Seven launch internal investigation over incorrectly naming the wrong Bondi killer on Weekend Sunrise
Statements have been taken from Sunrise staff including presenter Matt Shirvington to find out how the wrong man was named as the Bondi Junction killer on air.
Seven Network has launched an internal investigation to determine which editorial staff at Weekend Sunrise are responsible for allowing the wrong man to be named as the Westfield Bondi Junction mass murderer multiple times on air.
Sources have told The Australian statements have been taken from all staff involved in the Sunday, April 14 broadcast that was headed up by presenters Monique Wright and Michael Usher and resulted in one of the station’s highest-profile stars – Matt Shirvington – wrongly naming Sydney university student Benjamin Cohen as the culprit.
The program falls under the remit of the network’s director of news and public affairs Craig McPherson and director of morning television Sarah Stinson.
Naomi Tan was the Weekend Sunrise supervising producer on April 14 when the wrong name was aired multiple times, but it has not yet been determined exactly who made the disastrous error to label Mr Cohen as the culprit and not 40-year-old Queensland man Joel Cauchi.
Mr Cohen is a 20-year-old first-year student at the University of Technology, Sydney, and was named on air by both Shirvington and reporter Lucy McLeod on April 14.
It is understood that the producers involved in putting together a script for a package on the Bondi Junction murders admitted to the wrong man being named, and the investigation process is focused on two news producers on the early morning news shift.
Mr Cohen’s image and name began circulating on social media platforms including X, formerly Twitter, hours after the murders occurred, but police had not yet released the name of the armed killer.
Editorial staff at Seven have since been reminded of strict editorial processes that apply following the mistake, which has resulted in Mr Cohen hiring law firm Giles George and seeking an apology, compensation and costs for serious harm caused by being named as the killer.
Under the NSW Defamation Act, damages of up to $459,000 can be sought.
On April 14 at 6.05am a package aired with voiceover from Shirvington who said the killer was “40-year-old Benjamin Cohen, dressed in a Kangaroos ARL jersey”, who was “shot and killed by a brave female officer.”
Mr Cohen was again named as the killer in a live cross 10 minutes later with reporter Lucy McLeod, who also told viewers he was the murderer.
The murderer, Cauchi, was named by NSW assistant commissioner Anthony Cooke at a televised press conference at 8.34am on Sunday.
A video was also posted on April 14 on 7NEWS Australia’s YouTube account which has 1.66 million subscribers and had Wright and Usher talking about the killings – underneath was a caption that also wrongly named Mr Cohen as the killer.
The video already had thousands of views online, and it was removed minutes after The Australian asked questions about how the network had come to name the wrong man underneath the clip.
A Seven spokesman said last week the mistakes were due to “human error”.
Wright, Usher and Shirvington were on air until about midday on Sunday – Usher returned about 1pm that day – but an apology was not read out by any of the high-profile presenters.
Instead, journalist Sarah Jane Bell read the apology from her phone at 2.34pm – more than eight hours after the errors were broadcast.
Bell told viewers: “One last thing, earlier this morning in reports of the incident, it incorrectly named the perpetrator as Benjamin Cohen.
“It was later confirmed that the name of the 40-year-old was Joel Cauchi from Queensland.
“Seven apologises for any distress caused by our earlier reports.”
Usher responded: “Yes, that’s an important correction, thanks for doing that Sarah Jane.”
Mr Cohen told The Australian last week the airing of his name as a murderer was “highly distressing”.
“It’s extremely disappointing to me to see people mindlessly propagating misinformation like this without even the slightest thought put into fact checking,” he said.
“But what’s even more disappointing to me is a major news network doing this, using my name without waiting for a statement from police to verify this or going out to try and verify it themselves.”
Seven were contacted but would not comment.
More Coverage
Tonagh quits ABC board early
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and an independent panel will now need to find a replacement for the ABC’s deputy chairman just months out from a federal election.
The Australian’s 50 Best Photos of 2024
From the US election to the Paris Olympics, from natural disasters to wars, and from tragedies to triumphs, as well as the 60th Anniversary of The Australian, 2024 was the best of times and worst of times.