‘False’: War Memorial calls out ABC over Last Post edit
The Australian War Memorial alleges footage in an ABC Four Corners episode gives the “false impression” construction work occurred during the sounding of the Last Post.
TV
Don't miss out on the headlines from TV. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Australian War Memorial have made a complaint to the ABC after it was “disappointed” to discover an episode of its Four Corners program gave the “false impression” construction work had occurred during the sounding of the Last Post ceremony.
As first reported by The Daily Telegraph, the edit is one of several complaints the Australian War Memorial have made to ABC Chairman Kim Williams.
In the episode ‘Sacrifice’, which aired on March 10, the sound of Last Post ceremony is heard playing in the background as reporter Mark Willacy says: “This place of commemoration is also a construction site”.
The clip then cuts to footage of construction work and the sound of noisy machinery as the Last Post continues to play out.
The memorial is being renovated as part of a controversial $500 million upgrade announced by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison. In the episode, Willacy, notes the memorial has “become a battleground, fought over by those who want it to expand and evolve, and by those who warn that it’s being turned into a half-a-billion-dollar military theme park that celebrates, rather than commemorates war.”
The Australian War Memorial Director, Matt Anderson PSM, told news.com.au there were no construction workers working on the day of the Last Post.
“We were disappointed to see the ABC’s Four Corners broadcast footage which added construction noise over the sounding of The Last Post,” Mr Anderson said.
“It gave a false impression that construction noise occurred simultaneously to the sounding of The Last Post. There was no construction teams working on the day the Last Post Ceremony was filmed by Four Corners as it was Remembrance Day. The Australian War Memorial has had a stop work order since 2020 to prevent construction noise from disrupting commemorative ceremonies including the daily Last Post Ceremony.”
Mr Anderson said the memorial has made a written complaint to ABC’s Chairman “regarding the misrepresentation of staff and activities” in the episode.
“The audio edit is one of several complaints we have asked to be investigated,” he added, noting the complaint process has not yet concluded.
News.com.au understands the ABC was granted access to film at the memorial across several months, with the Last Post Ceremony filmed on November 11, 2024.
An ABC spokesperson said: “There is no implication in the program that the ceremony and the construction are occurring simultaneously.”
“There is a clear break in scene between the ceremony and the footage of the construction site. Both the ceremony and the Last Post are presented respectfully and in context. The ABC stands by this important piece of public interest reporting by Mark Willacy and the Four Corners team.”
It comes after the national broadcaster was accused last year of doctoring a soldier’s helmet footage in an investigative piece on alleged Australian war crimes in Afghanistan.
The 15-second clip aired by the ABC in 2022 appeared to show an Australian soldier firing six shots at two men from a helicopter. Ex-special forces commander whose helmet captured the footage in 2012, Heston Russell, accused the ABC of adding in extra gunshots.
Channel 7 first published that the clip had been altered.
A spokesperson for the ABC told NewsWire last year it “removed the online video where an error has been identified”.
“The ABC is seeking more information on how this occurred,” the spokesperson said.
They added that ABC journalists Jo Puccini, Josh Robertson, and Mark Willacy – the same journalist heard in the Four Corners clip – who were involved in the original reporting, “had no role in the production and editing of the online video”.
“Any suggestion that they have acted inappropriately or unethically is completely false,” the spokesperson said.
A review conducted by journalist Alan Sunderland found “no evidence that anybody, at any stage, made a conscious or deliberate decision to introduce additional gunshots”.
“It appears to be an inadvertent consequence of attempts to create clean, accurate and effective sequences in the story,” Mr Sunderland said.
Originally published as ‘False’: War Memorial calls out ABC over Last Post edit
‘Best thing for us’: Bartholomew on living apart from her husband
Sunrise TV presenter Edwina Bartholomew has opened up about how her cancer diagnosis has reshaped her outlook on life and why she only sees her husband on weekends.
Shows you don’t want to miss this week
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey make their highly-anticipated return in post-apocalyptic drama The Last Of Us while Australia’s Jacob Elordi plays a POW in The Narrow Road To The Deep North.