ABC ignored ‘multiple’ warnings on Afghanistan war story

The ABC was notified multiple times – not just once, as it has claimed – about serious errors in its coverage of an operation involving Australian soldiers in Afghanistan in 2012, but failed to address the problems.

Clockwise from main: Heston Russell, Mark Willacy, Josh Robertson, David Anderson, Rebekah Giles.

The ABC was notified multiple times – not just once, as it has claimed – about serious errors in its coverage of a military operation involving Australian soldiers in Afghanistan in 2012 but failed to address the problems, raising fresh concerns about the editorial rigour of the broadcaster’s news and current affairs division.

On Friday, ABC managing director David Anderson issued a public statement in which he made the extraordinary admission that the organisation’s legal team did not pass on information relating to an audio error that suggested a November platoon soldierfired six shots at unarmed civilians in the course of the battle in the war-torn country in 2012.

Mr Anderson said the letter about the audio was sent to ABC Legal on November 2022.

Former November platoon commander Heston Russell issued defamation proceedings on September 8, 2022, two weeks before the story was first published by the public broadcaster online and on the 7.30 program.

But The Australian can reveal that in addition to the issues with the audio of the gunfight, the ABC was also warned as far back as October 2022 – and then again in November 2022 – that aspects of the video footage used by the public broadcaster in its stories about the military operation were also problematic. A letter (seen by The Australian) sent by Mr Russell’s lawyer Rebekah Giles directly to the ABC’s head of disputes and litigation, Alessandra Steele, on November 29, 2022, outlines issues with both the video and audio footage of Mr Russell’s involvement in the skirmish.

“The soldier fires one round, which is clearly audible over the music that is also playing in the (helicopter footage) video,” the letter states.

The footage that went to air on the ABC depicts the Australian soldier shooting six shots instead of one at an unarmed civilian.

Mr Russell maintains the footage does not show him shooting from the helicopter.

The same November 29 letter outlines issues with the video content, including that it is “zoomed in, making two people on the ground appear closer to the helicopter”, and requests that the ABC provide “edited versions of the helicopter footage and further helicopter footage.”

During correspondence throughout the defamation action taken by Mr Russell against the ABC, Ms Giles outlined issues with the footage that aired in reports on ABC’s flagship news and current affairs program 7.30 from the 2012 military operation. Ms Giles said in her letter sent on November 29 that the audio accompanying the helicopter footage “appears to have been edited to add additional rounds which are not audible in the post-deployment video”.

She followed up again with Ms Steele on February 23 last year in further written correspondence as part of the court proceedings outlining issues that she described as “serious and false allegations” against Mr Russell.

Last Friday Mr Anderson conceded in a statement that information was given to the ABC’s legal department two years ago “raising concerns about the audio editing” but “regrettably” it was never passed on.

“I am now commissioning an independent review of the issues that have been raised with the online and broadcast story to fully understand what has occurred and make any necessary recommendations,” Mr Anderson said.

The doctored audio aired in a 2022 story dubbed “Line of Fire” that ran across two nights on the 7.30 program on September 20 and 21, and was headed by ­reporters Mark Willacy and Josh Robertson. One week ago, the Seven Network’s investigative program Spotlight revealed the issues surrounding the doctored audio involving Mr Russell which, the soldier argued, was a misrepresentation of what took place.

The ABC has not yet announced who will conduct the independent review into the matter. On Sunday, federal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the ABC is not “beyond ­scrutiny”.

“It is concerning that this has taken some time to emerge,” she told Sky News Australia.

“My understanding is the investigation is not yet complete, and while this is being done independently, which is a positive thing, the ABC still needs to answer to the Australian public. It is not beyond scrutiny and it is an area where I have expressed on the record a concern for what has happened here.

“The ABC, while it is independent and it is our public broadcaster, it does not always get it right and it needs to own it.”

Mr Russell last year received $390,000 in damages plus legal costs over multiple stories that were published by the ABC about his alleged actions in Afghanistan.

Mr Russell was contacted for comment but did not respond.

The ABC would not comment.