The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is a news satire program.

News satire, also called fake news, is a type of parody presented in a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content. News satire has been around almost as long as journalism itself, but it is particularly popular on the web, where it is relatively easy to mimic a credible news source and stories may achieve wide distribution from nearly any site. News satire relies heavily on irony and deadpan humor.

News satire in history[link]

Richard A. Locke successfully increased sales of The Sun newspaper in 1835 by publishing a series of six articles, now known as the Great Moon Hoax, under the name of a contemporary astronomer.^[1]

Author Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) was employed as a newspaper reporter before becoming famous as a novelist and in this position he published many hoax articles. He left two separate journalism positions, Nevada (1864) fleeing a challenge to duel^[2] and San Francisco fleeing outraged police officials, because his satire and fiction were often taken for the truthful accounts they were presented as. Of this experience he said, "a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." Ironically, the accuracy of many newspaper and autobiographical accounts used to follow the early life of Samuel Clemens are in doubt.^[3]

Newspapers still print occasional news satire features, in particular on April Fools' Day. This news is specifically identified somewhere in the paper or in the next day as a joke.

In 1934, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released a series of ten one-reel theatrical shorts called Goofy Movies, which included "Wotaphony Newsreel," a newsreel parody that paired actual footage with a mocking, deadpan narration.

Also in 1934, halfway through a Kraft Music Hall radio show, Dean Taylor ("Others collect the news, Dean makes it!") narrated a fake newsreel which began with a report on the New York Giants and Philadelphia Phillies being cancelled due to bad weather, and baseball season being rescheduled to when farmers need rain.

Broadcast news satire[link]

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (November 2010)

News satire has been prevalent on television since the 1960s, when it enjoyed a renaissance in the UK with the Satire Boom, led by such luminaries as Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, David Frost, Eleanor Bron and Dudley Moore and the television programme That Was The Week That Was.

In the United States, the NBC network adapted this program and also produced its own content, from the "news" segment of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, to the still-running Saturday Night Live mock newscast segment "Weekend Update". Cable television got into the cable news act with Home Box Office's Not Necessarily the News in the mid 1980s.

Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's The Colbert Report are currently very popular in the United States. A 2004 Annenberg survey found that Daily Show viewers were better informed than those who relied solely on conventional network news,^[4] and some have even compared the trust and influence Stewart enjoys today to that of CBS anchor Walter Cronkite in the 1970s.^[5] However, a study published in the Journal of Communication suggests that entertainment news shows such as The Daily Show or The Colbert Report may not be as influential in teaching voters about political issues and candidates as was previously thought. Researchers from Ohio State University have found reasons to discount how effective these shows are in informing the general public. People watching television news learned more about a candidate’s position on issues and about political procedures compared to those watching the fake news shows, while fake news shows primarily taught viewers about a candidate’s personal background.^[6]

Fox News launched a news satire program in February 2007 with the title of The 1/2 Hour News Hour. Its creator describes it as "The Daily Show for conservatives", but it was cancelled within a few months. Fox News has since launched the more successful Red Eye w/Greg Gutfeld.

In Britain, several news satires have been created, most famously the works of Chris Morris. Show such as the radio series On the Hour and its television version The Day Today parodied news programs very accurately, so they were almost believable and could have been confused with actual news programs, if it was not for the fake stories reported. Morris went on to continue this and several other themes in Brass Eye, one of the most controversial series on British television, especially after one episode broadcast mocked the way the news covered stories about pedophilia.

Currently, British news satire is similar to shows such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. The Late Edition with Marcus Brigstocke, on digital station BBC Four, is heavily influenced by The Daily Show. News Knight with Sir Trevor McDonald parodied news differently, by using an actual newsreader as the host. Other news satires include Broken News, which featured several sketches of different news channels blending into each other.

In Canada, This Hour Has 22 Minutes is an ensemble news satire show with four anchors on CBC. The Rick Mercer Report is a spinoff of 22 Minutes with former anchor Rick Mercer, and is also shown on CBC. The 1960s series This Hour Has Seven Days, although primarily a real newsmagazine, included some satirical features in its format, such as political humour songs by actress and singer Dinah Christie.

In Germany, Heute-Show (ZDF), and formerly Wochenshow (on SAT.1) and Freitag Nacht News (on RTL) are popular news satires on TV.

News satire on the web[link]

News satire has been posted on the web almost since its inception, but few would contest that The Onion is foremost among recognized news satire site due to its enduring and profitable business model].^[7] The website, which started in 1996, has become virtually synonymous with online satire; its content is syndicated through mainstream media sites such as CNN and CNET. Today there are hundreds of news satire sites online. Sites such as Real Celebrity News specialize in satirical articles of celebrities and includes photos of celebrity look-a-likes as well as satirical celebrity Twitter accounts written in the first-person narrative. Sometimes fake news reporters influence real world politics, like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_kate whose 90 episodes covered the 2008 presidential campaign trail, she commissioned a butter bust of Obama presented to him by the Butter Cow Lady of Iowa, making international headlines^[8] . Other satire sites attempt to emulate a genuine news source of some sort; however, these sites now take a variety of forms.^[9]

Because interesting stories are often emailed and can quickly become separated from their point of origin, it is not uncommon for news satire stories to be picked up as real by the media; as had happened with a Faking News story about a lawsuit against Axe by an Indian man after having failed to attract a girl.^[11] Additionally, a parody post on Al Sharpton's parody News Groper blog was quoted as if real by MSNBC.^[12] Another satire publication, The Giant Napkin, published an article about a man literally fighting his house fire with more fire, a story taken seriously by several social networking sites. The fact that Google News accepts news satire sources helps contribute to this phenomenon; while Google News does mark such stories with a "satire" tag, not all readers notice the tag; moreover, sometimes satirical sources may not carry the tag.^[13] At least one site, thespoof.com, relies on user-generated content in a Web 2.0 manner.

Some websites like Literally Unbelievable post the genuine and shocked reactions of individuals who believe the satirical articles are real. The reactions are taken from social media websites, such as Facebook, in which users can directly comment on links to the article's source.

Multi-author Indian website News That Matters Not, launched in November 2009,^[14] won a prestigious Manthan South Asia Award for socially responsible e-content (Digital Inclusion for Development), organised by Digital Empowerment Foundation.^[15] In India, several community-based news satire websites have crept up in recent times. Their popularity on Facebook defines that they are popular amongst the masses. Very new websites such as The Scoop Times, Sunkey.co.in and The UnReal Times also claim to be run by students, and were covered in The Times of India in July 2011.^[16]

Several sites community of selected news satire sites which runs its own satire news feed on HumorFeed. HumorFeed is notable for its relatively high standards of admission and active community involvement. At present, over 60 sites are contributing members, at least eight of which have published books and two of which publish regular hard copy periodicals. Several HumorFeed members also run Check Please!, an online journal devoted to the serious examination of online satire, ranging from its role in relation to actual journalism to practical considerations of producing an online satire site.

In July 2009, a satire piece about Kanye West published on the website ScrapeTV was picked up by numerous media outlets and reported as factual,^[17][18][19] despite disclaimers on the site.^[20]

See also[link]

• List of satirical television news programs
• NewsBiscuit
• The Chaser
• SatireWire
• Broken Newz
• Lush For Life – abandoned 2007
• Weekly World News
• ScrappleFace
• The Oxymoron
• Disassociated Press
• Uncyclopedia UnNews

References[link]

Charlie Brooker
Brooker at the 2011 Royal Television Society Awards
Born	Charlton Brooker (1971-03-03) 3 March 1971 (age 41) Reading, Berkshire, England
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Polytechnic of Central London
Occupation	Broadcaster, writer, columnist, comedian, critic
Years active	1998–present
Religion	None (Atheist)[1]
Spouse	Konnie Huq (2010–present)

Charlton "Charlie" Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is a British journalist, screenwriter and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism. He presents TV shows Screenwipe, Gameswipe and Newswipe, wrote a review column for The Guardian newspaper and currently writes a comment piece each Monday for The Guardian supplement G2, and is one of four creative directors of comedy production company Zeppotron. His five-part horror drama Dead Set for E4 earned him a nomination for a BAFTA. Brooker won Columnist of the Year at the 2009 British Press Awards for his column,^[2] and the Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards 2009. He is co-presenter of 10 O'Clock Live on Channel 4. He has also presented the documentary series How TV Ruined Your Life on BBC Two and created the Channel 4 satirical drama trilogy Black Mirror (writing and co-writing Episodes 1 and 2 respectively).

Early life and education[link]

This section requires expansion.

Brooker was born in Reading, Berkshire ^[3], growing up in the village of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxfordshire^[4]. He first worked as a writer and cartoonist for Oink!, a comic produced in the late-1980s.^[5]

After attending Wallingford School, Brooker attended the Polytechnic of Central London (which became the University of Westminster during his time there) – studying for a BA in Media Studies. He did not graduate because his dissertation was written on video games, which was not an acceptable topic.^[5][6]

Career[link]

[edit] PC Zone

Brooker wrote for PC Zone magazine in the mid-1990s. Aside from games reviews, his output included the comic strip "Cybertwats" and a column titled "Sick Notes", where Brooker would insult anyone who wrote in to the magazine and offered a £50 prize to the "best" letter.

In February 1998, one of Brooker's one-shot cartoons caused the magazine to be pulled from the shelves of many British newsagents. The cartoon was titled "Helmut Werstler's Cruelty Zoo" and professed to be an advert for a theme park created by a Teutonic psychologist for children to take out their violent impulses on animals rather than humans. It was accompanied by photoshopped pictures of children smashing the skulls of monkeys with hammers, jumping on a badger with a pitchfork, and chainsawing an orang-utan, among other things. The original joke was supposed to be at the expense of the Tomb Raider games, known at the time for the number of animals killed, but the original title, "Lara Croft's Cruelty Zoo", was changed for legal reasons.

In October 2008, Brooker and several other ex-writers were invited back to review a game for the 200th issue. Brooker reviewed Euro Truck Simulator.

SuperKaylo[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2011)

A number of Brooker's artworks were available to the public on his website. This body of work is drawn both from the commissions of his various patrons, and began as a paper comic that was sold to customers at Brooker's former workplace CeX. In addition to its counter presence, Brooker sold issues to mail order customers when they called up to place orders for games.

One aspect of the SuperKaylo site was a series of recorded phone conversations, that had originally started from a commissioned featured for PC Zone on technical support phonelines. Brooker took things further than this half serious investigation, when in 1999 he called up the then editor of Edge magazine, Jason Brookes. Pretending to be an angry father, he phoned up enraged by an advert that had appeared in a previous issue for CeX, one that Brooker himself had written and drawn.

TVGoHome[link]

From 1999 to 2003 he wrote the satirical TVGoHome website,^[7][8] a regular series of mock TV schedules published in a format similar to that of the Radio Times, consisting of a combination of savage satire and surreal humour and featured in technology newsletter Need To Know. A print adaptation of the site was published by Fourth Estate in 2001. A TV sketch show based on the site was broadcast on UK digital station E4 the same year.^[9]

Newspaper columns[link]

Brooker began writing a TV review column titled "Screen Burn" for The Guardian newspaper's Saturday entertainment supplement The Guide in 2000, a role he continued through to October 2010.

From the autumn of 2005, he wrote a regular series of columns in The Guardian supplement "G2" on Fridays called "Supposing", in which he free-associated on a set of vague what-if themes. Since late October 2006 this column has been expanded into a full-page section on Mondays, including samples from TVGoHome and Ignopedia, an occasional series of pseudo-articles on topics mostly suggested by readers. The key theme behind Ignopedia was that, while Wikipedia is written and edited by thousands of users, Ignopedia would be written by a single sub-par person with little or no awareness of the facts.^[10]

On 24 October 2004, he wrote a column on George W. Bush and the forthcoming 2004 US Presidential Election^[11] which concluded:

The Guardian withdrew the article from its website and published and endorsed an apology by Brooker.^[12] He has since commented about the remark in the column stating:

Brooker left the "Screen Burn" column in 2010. In the final column,^[14] he noted how increasingly difficult he found it to reconcile his role in mainstream media and TV production with his writing as a scabrous critic or to objectively criticise those he increasingly works and socialises with. Longtime covering contributor Grace Dent took over the column. He continues to contribute other articles to The Guardian on a regular basis.

Television[link]

From 1999 to 2000, Brooker played hooded expert 'the Pundit' in short-lived show Games Republic hosted by Trevor and Simon on BSkyB.

In 2000, Brooker was one of the writers of the Channel 4 show The Eleven O'Clock Show and a co-host (with Gia Milinovich) on BBC Knowledge's The Kit, a low-budget programme dedicated to gadgets and technology (1999–2000). In 2001, he was one of several writers on Channel 4's controversial Brass Eye special on the subject of paedophilia.

In 2003, Brooker wrote an episode entitled "How to Watch Television" for Channel 4's The Art Show.^[15] The episode was presented in the style of a public information film and was partly animated, and gave advice on how to view television.

Together with Brass Eye's Chris Morris, Brooker co-wrote the sitcom Nathan Barley, based on a character from one of TVGoHome's fictional programmes. The show was broadcast in 2005 and focused on the lives of a group of London media 'trendies'. The same year, he was also on the writing team of the Channel 4 sketch show Spoons, produced by Zeppotron.

In 2006, Brooker began writing and presenting his signature television series Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe on BBC Four, a TV review programme in a similar style to his Screen Burn columns in The Guardian. After an initial pilot series of three editions in April of that year, the programme returned in the autumn for a second run of four episodes plus Christmas and Review of the Year specials in December 2006. A third series followed in February 2007 with a fourth broadcast in September 2007, followed by a Review of the Year in December 2007. The fifth series started in November 2008 and was followed by another Review of the Year special. This series was also the first to be given a primetime repeat on terrestrial television (BBC Two), in January 2009.

Screenwipe's format mostly consists of two elements. The first is the playing of clips from other television shows – both mainstream and obscure – interspersed with shots of Brooker, sitting in his living room,^[16] delivering witty critiques on them. The second is where Brooker explains, again with a slice of barbed humour, the way in which a particular area of the television industry operates. Also occasionally present are animations by David Firth and guest contributions, which have included the poetry of Tim Key, and segments in which a guest explains their fascination with a certain television show or genre.

Brooker has regularly experimented with Screenwipe, with some editions focusing on a specific theme. These themes have included American television, TV news, advertising and children's programmes. (The last of these involved a segment where Brooker joined the cast of Toonattik for one week, playing the character of "Angry News Guy".) Probably the most radical departure from the norm came with an episode focused on scriptwriting, which saw several of British television's most prominent writers interviewed by Brooker.

As per the development of his career with The Guardian, a similar show called Newswipe, focusing on current affairs reportage by the international news media, began on BBC Four on 25 March 2009. A second series began on 19 January 2010. He has also written and presented the one off special Gameswipe which focused on video games and aired on BBC Four on 29 September 2009.

Brooker has appeared on three episodes and one webisode of the popular BBC current affairs news quiz Have I Got News for You. He appeared on an episode of the Channel 4 panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2009, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Would I Lie To You?. In December 2006 reviewed two games written by the presenters of VideoGaiden, on their show. He also made a brief appearance in the third and final instalment of the documentary series Games Britannia, discussing the rise and popularity of computer games.

Brooker wrote for the BBC Three sketch show Rush Hour.

In 2009, Brooker began hosting You Have Been Watching, a panel comedy TV quiz on Channel 4 which discusses television. A second series was broadcast the following year.

On 6 May 2010, Brooker was a co-host of the Channel 4 alternative election night, along with David Mitchell, Jimmy Carr and Lauren Laverne.^[17] The telethon was interspersed with contributions from Brooker, some live in the studio but mostly pre-recorded. Notably, an "Election Special" of You Have Been Watching and two smaller segments in an almost identical style to Screenwipe (the only noticeable difference being that Brooker was sitting in a different room). Brooker described the experience of live television as being so nerve-wracking he "did a piss" during the broadcast.^[18] A spin-off series, 10 O'Clock Live, started in January 2011 with the same four hosts.^[19]

Brooker's "2010 Wipe", a review of 2010 in the style of Screenwipe/Newswipe/Gameswipe, was broadcast on BBC2 on 27 December 2010, and a new documentary series How TV Ruined Your Life started on BBC 2 on 25 January 2011. He has co-written a feature-length spoof crime drama along with Daniel Maier for Sky1 called A Touch Of Cloth (due early 2012).^[20]

Charlie Brooker's 2011 Wipe, an hour-long review show of 2011, was broadcast on BBC Four on 30 December 2011.^[21][22] It was repeated on BBC Two on 3 January 2012.

Dead Set[link]

Brooker wrote Dead Set, a five part zombie horror thriller for E4 set in the Big Brother house.^[23] The show was broadcast in October 2008 to coincide with Halloween and was repeated on Channel 4 in January 2009 to coincide with Celebrity Big Brother, and again for Halloween later that year.^[24] It was produced by Zeppotron, which also produced Screenwipe.

Brooker told MediaGuardian.co.uk it comprised a "mixture of known and less well known faces" and "Dead Set is very different to anything I've done before, and I hope the end result will surprise, entertain and appall people in equal measure." He added that he has long been a fan of horror films and that his new series "could not be described as a comedy". "I couldn't really describe what it is but it will probably surprise people," Brooker said, adding that he plans to "continue as normal" with his print journalism.

Jaime Winstone starred as a runner on the TV programme, and Big Brother presenter Davina McCall guest starred as herself.^[25] Dead Set received a BAFTA nomination for Best Drama Serial.^[26]

Black Mirror[link]

In December 2011, Brooker's Black Mirror a three-part television drama series aired on Channel 4 to largely positive reviews.^[27][28][29] As well as creating the show, Brooker wrote the first episode and co-wrote the second with his wife Konnie Huq.

The series is produced by Zeppotron for Endemol. Regarding the programme's content and structure, Brooker noted, "each episode has a different cast, a different setting, even a different reality. But they're all about the way we live now – and the way we might be living in 10 minutes' time if we're clumsy."^[30]

An Endemol press release describes the series as "a hybrid of The Twilight Zone and Tales of the Unexpected which taps into our contemporary unease about our modern world", with the stories having a "techno-paranoia" feel.^[31] Channel 4 describes the first episode as "a twisted parable for the Twitter age".^[32]

Brooker explained the series' title to The Guardian, noting: "If technology is a drug – and it does feel like a drug – then what, precisely, are the side-effects? This area – between delight and discomfort – is where Black Mirror, my new drama series, is set. The "black mirror" of the title is the one you'll find on every wall, on every desk, in the palm of every hand: the cold, shiny screen of a TV, a monitor, a smartphone."^[30]

Radio[link]

Beginning on 11 May 2010, Brooker presented a 5-part BBC Radio 4 series celebrating failure titled So Wrong It's Right, in which guests compete to pitch the worst possible ideas for new franchises and give the 'most wrong' answer to a question. Also featured are guests' recollections about their own personal life failures and their complaints about life in general in a round called 'This Putrid Modern Hell'. Guests have included David Mitchell, Lee Mack, Josie Long, Frank Skinner and Richard Herring.^[33] The second series began airing on 10 March 2011.^[34] A third series has been commissioned for broadcast in May 2012.^[35] In common with Screenwipe's use of a Grandaddy track (A.M. 180) from the album Under The Western Freeway as its theme tune, So Wrong It's Right uses another track from the same album, Summer Here Kids.

Personal life[link]

Brooker became engaged to former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq after dating for 9 months, having met whilst filming an episode of Screenwipe.^[36][37] They married on 26 July 2010 at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.^[38][39] On 23 March 2012 Huq gave birth to their first child, Covey Brooker Huq. ^[40]

Brooker is an atheist and contributed to The Atheist's Guide to Christmas.^[41]

Brooker has become an avid running enthusiast, running for up to an hour every day.^[42]

Awards[link]

Brooker won Columnist of the Year at the 2009 British Press Awards for his Guardian column, where the judges described Brooker as "edgy, entertaining and wonderfully surreal, he has the explosive writing skills that can turn your thinking upside down. A definite destination read and a jewel of a column. Acerbic, nasty, spiteful, yet clearly in love with every subject he writes about at the same time. Must read stuff".^[2] He won Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards 2009 and the Royal Television Society award 2010 for Best Entertainment Programme (Newswipe), beating The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent. His show (Newswipe) won Best Comedy Entertainment Show at the 2011 British Comedy Awards.

Publications[link]

• TV Go Home, 2001 (rescanned reprint in 2010) (ISBN 1-84115-675-2)
• Unnovations, 2002 (rescanned reprint in 2011) (ISBN 1-84115-730-9)
• Screen Burn, 2004 (ISBN 0-571-22755-4)
• Dawn of the Dumb: Dispatches from the Idiotic Frontline, 2007 (ISBN 9780571238415)
• The Hell of it All, Charlie Brooker, 2009 (ISBN 9780571229574)^[43]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Charlie Brooker

• Charlie Brooker's Official Biography Page on zeppotron.com
• Charlie Brooker's Agents and Production Company – zeppotron.com
• Charlie Brooker at the Internet Movie Database
• Charlie Brooker on Twitter
• TV Go Home
• Charlie Brooker's Guardian columns
• Shuffle's Cue & Ehh? with Charlie Brooker
• Charlie Brooker's made-up film awards
• Charlie Brooker Interview about You Have Been Watching
• Charlie Brooker's page, Conville and Walsh literary agents

Rebekah Mary Brooks (née Wade; born 27 May 1968) is a British journalist and former newspaper editor. She was Chief Executive Officer of News International from 2009 to 2011, having previously served as the youngest editor of a British national newspaper as editor of the News of the World^[7] - from 2000 to 2003 - and the first female editor of The Sun^[8] - from 2003 to 2009. Brooks married actor Ross Kemp in 2002. They divorced in 2009^[6] and she married former racehorse trainer and author Charlie Brooks.

Brooks is a prominent figure in the News International phone hacking scandal, having been the editor of the News of the World when illegal phone hacking was allegedly carried out by the newspaper. On 15 July 2011, Brooks resigned as chief executive of News International, following widespread criticism of her role in the controversy.^[9] On 17 July 2011, she was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and on suspicion of corruption - making corrupt payments to public officials.^[10][11] On 13 March 2012, she was again arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.^[12] On 15 May 2012, Brooks was charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice‎.^[13] Mrs Brooks said she was “baffled” by the decision to charge her.^[14] Mr Brooks said he believed his wife had become 'the subject of a witch-hunt'. ^[15]

Early life[link]

Brooks was born Rebekah Mary Wade in Warrington, Lancashire to a father variously described as a tugboat deckhand and gardener.^[16] She grew up in Daresbury,^[17][18] and decided she wanted to be a journalist from the age of fourteen.^[19] She attended Appleton Hall High School – a state comprehensive school that had previously been a grammar school – in Appleton, near Warrington. A childhood friend, Louise Weir, described her as "more emotionally intelligent than academic", charming and always able to get what she wanted out of people.^[5]

In Brooks' entry in Who's Who she stated that she studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, but did not claim to have a degree, and did not later answer questions about this; in a 2003 Spectator article, Stephen Glover suggested that, since she was working at the age of 20 for the News of the World, "we can safely assume that she did not study at the Sorbonne in any meaningful way".^[20] In 2010, Brooks was awarded an honorary Fellowship from the University of the Arts, London, for her contribution to journalism.^[21] She attended the London College of Communication, now part of the university, as a student.

The commentator Henry Porter claims little is known of Brooks personally.^[5] Tim Minogue, who was one of her first co-editors before becoming a journalist at Private Eye magazine, recalled a “likeable, skinny, hollow-eyed girl who was very ambitious”.^[22]

Career[link]

After school she worked for the French magazine L'architecture d'aujourd'hui in Paris, before returning to Britain to work for Eddy Shah's Messenger Group.^[5][19] Graham Ball, the then features editor at The Post newspaper, recalled that she was a notably astute and intelligent staff member.^[5] When The Post was disbanded, Brooks then moved to the News of the World.^[5]

[edit] News of the World

She joined the Sunday newspaper News of the World in 1989 as a secretary, before working as a feature writer for its Sunday magazine where she worked on "The A to Z of Soaps" with TV soap opera expert Chris Stacey, and eventually becoming the paper's deputy editor.^[19] In 1994, she prepared for the News of the World's interview with James Hewitt, a paramour of Princess Diana, by reserving a hotel suite and hiring a team to "kit it out with secret tape devices in various flowerpots and cupboards," Piers Morgan, her former boss, wrote in his memoir The Insider, The New York Times relayed in July 2011.^[23] In 1998, she transferred to the News of the World's daily counterpart, The Sun, where she was appointed its deputy editor. In this period, she reportedly attempted to persuade David Yelland to end the Page Three Girls feature.^[24] She then returned to the News of the World in 2000 as editor; at the time, she was the youngest editor of a national British newspaper.^[7] While at the News of the World, Brooks oversaw its campaign of "naming and shaming" individuals suspected to be convicted child sex offenders— a campaign launched in the wake of the murder of Sarah Payne.^[5][25] The paper's decision led to angry mobs terrorising those they suspected of being child sex offenders,^[26] which included several cases of mistaken identity and one instance where a paediatrician had her house vandalised, apparently by people who thought her occupation meant she was a paedophile.^[27][28][29] The campaign was described as "grossly irresponsible" journalism by the Chief Constable of Gloucestershire, Tony Butler,^[19] but Brooks defended the paper's actions on the BBC's Breakfast with Frost, claiming that it was "only right that the public have controlled access" to information on sex offenders.^[30] The paper's already strong sales held up well under her leadership, while those of rival Sunday newspapers The People and the Sunday Mirror fell more sharply.^[31]

Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott praised Brooks's handling of the story of his wife, Pauline, giving up one of her children for adoption as "very reasonable and professional" in style.^[5]

[edit] The Sun

In January 2003, she returned to The Sun, replacing her former boss David Yelland, to become its first female editor.^[31] On Brooks's first day as editor, the Page Three girl was Rebekah Parmar-Teasdale – the caption to the picture was "Rebekah from Wapping".^[32] Soon after becoming editor, Brooks ran the headline "Bonkers Bruno Locked Up" concerning the mental health problems of former heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno. The next day The Sun ran a 600-word reply from the head of the mental health charity Sane, and since then has adopted a style guide on covering mental health stories prepared by the same charity. Brooks and her husband spent a day with the head of Sane and made donations to the charity.^[33][34]

During a March 2003 appearance before the House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport as part of an inquiry into privacy issues, Brooks stated that her newspaper had paid police officers for information.^[35] Alison Clark, the director of corporate affairs at News International, later stated, "It is not company practice to pay police for information."^[35]

Brooks has been chair of the organisation Women in Journalism,^[19] and has served as a judge for the "Guardian Student Media Awards" in November 2003^[36] and the tenth annual Police Bravery Awards in July 2005, the latter sponsored by The Sun.^[37]

News International[link]

In June 2009, it was announced that she would leave The Sun in September 2009, to become chief executive of the newspaper's parent company, News International.^[8] Dominic Mohan was named her successor as editor of The Sun.^[38]

Phone hacking scandal[link]

A police enquiry revealed that the News of the World had a routine practice of intercepting mobile phone messages of celebrities, politicians and other public figures. The newspaper's reporter, Clive Goodman, and Glenn Mulcaire, a hired investigator, were convicted and jailed for intercepting the phone messages of members of the royal family in 2006.

Questioning by MPs[link]

In 2003, under questioning by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee of the House of Commons, Chris Bryant MP asked her and Andy Coulson whether either of their newspapers had ever been involved in various improper acts. Brooks replied, "We have paid police for information in the past." Andy Coulson stepped in to say that payments were only made lawfully. The Sun, of which Brooks was editor, subsequently ridiculed Chris Bryant in a number of articles, starting with one about a photograph of him in his underpants from a gay dating web site. Brooks later claimed that in her response to Bryant's question she had merely been speaking about the widespread belief that payments had been made to police, and denied having any knowledge of specific payments.^[39]

According to MPs, Rebekah Brooks refused three times to attend the committee again to be questioned further,^[40] resulting in four committee members "considering asking the serjeant at arms to issue a warrant forcing Brooks to attend"; however they subsequently dropped this proposal because they believed their private lives would be investigated if they did so.^[40][41] John Whittingdale, chair of the committee, stated there was a conversation "about the possible repercussions of issuing a warrant for Brooks but said that did not have any bearing on his decision and he did not believe News International would target committee members."^[41]

On 11 May 2012, Rebekah Brooks appeared as a witness in the Leveson Inquiry.^[42]

Milly Dowler[link]

In 2011, The Guardian^[43] and a solicitor alleged that in 2002, when Brooks was editor, the paper had also hacked the voicemail of missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler (later found to be murdered), to access messages left by her parents. It was also alleged that messages had been deleted when the mailbox was getting full, to allow new messages to be left and illicitly listened to; this caused the missing girl's family to think that she was still alive and monitoring her messages. The New York Times London reporter Sarah Lyall wrote that, if the allegations were true, "it would mean either that Ms. Brooks had no idea how the paper she edited was obtaining information about the Dowler family for its articles, or that she knew about the hacking and allowed it."^[43] In an email to her staff Brooks said it was "inconceivable" that she had known what was happening over Milly Dowler's voicemail.^[44]

Resignation[link]

Wikinews has related news: Rebekah Brooks resigns from News International

In July 2011, Labour Party leader Ed Miliband said Brooks should "consider her position" after the Milly Dowler allegations.^[45] Prime Minister David Cameron said that if Brooks had offered her resignation to him, he would have accepted it. Milly Dowler's parents also called for Brooks' resignation.

When Brooks told News of the World staff that the newspaper was being closed down, some reportedly said that all of their jobs had been sacrificed in order to save hers.^[46] Andreas Whittam Smith suggested that Brooks' decision not to resign was symptomatic of "the self-serving, conceited thesis that 'only I, who was at the helm during the disaster, can steer us to safety.'"^[47]

On 14 July, News Corporation's second largest shareholder, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal Alsaud, called for her resignation in a BBC interview.^[48]

Having previously had an offer of resignation rejected, Brooks resigned from News International on 15 July 2011.^[49] She said, "As chief executive of the company, I feel a deep sense of responsibility for the people we have hurt and I want to reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place. I have believed that the right and responsible action has been to lead us through the heat of the crisis. However my desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate. This is now detracting attention from all our honest endeavours to fix the problems of the past. Therefore I have given Rupert and James Murdoch my resignation. While it has been a subject of discussion, this time my resignation has been accepted."^[50]

The Daily Telegraph reported that despite resigning from her position, Brooks remained on the company payroll and continued to receive her salary from News International, having been told by Rupert Murdoch to "travel the world on him for a year."^[51]

Arrests and prosecution[link]

On 17 July 2011, Brooks was arrested by police on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and on suspicion of corruption allegations.^[52][53][54] She was arrested by detectives working on Operation Weeting, the Metropolitan Police's phone hacking probe, and Operation Elveden, the probe examining illicit payments to police officers.^[54] Brooks' public relations agent Dave Wilson told CNN that she did not know she was going to be arrested when she arrived for a pre-arranged interview with London's Metropolitan Police Service.^[55]

After 12 hours in custody, Brooks was released on bail until October 2011.^[56]

On 13 March 2012, Brooks was rearrested, together with her husband, on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.^[12]

On 15 May 2012, it was announced that Brooks and five others were to be charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.^[57]

Political connections[link]

There has been criticism of Brooks' influence on leading politicians, and possible connections between this and the phone hacking affair.^[58] Most notably, Brooks and her husband have close social ties to Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife. For example, a December 2010 dinner party was attended by Cameron and James Murdoch.^[59] In 2008 she was loaned a retired police horse by the Metropolitan Police. She kept it on her Oxfordshire farm, where it was ridden by David Cameron.^[60]

Brooks is also a friend of Tony and Cherie Blair;^[61] and Gordon and Sarah Brown.^[62] Her wedding to Charlie Brooks in 2009 was attended by Gordon Brown and David Cameron.

Her ex-husband Ross Kemp "starred" the Labour Party spot for the 2010 UK General Elections.

Personal life[link]

Brooks became engaged to actor Ross Kemp (best known as Grant Mitchell in EastEnders) in 1996, and married him in June 2002 in Las Vegas.^[52] On 3 November 2005, it was reported that Brooks had been arrested following an alleged assault on her husband. She was later released without charge and the police took no further action.^[52] The Sun had been running a campaign against domestic violence at the time.^[32][63] The couple had spent the previous evening in the company of the former Cabinet Minister David Blunkett, who had resigned for the second time on that day.^[64]

Private Eye and The Independent^[65] reported that the couple had separated; this was not widely reported in the remainder of the British press. The 7 March 2008 issue of Private Eye refers to her "paramour", former racehorse trainer and author Charlie Brooks. The Guardian reported on 5 June 2009, that she would marry Brooks.^[66] The Independent reported that Brooks and her fiancé had married in a lakeside ceremony in June 2009.^[67] The couple are key members of the Chipping Norton set, and live in Churchill, Oxfordshire, and London. ^[68] It was reported that a laptop and other items allegedly belonging to Charlie Brooks were found in the rubbish bins at the couple's London flat in Chelsea Harbour and, despite being claimed by Mr Brooks, were removed by police for examination.^[69]

In July 2011, MP Chris Bryant claimed that Brooks had previously implied that he would loiter in a London park because he was homosexual,^[70] and that Kemp had responded, "Shut up, you homophobic cow."^[70]

Brooks is a friend of Sheryl Gascoigne, the ex-wife of footballer Paul Gascoigne.^[24] She also attended the Prince of Wales' 50th birthday party.^[19]

It was announced by Bell Pottinger that Rebekah and Charlie Brooks were expecting a daughter in early 2012 via a surrogate mother.^[71]

See also[link]

• R v Brooks and five others
• News Corporation
• News Limited
• Rupert Murdoch
• James Weatherup
• News International phone hacking scandal
• Phone hacking scandal reference lists
• Metropolitan police role in phone hacking scandal

References[link]

External links[link]

• February 2012 Vanity Fair profile of Brooks
• Rebekah Brooks collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Rebekah Brooks collected news and commentary at The New York Times

Rebecca Black
Rebecca Black in November 2011
Background information
Birth name	Rebecca Renee Black
Born	(1997-06-21) June 21, 1997 (age 15) Irvine, California, U.S.[1]
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2011–present
Labels	RB Records
Website	www.rebeccablackonline.com

Rebecca Renee Black^[2] (born June 21, 1997) is an American pop singer and dancer who gained extensive media attention with the 2011 single "Friday". Her mother paid $4,000 to have the single and an accompanying music video put out as a vanity release^[3] through the record label ARK Music Factory.^[4] The song was co-written and produced by Clarence Jey and Patrice Wilson of Ark Music Factory. After the video went viral on YouTube and other social media sites, "Friday" was derided by many music critics and viewers, who dubbed it "the worst song ever."^[5][6][7] The music video received around 167 million views, causing Black to gain international attention as a "viral star", before being removed from the site on June 16. Black re-uploaded it in her own channel three months later.

Biography[link]

Personal life[link]

Rebecca Black was born on June 21, 1997,^[8] in Irvine, California.^[1] She is the daughter of John Jeffery Black and Georgina Marquez Kelly, both veterinarians.^[4][9] She is of Mexican, Spanish, Italian, English, and Polish descent.^[10][11] An honor student, Black studied dance, auditioned for school shows, attended music summer camps, and began singing publicly in 2008 after joining the patriotic group Celebration USA.^{[citation needed]} In 2011 Black left public school in favor of homeschooling, both in response to constant verbal bullying at school and in order to focus more of her time on her career.^[12] Black later said that her main reason for the move to homeschooling was more for career reasons rather than the bullying.^[13]

Career[link]

Ark Music Factory and "Friday" (2010–2011)[link]

In late 2010, a classmate of Black and music-video client of ARK Music Factory, a Los Angeles label, told her about the company.^[14] Black's mother paid $4,000 for Ark Music to produce the music video while the Blacks retained ownership of both the master and the video.^[4][15] The single, "Friday", written entirely by Ark, was released on YouTube and iTunes. The song's video was uploaded to YouTube on February 10, 2011, and received approximately 1,000 views in the first month. The video went viral on March 11, 2011, acquiring millions of views on YouTube in a matter of days, becoming the most-talked-about topic on social networking site Twitter,^[16] and garnering mostly negative media coverage.^[17] As of June 14, 2011, the video had received more than 3,190,000 "dislikes" on YouTube compared to more than 451,000 "likes".^[18] As of March 22, 2011, first-week sales of her digital single were estimated to be around 40,000 by Billboard.^[19] On March 22, 2011, Black appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, during which she performed the single and discussed the negative reaction to it.^[20] The song has peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 and the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 58 and 33, respectively.^[21][22] In the UK, the song debuted at number 61 on the UK Singles Chart.^[23]

Black teamed up with Funny or Die on April Fool's Day (the site was renamed Friday or Die) for a series of videos, including one which addresses the controversy about the driving kids in her music video, stating "We so excited about safety."^[24]

She has stated that she is a fan of Justin Bieber, and expressed interest in performing a duet with him.^[25]

In response to the YouTube video of "Friday", Black began to receive death threats in late February 2011, specifically by phone and email.^[26] These threats are being investigated by the Anaheim Police Department.^[27]

In March 2011, Ryan Seacrest reportedly helped sign Rebecca to manager Debra Baum's DB Entertainment.^[28]

MTV selected Rebecca to host its first online awards show, the O Music Awards Fan Army Party in April 2011.^[29] As an homage to "Friday", Black appears in the music video for Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)",^[30] in which Black plays alongside Perry as the hostess of a party Perry attends. "Friday" was also performed on the second season of Glee in the episode, "Prom Queen", which originally aired May 10, 2011. When asked about why the song was covered on Glee, show creator Ryan Murphy replied, "The show pays tribute to pop culture and, love it or hate it, that song is pop culture."^[31]

RB Records and upcoming album (2011–present)[link]

After the fallout with Ark Music Factory, Black announced she would start an independent record label named RB Records. Black released a self-produced single titled "My Moment" on July 18 by her own label RB Records, with an accompanying music video, publishing it to her YouTube channel; the video as of November 27 has received, approximately, 590,000 "dislikes" against 340,000 "likes."^[32] In the "My Moment" music video, director Morgan Lawley features real life video of Black's life from both before and after her fame.^[33]

Black is planning to release her official debut album around 2012, which she said will include "a bunch of different kinds of stuff."^[34] It is being recorded at a studio belonging to music producer Charlton Pettus.^[35] In an interview with The Sun, Black said that the songs will be "appropriate and clean".

Black appears as herself in the music video of Katy Perry's single "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)". She appears as the host of a party in the house next door to that of "Kathy Beth Terry". At the end of the video Perry attempts to blame the excesses of the party (which had subsequently moved to her own house) on Black, only for her parents (Corey Feldman and Debbie Gibson) to disbelieve her.^[36] Later on, Perry (in character as Kathy Beth Terry) and Black hosted a livestream on Tinychat.com after weeks of Black being mentioned on Terry's Twitter.^[37] Perry, who performs Friday routinely on stage as part of California Dreams Tour, also brought Black on stage to perform the song as a duet during her show at the Nokia Theater on August 5, 2011.^[38]

On August 10, 2011, Black was featured in an ABC Primetime Nightline: Celebrity Secrets special entitled Underage and Famous: Inside Child Stars' Lives.^[39]

On Friday, September 16, Black re-uploaded "Friday" on YouTube.^[40] In late September 2011, she was brought to Australia by Telstra to promote the launch of their 4G service.^[41]

On October 25, Black announced she started filming her upcoming music video which she first identified as 'POI' and later identified as "Person of Interest".^[42] Black said, "The basis of it is that it's a love song but it's not a love song. It's about almost teenage crushes — when you're not in love yet but you really like a guy — which I'm really excited about because I don't think there are too many out like that. It's very much a dance type song. It will make you get up and dance and sing along in your car."^[43] A teaser of the official music video was posted on November 3, 2011.^[44] Black released another teaser including a snippet of the song on November 10, 2011 on her YouTube channel. The single and its accompanying music video were released on November 15, 2011.^[45]

On December 20, 2011, "Friday" was revealed as the #1 video of the year by YouTube and Black hosted a short video called "YouTube Rewind".^[46]

Zeitgeist sorted billions of Google searches to capture the year's 10 fastest-rising global queries and the rest of the spirit of 2011. Rebecca Black #1 Most Searched Google. The searches for the teen singer topped even those of pop icon Lady Gaga and Adele.^[47]

On May 8, 2012, Black released her fourth official single, "Sing It".^[48] The music video premiered on Black's YouTube the same day.

Philanthropy[link]

Black features NOH8 Campaign a silent protest photo project against California Proposition 8. It features photographs portraying people in front of a white backdrop wearing white t-shirts, their mouths taped shut and "NOH8" painted on their cheek.

Rebecca has pledged to donate profits from the sales of her song "Friday" towards her school, El Rancho Charter, and shortly after the 2011 Japan Earthquake, to emergency relief in the country.^[49]

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

Music videos[link]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

• In April 2011, the MTV O Music Awards, one of the annual awards established by MTV to honor the art, creativity, personality and technology of music into the digital space nominated "Which Seat Can I Take?" for "Favorite Animated GIF" that included footage by Rebecca Black featuring 50 Cent and Bert.^[55]
• Black was named "Choice Web Star" at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards in August 2011.^[56]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official YouTube Channel
• Rebecca Black at the Internet Movie Database

The Chaser are an Australian satirical comedian group, known for their television programmes on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation channel. The group take their name from their production of satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste. The group's motto is "Striving for Mediocrity in a World of Excellence".^[2]

The Chaser[link]

The Chaser's earliest foundations were Charles Firth, Dominic Knight, and Chas Licciardello who went to Sydney Grammar School together and produced a small satirical school magazine entitled The Tiger.^[3] Later on, Firth and Knight met Craig Reucassel and Julian Morrow at the University of Sydney. Firth, Knight, Reucassel, Morrow, Licciardello, and later Chaser members Chris Taylor and Andrew Hansen all went to the University of Sydney. Firth, Knight, Reucassel and Morrow began writing for the University of Sydney student newspaper entitled Honi Soit.^[4] In 1999 the four members began The Chaser and their first newspaper project entitled The Chaser.^[5] The Chaser members are:

• Charles Firth. Firth decided in 1999 that the founding members should produce a newspaper, in an attempt not to "grow up". Firth was the main person who got the project underway 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. In 2005, Firth moved to the United States so his wife could finish her PhD.^[7] Firth, however, became The Chaser's American correspondent for the 2006 series of The Chaser's War on Everything and wrote a book titled American Hoax.^[8] Firth did some final stunts in America for the 2007 series in late 2006 and early 2007, before returning to Australia and going solo.^[9] Firth then began his own satirical newspaper The Manic Times in 2007, which collapsed soon after and now exists online.^[6]

• Dominic Knight was one of the founding members of the team. He appeared and starred in the 2001 series of The Election Chaser and the 2005 mini series Chaser News Alert. He also performed in the stage shows. He normally writes and does not perform for The Chaser's television shows.

• Julian Morrow. He became the executive producer of the television series after Andrew Denton left the role in 2004.^[10]

• Craig Reucassel was a founding member of the team.

• Chas Licciardello, who had attended Sydney Grammar School with Firth and Knight, started to work on The Chaser newspaper in 1999, but did not take any credit for his work. However when the newspaper started to go well, he was happy to put his name to his work. Licciardello refers to himself as a writer and not a performer, which is why he does the ‘edgier’ stunts in the television series. He states that he is not very talented and therefore does “lots of dodgy material”.^[11]

• Chris Taylor had gone to the University of Sydney but never personally knew the four founding members. He moved to Melbourne under a cadetship with the ABC doing journalism. Taylor approached The Chaser, based in Sydney, and asked if they took contributions and The Chaser accepted them. Taylor spent two years emailing his articles to The Chaser, and then quit his job to do a television series based on the 2001 Australian federal election with The Chaser and became a member of The Chaser.^[5][12] Taylor was the anchor with Reucassel in their television productions CNNNN, The Chaser Decides and The Chaser’s War on Everything and worked as the script editor for the television shows.^[13]

• Andrew Hansen worked with some of The Chaser members at the University of Sydney while studying literature and history, performing in their early revues. Hansen started working with the online Chaser website in 2000 writing columns for his shITe section, which looked at the worst of the internet. After two years, he was considered for a part in the Chaser’s 2002 television series, for the content on shITe. After The Election Chaser in 2001, The Chaser decided they needed a performer in the team. Hansen then joined in the group in 2002.^[4][14]

The Chaser projects[link]

[edit] The Chaser newspaper

The newspaper, first published in 1999, was The Chaser team's first enterprise. The Chaser only had a limited fan base, with the average sales numbers per issue well under 30,000. When their newspaper was shown as a lead story in all major Australian news broadcasts, not only was the headline widely spread, the concept and the popularity of the newspaper leapt dramatically.

Founding contributors to the newspaper include Gregor Stronach, Johanna Featherstone, Sholto Macpherson, Matt Taylor, David Stewart, and Arion McNicoll. Later contributors include Kara Greiner, Richard Cooke, Shane Cubis, and Tim Brunero. Cartoonists Fiona Katauskas and Andrew Weldon drew for the newspaper from its early days.^[15]

The Chaser and its writers had its first major controversy when their 21 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 release of the number comes after Howard’s attitude to half a million protesters recently marching for peace. Howard’s number was blocked by the afternoon after receiving many calls in the morning and federal police had been to The Chaser headquarters. The Chaser have stated they received the phone number via an SMS message in 2002.^[5][16]

The Chaser have released five annuals based on The Chaser newspaper:

• The Chaser Annual 2000: The Little-Read Book
• The Chaser Annual 2001: Bradman, The Cremated Years
• The Chaser Annual 2002: The War on Error
• Embedded with The Chaser: Annual 2003
• The Chaser Annual 2004: Intelligence Failures

After six years of publication The Chaser decided that, due to an inability to meet production costs and failing audiences, they would cease publication of the newspaper. The paper, which originally circulated fortnightly, was being released more sporadically and their 91st and final paper was released on 6 February 2005. The Chaser still planned to continue their writing online and to continue to write their annuals.^[16]

The Chaser has since released six annuals and a "best of" annual which compiled the best of the five preceding annuals:

• The Chaser Annual 2005: By Dan Brown
• 50 Golden Years of The Chaser - 1955-2005
• The Chaser Annual 2006: Burqa's Backyard
• The Chaser Annual 2007: The Other Secret
• The Chaser Annual 2008: The Little Rudd Book
• The Chaser Annual 2009: The Email Eunuch
• The Chaser Annual 2010: Eat Pray Vomit

Current writers online are Richard Cooke, Shane Cubis, Dominic Knight, Chas Licciardello, Julian Morrow, and Craig Reucassel with additional material provided by Scott Dooley, Lisa Pryor, David Stewart, Gregor Stronach, and Chris Taylor.^[17]

The Chaser on television and radio[link]

After two years of their satirical newspaper, which also included various radio roles, The Chaser had attracted the attention of Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) star Andrew Denton. Denton signed them with ABC and stated "They've got the talent, the work ethic, the fearlessness, the desire". Denton then helped the Chaser to perform their first television program The Election Chaser, on ABC TV, which was to be based on the 2001 Australian federal election and in the format of the national tallyroom. Four episodes were broadcast and the show was nominated for the 2002 Logie for "Most Outstanding Comedy Program".^[18] Denton acted as executive producer and script editor for The Election Chaser and would also do so for CNNNN.^[10][19]

The Chaser team have gone on to create other television shows for ABC TV, including the Logie Award winning CNNNN in 2002-3 and The Chaser Decides in 2004. CNNNN was a satire of not only the popular American news networks CNN and Fox News, but also incorporated Australian and world current affairs into the programme. The Election Chaser inspired a similar programme covering the 2004 election, The Chaser Decides. The coverage, as with all the Chaser productions, was satirical, but a different view on the way the election was covered by the local media.

The Chaser Decides returned again in 2007 to cover the 24 November election. It purported to be broadcasting from Australian Electoral Commission's National Tally Room.