The Chaser Report - Extra - Nature is Healing

Episode Date: September 7, 2020

A bear has broken into a convenience store in Lake Tahoe, California, and eaten chips on the floor. Dom Knight takes Nina Oyama and Charles Firth through what is (so far) the only good news story of 2020. Plus Rebecca De Unamuno with all the Chaser news a few days after it's happened.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Chaser Report, Global World International News Headlines update with Rebecca Dayunamuno. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has uploaded a fun video of himself on Father's Day, making a cubby house as the nation slowly collapses in on itself. Mr Morrison said he was handy with tools, mainly because he spent years working with Tony Abbott. Tony Abbott has expressed concern about his new role within the British Board of Trade after realising his new boss, Queen Elizabeth II, is a woman. Asked how he would go reporting to a woman, Mr Abbott used his trademark response to difficult questions

and just froze for a very, very, very long time. The investigation into war crimes by Australian soldiers has taken an unexpected turn after Special Forces soldiers were caught lip-sinking video footage of their favourite war crimes and posting it to TikTok. The soldiers involved denied they had, had inappropriately used classified material, pointing out that putting it on TikTok

was the perfect way to hide the footage from old fuddy-duddies who care about the Geneva Convention. That's the latest Chaser News. Check out more at chaser.com.com. And now it's time for Charles, Nina and Dom. Thanks, Beck. It's time to educate ourselves, Charles Nita.

As we head to journalism school. Yes, the media may be shedding jobs left, right and centre, but I'm going to train more people on how to become good journalists. Are you excited, Charles? Ooh, that sounds interesting. Finally. I'm going to teach you how to squeeze every drop of journalistic goodness from the ripe orange of a juicy story.

Although I feel like we're not the right audience for this. I feel like you should be teaching this to News Corp. Yeah, and anyway, isn't journalism dead? I thought it had already been killed. Not anymore. Because imagine you're excited. and if you're a young reporter on the make and you are given the juiciest story possible,

a bear has broken into a convenience store in Lake Tahoe, California and is eating chips on the floor and there's CCTV footage. That is the best possible new story in 2020. That's not a nice way to describe Charles Firth. But it is something he would do. I'll have you know the hairiest person in this room. is Dom, not me. And I do like snacks.

But the point being that viral video, that's basically as good as it gets in journalism in 2020. Oh, definitely. And I'm going to explain to you and any students listening how to sell this story. Now, first of all... But it sells itself, Dom. Oh, not like this.

Okay. First of all, you get the anchor to talk it up and really who wouldn't want to hear this story? Some incredible video of a frightening confrontation between bears and people inside Tahoe grocery stores. In one case, a bear even lunges at a store employee. Are you hooked? Yep.

I'm terrified. I'll stick around until after the ad break to watch it. So if you were the news director of this station, what's your next move? Go throw to an ad break because everyone's going to wait around. It's the news. You can't put ads in the news. Look, there aren't ads in the middle of the news story just yet. Oh, I go, right.

What they do to cover a viral video from a few days ago is a live cross. They sent a reporter out to stand in front of the very convenient store where the pre-recorded video took place. CBS 13, Steve Large, is live tonight in Kings Beach with this wild video, Steve. Yeah, bears in Lake Tahoe, certainly nothing new, but these videos are especially terrifying.

In fact, there was a bear that went into a safeway grocery store up here in Kings Beach last night. That same bear also walked into this gas station convenience store and was inside for 20 minutes. And the video's show the bears have been here before. It's part of a wider criminal conspiracy, guys. I'm thinking award-winning podcast in this. Definitely. What you're wanting, just as the viewer, is for this guy to be a take pub here.

That's the jeopardy. That's why they've sent them out there. I'm thinking the next step, interview a bear. Yes. Yes, that's good journalism. If only that were true. But what we will do is dive further into the chilling details. A series of surveillance videos show the crazy confrontations

between bears and people inside this Kings Beach gas station convenience store over the past three weeks. This one dated August 30th shows a bear lying on the floor eating candy and crackers. This video shows a bear inside the store, August 12th, followed by a customer swatting the bear's backside. Do you think that's a good maneuver when you see a bear in a store, swat it on the ass? It sounds like bears are just part of life in Lake Tahoe.

Is this the animal bear, not the bear, as in gay men that are very hairy? No, these are brown bears that could crush you in seconds. They're very, very scary. You would never, you would never just tap a bear on a back, on the back. Well, but he did. The guy didn't. That is unless you wanted to be on this show.

It's the show that will have you sit. Stay, laugh and beg for more. Welcome to funniest pets and people. Funniest pets and people. So my theory is that because this show exists, people in America have been trained to just sort of play with bears when they find them. How funny are these animals,

you may ask. A squirrel who hits the jackpot. The world's only styroferret. A duck whose quack is full of smack. I'm very curious about the styroferret. What is this styroferret? Didn't Graham Kennedy do this exact format about 20 years ago? I think so.

And it was pulled off TV halfway through. You can have it. You're thinking of Doug Mulray. Oh, that Doug Mulray was it, yeah. Australia's Naudius home video show. No, not quite. No. So, look, this is as good as it gets.

This content that can make it into a show like that. That's what we're aiming for. Anyway, back to journalism school. So it's a good idea at this point when you're reporting the amazing colour of a viral video to try and get an eyewitness or better still a victim of the bear to try and add a sense of high stakes, okay?

Be warned, though, that the people who you find in the field may not always be as good as conveying drama as you, the journal. And this video shows an employee trying to prevent a bear from entering this door until the bear makes a quick move forward

lunging at the employee who quickly backs away. That employee is Paul High. It was kind of scary, yeah, I'm not going to lie. So often you don't get gold when you do a field interview. But the thing to do in that scenario, just keep digging.

You'll get something eventually. Hi says this is not what he signed up for. Not in the job description, no, not at all. Fighting off bears was not in the job description. I mean, if it had been, would you have taken the job? Because I think I would have taken a job specifically if I got to fight a bear. I feel like it would be a good reason to work. And also, it's the perfect way to do it, isn't it?

Because, you know, you sort of go, job description, fighting off bears, and everyone laughs and then you get employed. It's in the fine print. And then it's like, no, no, really, you have to fight bears. So look, what do you do now? The talent wasn't great. You need someone else. What you'll do is you'll go to a local greenie type.

They're passionate. The local greenie will be passionate. And they'll defend the beer. Of course they will. Of course they will. They'll give it a bear hug. Here is a person who wants to defend the snacking bears. Hi says this is not what he's signed up for.

And Brian, with the Bear League, has reached out to both the gas station and the grocery. store about how to prevent more of these interactions. The bearer should not be going into buildings where there's people and someone could kill him or shoot him. Someone could kill the bear. I mean, very dramatic. Unfortunately, delivered by the most boring, sounding woman in the world. So your luck's pretty bad.

You pull it to slipping away from you. What do you do now? I mean, what this wonderful journalist did just start interviewing random yokels. Wild encounters captured on video. They're definitely smart. The bears are smart. Then all you need to do to make this a winning story is a snappy sign-off. Bold bears making for risky business.

There you go. That's how to be a winning journalist in 2020. And how long was that segment in total? The report was about two minutes. Pure gold. But of course, your real task, it doesn't matter what you say, as long as the viral video plays as many times as humanly possible. Wait, I think journalism actually is dead, guys.

It is dead. And I'm glad. For more from us, head to chaser.com. You can find it on Instagram and TikTok. And of course, here every Friday with the main update of the Chaser reporter, which there have been, what, 53, 54? Yeah, I am. Many, many updates.

I think it's basically the 100th episode next week. Don't forget to leave us a review and your code this time is risky business