IN A modest house in the Melbourne suburb of Thornbury, the latest salvo in the war against tyranny has just been fired. Episode six of Rap News, titled WikiLeaks' Cablegate: The truth is out there, has been watched more than 236,000 times since being posted to YouTube on December 17, and planning for the next assault is well under way.

Rap News is the handiwork of Hugo Farrant, 30, and Giordano Nanni, 32, and its mix of politically charged analysis, comical impersonations and hip-hop beats has found a dedicated and rapidly growing audience in the 12 months since it was born out of a chance encounter at a barbecue in the inner-northern suburb.

But while the duo are constantly told their bulletins - filmed and recorded in Nanni's lounge room using borrowed gear - are ''good enough for TV'', Nanni says they have no plans to leave the internet any time soon.

''There's this idea the internet is a springboard to get on to TV, but I think it has to be the other way around,'' Nanni says.