Abc Australia Four Corners

Editorial tone

Incorruptible, thorough, authoritative. Four Corners is Australia's longest-running and most influential investigative TV format — on air since 1961. Tone is serious, factual, evidence-based. The programme exposes wrongdoing at all levels — from local council politics to international corporations. Research is meticulous, evidence must be solid. Four Corners has a long tradition of confrontational interviews and doesn't shy away from powerful adversaries. Storytelling is journalistically precise but accessible — Four Corners reaches a broad Australian mainstream audience on ABC TV. Reporters are experienced investigative journalists with their own reputations.

What this format covers

• ●Political corruption and abuse of power in Australia
• ●Corporate crime and corporate accountability
• ●Failures in public institutions (police, military, justice system)
• ●Environmental destruction — mining, coral reefs, climate change
• ●Rights of Indigenous Australians and colonial legacy
• ●Organised crime and terrorism
• ●Australia's role in geopolitics (China, Pacific Islands)
• ●Social policy — aged care, health, housing

What this format does NOT want

• ●Soft features or lifestyle topics
• ●Science documentaries without investigative core
• ●Nature and wildlife films (other ABC formats cover this)
• ●Historical documentaries without current relevance
• ●Purely international topics without Australian connection
• ●Auteur film or aesthetic documentaries
• ●Opinion formats or activism

Visual expectations

Journalistically professional at the highest Australian TV standard. Reporter-led on-the-ground investigation. Confrontational interviews. Documents, data and files visually presented. Victims on camera. Drone footage for Australian landscapes and environmental stories. Undercover footage when justified. Graphics for context. The look is professional-journalistic, not cinematic. Archive material used carefully.

Expected exposé structure

1. Title (clear, direct)
2. Logline (What is being exposed? Why is it in the public interest?)
3. The revelation — what's new?
4. Evidence — documents, witnesses, data
5. Victims — concrete cases
6. Those responsible — who profits? Who failed?
7. Australian relevance
8. Reporter and team with track record

Example productions

• Four Corners: The Killing Season (2015)
• Four Corners: Cash Cows (Internationale Studenten, 2019)
• Four Corners: Big Deal (Politische Spenden, 2022)
• Four Corners: A State of Fear (Jugendgefaengnisse, 2016)
• Four Corners: Dirty Power (Kohleindustrie, 2023)
• Four Corners: Inside the Canberra Bubble (2021)
• Four Corners: War Crimes (Australische Spezialeinheiten, 2020)
• Four Corners: The Great Barrier Reef (2019)