The Project host Sarah Harris has publicly apologised after the show mistakenly used footage from a different protest, inaccurately portraying a peaceful Pro-Palestinian rally as a violent event.
In Sunday night’s broadcast, Harris covered a Pro-Palestinian rally in Melbourne, where thousands of people marched in support of Palestine and Lebanon amid ongoing conflicts with Israel.
The largely peaceful demonstration featured speeches and included the names of children killed in Palestine over the past year, written on hundreds of paper kites placed on the ground outside the library.
However, the show’s coverage included dramatic footage showing protesters setting bins on fire and police wearing gas masks, helmets, and riot gear.
This footage was actually from a different event — a violent protest against a weapons expo that took place on September 11.
Harris made an on-air apology to viewers for the mischaracterisation of the rally.
‘We need to correct an error that went to air on Sunday night,’ Harris said.
‘Our story on a rally in Melbourne included several seconds of footage from a different protest altogether.
The Project co-host Sarah Harris issued an apology to viewers after the program aired the wrong footage showing a peaceful Pro-Palestinian rally as a violent protest
The Project used footage from a violent rally against a weapon expo in September and merged it with the largely peaceful protest over the weekend
‘This was a mistake and risked mischaracterising the events of the day and should never have happened.
‘It was not deliberate, and we apologise. We’re reviewing processes to make sure it doesn’t happen again.’
Mediawatch host Paul Barry called out the network for the blunder.
‘The project took footage from that arms expo protest and merged it into the pro-Palestinian rally.
‘And in doing so, completely misrepresented what took place. Sneaky, eh, or incompetent.’
In a statement, the network apologised for the blunder.
‘Archive footage was erroneously used within a report that aired on The Sunday Project about peaceful pro-Palestine protests.
‘Once this error was confirmed, the report was deleted from all platforms.
‘We sincerely apologise for any distress this may have caused viewers.’
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