A former ABC chairman has hit out at the national broadcaster as outrage grows over the addition of five extra gunshots to footage of an Australian soldier shooting an Afghan man.
Maurice Newman, 86, says the ABC, which he chaired for five years until 2012, has become a “selfish collective” after an audio expert claimed the extra shots had been added to footage of former commando Heston Russell.
Last year, Russell successfully sued the ABC and two investigative journalists for libel, alleging that stories gave viewers the false impression that he was being investigated for the shooting of an unarmed prisoner.
James Raper, an independent expert in digital forensics, told Channel Seven’s Spotlight that audio of six gunshots had been “copy-pasted” onto footage of a soldier firing on Afghan villagers in a 2022 ABC story about alleged war crimes.
The broadcaster said it had “removed the online video in which an error was identified based on a preliminary inspection of the audio”.
Mr Newman said the “latest revelation” of manipulated audio in an ABC report confirmed what he had been saying for “a very long time”.
“The ABC is a self-interested collective that won’t let the truth get in the way of a good story,” the former chairman told the Herald Sun.
‘(It) has become the shameless megaphone of the left, acting contrary to its actions, its statutes, its editorial policy and the interests of a cohesive society.’
Former ABC chairman Maurice Newman has accused the public broadcaster of becoming a “self-interested collective” and a “shameless megaphone of the left” in recent years
Original helmet camera video of the 2012 incident in Afghanistan shows a single warning shot about to be fired from a military helicopter — but in the ABC version, five additional shots are heard
Veteran broadcaster Neil Mitchell joined the chorus of voices demanding that the ABC justify the apparent lapse in journalistic standards.
“These allegations that ABC is faking Afghanistan videos are deeply disturbing. If true, heads need to roll,” Mitchell tweeted Monday.
‘ABC is accused of firing super-impressive gunshots at the sight to make it more dramatic. If that were to happen, it would be a huge breach of trust and ethics.
“They need to respond to this quickly.”
Stu McCarthy, a former Army officer who served in Afghanistan and Iraq during his 30-year tour of duty, called for dire consequences for what he called “bogus” reporting.
“I watched those stories when they first aired a number of years ago,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
‘I called them rubbish straight away – it was clear at the time that they were rubbish stories. Based on what I saw on Channel 7 last night, they were worse than rubbish – they were grotesque fabrications.’
Sarah Henderson, the opposition education spokesperson and a former ABC journalist, said the culture of the public broadcaster was being called into question.
“The ABC has very serious questions to answer,” Ms Henderson said.
‘There is something very wrong at the ABC that it could release such shocking, false allegations.
“There must be a full investigation into this matter, including allegations that a video has been tampered with.”
In October 2023, former commando Heston Russell (pictured) won his libel case against the ABC after a Federal Court judge ruled that the ABC failed to prove that the articles it published were reported in the public interest.
A spokesperson for Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said Australians expect the public broadcaster to act “transparently and responsibly”.
“However, as with any media organisation, the ABC does not always get it right. The ABC strives for continuous improvement, including through its complaints handling processes,” the spokesperson said.
Mr Raper told Spotlight he compared the ABC’s 15-second video, which shows six gunshots being fired from a helicopter, with original footage from a soldier’s helmet.
He said the evidence indicated that audio of additional shots was “copy-pasted” from another clip and applied to video of one warning shot.
“It gives a completely wrong picture of what those soldiers experienced that day,” the audio expert told the program.
The ABC told Spotlight it was ‘seeking more information about how this could have happened’.
“(ABC investigations editor) Jo Puccini, Mark Willacy and Josh Robertson had no role in the production or editing of the online video you brought to our attention,” the statement said.
“Any suggestion that they acted inappropriately or unethically is completely false.”
Veteran journalist and presenter Neil Mitchell (pictured) said the ABC has serious questions about the video
In late 2012, Russell was commander of November Platoon in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold.
Footage from the operation showed a gunman in the same helicopter as Russell firing a warning shot at a man who had been shooting at Australian soldiers minutes earlier.
“This guy was literally just on the back of a motorcycle with his buddy and was shooting at two of my teams that were on the ground,” Russell said.
When asked why the Afghan man was not shot, Russell replied: “Most of our missions derive their greatest value from capturing insurgents.”
“After the warning shot, this insurgent ran into a compound and the drone saw him bend over and pick up something. He picked up something that looked like a weapon,” he continued.
“And you hear me say to my soldier, ‘Shoot him, shoot him.’ If we listen carefully, you will hear it, you will see it. That is the footage of my man shooting him in the compound.”
After the warning shot, the Afghan man was no longer armed when he was next seen.
“My signalman sees him, sees he is unarmed and instead of shooting (even though I have already given him permission to shoot), he tells him to stop and get out,” Mr Russell said.
Former Commander Heston Russell to appear in NSW Federal Court in July 2023
The footage shows the reaction of an American soldier on board, who throws his hands in the air in question.
“Knowing that I gave him permission to kill him,” Mr. Russell said.
My soldier could have committed murder, gotten a notch in his belt.
“But instead my soldier decided to save a life… knowing we were going to land and try to capture this guy.”
In October 2023, Mr Russell won his defamation case after a federal court judge ruled that the ABC failed to prove that the articles it published were in the public interest.
These stories, written and produced by journalists Mark Willacy and Josh Robertson, aired on television, radio and online in October 2020 and on November 19, 2021.
The defamation case is estimated to have cost taxpayers around $3.5 million in legal fees, in addition to the nearly $400,000 in damages paid to Mr Russell.
The shooting was not part of Mr Russell’s libel case as the story about it was published by the ABC during his trial.
The Daily Mail has asked the ABC for comment.
