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The ABC has announced there will be an independent review into a 2022 story that included an “editing error in the audio” of helmet cam footage captured by commandos.
Channel Seven’s Spotlight program on ex-commando Heston Russell accused the ABC of adding the sound of five extra gunshots into a video clip of Australian troops firing from a helicopter in Afghanistan.
ABC managing director David Anderson said an “issue with the audio on a video accompanying the online story” was brought to the attention of ABC News last week.
Since then, based on preliminary inspection, “an editing error in the audio” had been identified and the video was removed, he said.
“This error should not have occurred,” Mr Anderson said.
The video, recorded by Australian commandos in Afghanistan’s Helmand province in 2012 and aired by 7.30 in September 2022, was removed from the ABC News website ahead of last Sunday’s Spotlight program and on Friday the ABC removed the full online story it appeared in.
The ABC Investigations team story raised questions over the conduct of the 2nd Commando Regiment in Afghanistan, focusing on allegations of kill counts and the use of enemy casualty numbers as a measure of performance.
An image from one of the videos contained in the story shows the commandos discussing a quota.
The ABC investigation said it had obtained hours of commando operations in Afghanistan over 2011 and 2012, and highlighted a video it said showed a soldier firing his assault rifle from a moving helicopter at what appeared to be unarmed civilians in residential compounds.
In one of the clips, the story alleged an Afghan man could be seen ducking and trying to find cover as the commando fired his weapon from the helicopter above.
The Spotlight allegations and subsequent media coverage prompted ABC News director Justin Stevens to address the issue in a speech to the Melbourne Press Club on Tuesday.
Mr Stevens said that “mistakes are certainly made” at the ABC and the national broadcaster “must admit when we can do better”.
“We removed the video and are still looking into how this happened. Once we have the full facts we will determine the appropriate response,” Mr Stevens told the audience regarding the helmet cam footage.
“Until we have clarity on how it occurred, I won’t be making further comments about it, so as to not pre-empt that.”
ABC News director Justin Stevens addressed the issue earlier this week.
Head of independent review to be announced in coming days
Other allegations have since been made about the ABC’s reporting and its use of the helmet cam footage, including how it was edited for broadcast in the 7.30 program, Mr Anderson added.
“It has now come to my attention that in November 2022, ABC Legal was sent a letter raising concerns about the audio editing. Regrettably, at no point was this letter, or the information in the letter, disseminated to ABC News,” he said.
“The ABC is subject to the highest scrutiny, as it should be, given the trust the public places in it.
“Trust in the ABC has been built over time by providing outstanding journalism, upholding the strongest editorial standards and being transparent with the public about how we do that. The ABC is committed to maintaining that trust.”
Mr Anderson did not specify who was behind the letter received by the ABC’s legal department.
Anderson said he would announce who is heading the independent review in the coming days, but stood by the public interest in the ABC’s reporting.
“The public interest issues raised by the stories remain valid,” he said.
Last year, Mr Russell was awarded $390,000 in damages in his defamation case against the ABC, after a judge rejected the broadcaster’s public interest defence.
Mr Russell told the Channel Seven program the ABC was “happy to jump to a conclusion from 15 seconds of footage”.