The ABC admits it was warned it was running ‘doctored’ vision of an Australian soldier shooting at unarmed civilians in Afghanistan almost two years ago but ‘regrettably’ failed to act on the information.
The public broadcaster’s outgoing managing director, David Anderson, has now announced a full independent investigation into the scandal.
The taxpayer-funded organisation has been under siege since an audio expert claimed the sound of at least five gunshots were added to the footage to make it appear as though Australian soldiers were repeatedly firing at villagers rather than issuing a single warning shot.
The clip had accompanied an online report about alleged war crimes prepared by the ABC’s elite investigations unit but was taken down last week after Seven’s Spotlight program raised questions about the manipulated audio.
Mr Anderson acknowledged the ‘editing error’ late Friday while announcing the external probe.
‘Based on preliminary inspection, an editing error in the audio was identified and we have removed the video,’ Mr Anderson said in a statement.
‘This error should not have occurred.
‘Other allegations have subsequently been made about the ABC’s reporting and use of the helmet cam footage, including how it was edited in the 7.30 broadcast.’
ABC managing director David Anderson admits the public broadcaster was warned about the ‘doctored’ footage almost two years ago but that it was allowed to remain online
The ABC’s investigation centres on the apparent addition of five extra gunshots of an Australian soldier firing at an Afghan man during a 2012 operation
Although he said the concerns about the audio were only raised with ABC News for the first time last week, he confessed warnings had been sent to the broadcaster’s legal team almost two years ago.
‘It has now come to my attention that in November 2022, ABC Legal was sent a letter raising concerns about the audio editing,’ he said.
‘Regrettably, at no point was this letter, or the information in the letter, disseminated to ABC News.’
Independent forensic digital audio expert James Raper told Spotlight he believed audio of up to six gunshots had been ‘copied and pasted’ under the footage to make it appear more sinister.
The manipulated audio has sparked a furious backlash, with some critics accusing the ABC of deliberately denigrating the nation’s war heroes.
Mr Anderson said it was critical to pinpoint the source of the error in order to maintain the public’s trust in its journalism.
‘The ABC is subject to the highest scrutiny, as it should be, given the trust the public places in it.
‘Trust in the ABC has been built over time by providing outstanding journalism, upholding the strongest editorial standards and being transparent with the public about how we do that.
‘The ABC is committed to maintaining that trust.’
He said the independent review would attempt to ‘fully understand what has occurred and make any necessary recommendations’ going forward.
Mr Anderson defended the ‘public interest issues raised by the stories’ which ‘remain valid’ but clarified that the ABC has still removed the article ‘until further notice’.
More information on the review would be announced in the coming days as to who will be leading the investigation and its findings will be divulged at ‘an appropriate time’.
The footage was used in an online article and accompanying 7.30 report in September 2022 but has since been taken offline
Former ABC chairman Maurice Newman, 86, said the ABC had become a ‘self-serving collective’ since he left in 2012.
Mr Newman said the ‘latest revelation’ of doctored audio in an ABC report vindicates what he has been saying about the broadcaster for ‘a very long time’.
‘The ABC is a self-serving collective, which doesn’t let the truth stand in the way of a good story,’ the former chairman told the Herald Sun.
‘(It) has become the shameless megaphone of the Left and operates in defiance of its act, its charter, its editorial policies and the interests of a cohesive society.’
ABC News boss Justin Stevens says it appears the clip was ‘incorrectly edited’
He defended ABC investigations editor Jo Puccini, saying she was unaware of the footage
Mr Stevens says investigative journalist Mark Willacy had no knowledge of the clip either
ABC News boss Justin Stevens has fiercely defended the award-winning star journalists behind the investigative series – Jo Puccini, Mark Willacy and Josh Robertson – saying they had ‘no role in the production and editing’ of the clip.
‘A preliminary inspection suggests a section of audio was incorrectly edited,’ he said while delivering a speech on media trust and transparency at the Melbourne Press Club on Tuesday.
‘We removed the video and are still looking into how this happened. Once we have the full facts we will determine the appropriate response.
‘Until we have clarity on how it occurred, I won’t be making further comments about it, so as to not pre-empt that.’
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