Shot, Chaser
About
Shot, Chaser refers to a copypasta template, which allows people to present a piece of hard or bad news, generally in the form of a quote or headline, as the "shot," and a piece of funny or contradictory news as the "chaser," a palate cleanser used to ease the news of the shot.
Origin
The phrase takes its name from the act of drinking a shot of alcohol with a chaser, something used to cleanse the mouth from the taste of alcohol. In the context of journalism, the earliest known iteration comes from The National Journal's The Hotline feature.[1] The feature started in 1987, but a running column called "Last Call," Hotline's final news round up feature of the day, founded in August 7th, 1998,[2] became known for its "Shot… Chaster…" segments, a humorous way of presenting news. The earliest example found on Internet Archive "The Wayback Machine" is from August 21st, 2008.[3]
Spread
In 2011, the National Journal required paid membership to read the magazine, and by proxy, "Last Call." Currently, the Journal has more than 1,000 members.[6] On February 1st, 2013, The National Journal canceled "Last Call!"[4] However, "Shot… Chaser…" did find a new home at Hotline's "Wake-Up Call." Hotline editor Kyle Trygstad posted an example on Twitter, regarding Kellyanne Conway's potential conflict of interest by asking Fox News viewers to support President Donald Trump daughter's clothing brands in March 2017.[5]
"Shot, Chaser" has been a popular posting format on Twitter since 2009. On Twitter, people generally post Shot, Chasers with links. Some of the earliest variations date back as far as 2010.
Twitter user @BraddJaffy tweeted one of the most popular examples (shown below) on May 16th, 2017. His caption "shot/chaser" pointed out contradictory actions by the Trump White House, asking Israeli officials not to share info and Trump sharing intelligence with Russians officials.[7] The tweet received more than 800 retweets 900 likes in 24 hours.
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] Wikipedia – The Hotline
[2] Politico – 78 days – Jason Furman, Trude B. Feldman birthdays – Hotline’s 'Last Call' is 10
[3] Internet Archive – Last Call!
[4] National Journal – Last Call for National Journal’s ‘Last Call!’
[5] The Washington Post – ‘Go buy Ivanka’s stuff,’ Kellyanne Conway said. Then the first daughter’s fashion sales exploded.
[6] National Journal – About National Journal
[7] Twitter – @BraddJaffy's Tweet
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