dark glasses jogging alongside the cars), some obviously fake ID passes and a comedian dressed as Osama Bin Laden and push the security barriers to the limit.

Their passes had the word ‘Joke’ emblazoned across the top and the security code on their car window sticker was SFA (i.e. Sweet F All) but check point after check point they rolled through security barriers. Actually, they more than rolled through, they were invited to breach the barriers by some of the uniformed police officers assigned to protect the President, who told them "you do what you like, matey" and "the road’s yours". In the end, they got within 10 metres of the President’s hotel, in broad daylight, amidst the tightest security Australia’s ever seen.

But they weren’t ultimately stopped by these extraordinary security measures – they just lost their nerve, admittedly keen to avoid arrest given the legal impediments to free speech and movement during APEC. In the end, they turned their cars around at the last check point. Still amazed at the absolute ‘access all areas’ permission they were granted by the 'security puppets', they tried one more time to provoke a reaction – they let ‘Osama’ out of the car. And guess what happened? The 'security puppets' came running – there was a Muslim on the loose! But until then, nobody had asked to see their credentials, questioned them about their authority, nor searched their cars. In the aftermath, 11 of the show’s staff were charged with allegedly entering a ‘restricted zone’. But as they've already proved, it was less ‘restricted’ and more ‘open by official invitation’.

Their ‘story’ illustrated several important points – the multi-million dollar security measures were so flimsy, Osama Bin Laden himself could have reached the President had he just travelled in a black car with a Canadian flag and darkened windows; if you are dressed as a conservative white Secret Service officer you can breach any barrier but don’t expect similar access if you ‘look like’ a Muslim; sometimes journalists have to risk arrest to get a good story in a police state; and, Australian officialdom has officially lost its sense of humour. It also raised questions about the legitimacy of these security measures – were they really any more than a political stunt? It’s satire but it looks and sounds more and more like journalism.

But that wasn’t the view expressed by many talkback callers and ABC complainants this week – the Chaser boys were called stupid, wreckless, dangerous, unpatriotic and, that most pejorative of labels – Un-Australian. Thank goodness, though, the ABC Managing Director, Mark Scott, still has a sense of humour. Today he told an Adelaide audience he thinks the Chaser is good comedy “I am a great fan, I think they work incredibly hard and I'm delighted for them, the success that they've had particularly this year.” That’s good news for the Chaser, good news for journalism and good news for the ABC’s editorial independence.

Download the video of the Chasers' APEC episode (MP4 or WMV)

Update: Chaser Fans @ the Lock Up