EXCLUSIVE
The star journalist behind the ABC’s scandal-plagued war crimes reporting was so defensive about his work he got into an awkward bathroom bust-up with one of the broadcaster’s biggest names after he criticised the series on air.
The revelation comes amid fresh allegations the ABC ignored repeated warnings that it was running doctored vision of an Australian soldier supposedly shooting at unarmed civilians as part of the series and ignored calls to address the concerns.
Seven’s Spotlight program broke the scandal last month after an audio expert told chief reporter Liam Bartlett that the sound of at least five gunshots had been added to the footage to make it appear as though the soldier was repeatedly firing at villagers rather than issuing a single warning shot.
The ABC’s news bosses have said the offending vision was removed from its website on September 13 after Spotlight alerted them to the ‘error’ for the first time in the days leading up to its report.
However, Daily Mail Australia can reveal Bartlett actually raised concerns about ‘the wrongly edited shooting sequences’ with the ABC as far back as June 4, only to be dismissed by the broadcaster because it did not approve of Seven’s standard of journalism.
In an embarrassing about-face, the ABC has since been forced to admit the vision had been ‘incorrectly edited’ and launched an independent inquiry into how the footage ended up being included in an online report by its elite investigations unit.
The ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, has also had to admit the broadcaster’s legal department was separately warned about the doctored vision almost two years ago but ‘regrettably’ failed to act on the information.
Award-winning investigative journalist Mark Willacy had a ‘disagreement’ with fellow ABC star Paul Barry in the broadcaster’s male toilets over on-air criticism of his journalism
Barry told his Media Watch viewers in December 2021 he had ‘a problem with Willacy’s story’
The scandal has sparked fierce backlash against the ABC amid accusations the video was deliberately used to denigrate the nation’s war veterans and falsely accuse them of committing war crimes.
Although the ABC’s news boss, Justin Stevens, said he did not want to ‘pre-empt’ the outcome of the independent review, he has defended the star journalist behind the series, saying Mark Willacy was unaware of the clip and played no role in the manipulation.
Willacy has also categorically denied any suggestion he directed or authorised any change to the audio of the vision included in his story.
It comes amid revelations Willacy was involved in an altercation with the host of the broadcaster’s Media Watch program, Paul Barry, after the presenter criticised some of the Walkley Award-winning journalist’s war crimes reporting on his show.
The Daily Telegraph revealed the stoush between Willacy and Paul Barry occurred in the men’s toilets at the ABC’s Ultimo headquarters in Sydney in December 2021 after the Media Watch presenter told his viewers he had a ‘problem with Willacy’s story’.
The ABC scandal centres on the apparent addition of five extra gunshots of an Australian soldier firing at an Afghan man during a 2012 operation
Sources told the newspaper that Willacy was ‘furious’ with Barry’s public condemnation of his work and that their run-in was widely ‘spoken about in the corridors’ of the ABC.
Barry confirmed he ‘had a minor disagreement’ with Willacy following the segment but told the Daily Telegraph it was ‘no big deal’.
Willacy’s investigations editor, Jo Puccini, also complained about Barry’s public take-down and wrote to the Media Watch team in February 2022 calling for an on-air correction.
Media Watch’s then executive producer, Tim Latham, dismissed her concerns, replying: ‘I understand that you feel bruised by the criticism and feel it’s unfair, but I’m afraid this complaint is not going to fly.’
Willacy then fired back: ‘You were wrong, and you have offered absolutely nothing to validate the key premise of your segment. Please let us know whether you will take this complaint seriously. If not, we will escalate it further.’
The footage was used in an online article and accompanying 7.30 report in September 2022 but has since been taken offline
Puccini and Willacy then escalated their complaint to ABC management, saying: ‘Media Watch hasn’t taken (our complaint) seriously. It has brushed us off and failed to answer the basic questions we posed’.
The Daily Telegraph revealed that, in later correspondence, Willacy told colleagues that ‘Media Watch had f…ed up.’
The story at the centre of the saga was ultimately removed from the broadcaster’s website after the ABC and Willacy lost an ensuing defamation battle brought by retired special forces commander Heston Russell.
The ABC has been approached for comment on why it ignored the initial warnings about the doctored vision, and whether it had any response to the revelations about Willacy’s bathroom blow up at Barry.
Anderson has defended the ‘public interest issues raised by the [Willacy’s] stories’ and said the ABC had taken down the article containing the doctored vision pending the outcome of the inquiry.
He said the investigation was critical 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.
ABC News boss Justin Stevens says it appears the clip was ‘incorrectly edited’ but has fiercely rejected any suggestion that Willacy played any role in manipulating the offending footage
‘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.’
In October 2023, decorated war veteran Heston Russell won a defamation case against the ABC over its war crimes coverage after a Federal Court judge ruled the broadcaster could not prove articles it published were in the public interest.
Those stories, written and produced by journalists Willacy and Josh Robertson, aired on television, radio and online in October 2020 and on November 19, 2021.
The defamation case is estimated to have cost taxpayers up to $3.5million in legal fees on top of the almost $400,000 in damages paid to Mr Russell.
The shooting sequence was not part of the defamation case taken by Mr Russell as the story about it was published by the ABC during his trial.
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