Who needs a Media Enquiry when you have The Chaser?

You know that the death of the journalist is becoming a prominent issue within Australia, when the Chaser team get their own show based on the topic. ‘The Hamster Wheel’ is the new show from the team that brought us the Chasers War on Everything, and it examines ‘how the media works or, in most cases, doesn't work. Why do we get the news we get? And inside the frantic rush of the hamster wheel, has the race to be first replaced the race to be right?’

While I will always be a defender of Journalists (good ones anyway), after watching this show it saddens me to admit that these guys have a point. While it’s nothing most of us don’t already know, (in fact the first episode seemed to sum up most of the topics discussed in this Journalism course), it’s not until the issues are pointed out by a group of thirty something comedic hooligans with no regard for, well anything, that it all becomes very real.

Hell, who needs a media enquiry when you have the Chaser team to point out all of our imperfections?

I think Sydney Morning Herald journalist Paul Kalina sums it up pretty well in his description of “a blowtorch to the media's coverage of news and current affairs” and i encourage everyone to tune in Wednesdays, 9.30pm on ABC1.