ABC boss apologises to Heston Russell following independent review into war crime reporting

An independent review of ABC war crime reporting that sparked criticism for editing gunshot footage has found the broadcaster failed in its duty to its audience.

The head of the ABC has apologised to a former special forces commando and his regiment after the national broadcaster revealed it had added gunshots to a footage used in a war crimes story.

An independent review of an ABC 7.30 report has found the broadcaster’s legal department simply failed to pass on a letter warning of serious “discrepancies” after the story had aired.

The review, carried out by former ABC staffer Alan Sunderland, had been tasked with investigating the editorial process of the Lines of Fire series before it aired in September 2022, and whether the ABC were aware of any complaints with its contents.

In November 2024, a Channel 7 Spotlight story said the broadcaster had edited helmet-cam footage of a mission, adding multiple gunshots, in a report where Walkley Award-winning journalist Mark Willacy speculated Australian troops had broken the rules of war.

ABC Investigations reporter Mark Willacy had his reporting questioned over its accuracy. Picture: Newswire /Gaye Gerard

After the claims were first aired by Spotlight, the ABC acknowledged its mistake and launched an independent review, with the final report being tabled in parliament on Thursday.

In a public statement, ABC managing director David Anderson issued apologies to those who were falsely depicted in the stories.

“The ABC has already apologised and expressed regret for the editing errors, including to the members of the 2nd Commando Regiment,” Mr Anderson said.

“The video was removed as soon as journalists became aware of the errors.

“The ABC has also apologised to Mr Hamilton for not providing proper context and potentially misleading audiences in relation to one comment by him.

“I would like to extend these apologies for the lapses in our processes to our audience.

“We hold ourselves to high standards and are committed to not repeating such errors in the future.

“Finally, I apologise to Heston Russell and other members of the 2nd Commando Regiment for the impact of these shortcomings.

“The Line of Fire reports did not name or allege any wrongdoing by Mr Russell; however, he has made public criticisms of the stories in his capacity as a former member of 2nd Commando Regiment.”

Heston Russell won a defamation case against the ABC over their reporting. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

Mr Sunderland had investigated when the ABC first become aware of any potential problems with the stories contents, or complaints about the editing of the helmet-cam footage, and what actions, if any, were taken in response.

In his findings, Mr Sunderland said that ABC journalists only became aware of the potential problems in the lead up to the broadcast of the Channel 7 Spotlight program, which aired in September 2024.

“They immediately took action to acknowledge the editing error and remove the content, pending this more complete and detailed review,” Mr Sunderland said.

The review did find that ABC Legal had been notified in November 2022 about concerns the helmet footage had been edited, but this correspondence was seemingly not passed on to ABC editorial.

“ABC Legal was notified of concerns about the editing of the helmet-cam footage in November 2022, when the issue was raised in correspondence connected with legal proceedings concerning separate stories to the Line of Fire stories,” Mr Sunderland said.

“That correspondence was overlooked and not passed on to ABC News for separate consideration.”

Mr Sunderland said through his investigation, where he interviewed many unnamed ABC staff members involved in the editing process, he could not find any evidence any ABC staff member aimed to mislead the public in their reporting.

“There is strong evidence of rigorous and thorough journalism in the preparation of the Line of Fire stories,” Mr Sunderland said.

“There is also no evidence that anyone at the ABC – from the reporter to the video editor to the producer and to all those involved at higher levels in the ABC News and Legal divisions – deliberately doctored, falsified, manipulated or distorted information, material or evidence in order to mislead audiences.

“On the contrary, there was significant care taken to ensure the stories were checked, discussed, reviewed and upwardly referred.

“It is all the more disappointing, therefore, that through a combination of reasons, the stories contained flaws which in my view undermined their accuracy and their impact, and had the potential to mislead audiences.”

Managing director of the ABC, David Anderson, says he accepts all the recommendations of the review. Picture by Damian Shaw / Newswire

Mr Anderson said the ABC accepted all seven recommendations made by Mr Sunderland and “has begun implementing them”.

“I would like to thank Mr Sunderland for his conscientious and thorough work on this review,” Mr Anderson said.

“The Line of Fire stories at the centre of the review reported on a number of matters of public importance regarding the alleged conduct of Australian soldiers.

“The ABC stands by the vital importance of its investigations.

“However, while our reporting was in the public interest, the report has identified failures of process. This is a matter of sincere regret.

“The recommendations from Mr Sunderland’s review will strengthen our processes and will help ensure we can avoid such outcomes in the future.”

Originally published as ABC boss apologises to Heston Russell following independent review into war crime reporting