ABC managing director David Anderson has commissioned an independent review of the broadcaster’s 2022 coverage of an Australian operation in Afghanistan after more allegations were made about the reporting and the editing of the footage used.
On Monday the ABC admitted a video clip of Australian troops firing from a helicopter in Afghanistan in 2012 was “incorrectly edited” and it was investigating how the error was made.
On Friday Anderson said further claims had come to light and a review was necessary to understand what happened.
“Other allegations have subsequently been made about the ABC’s reporting and use of the helmet cam footage, including how it was edited in the 7.30 broadcast,” Anderson said.
The ABC is yet to name who will conduct the external review.
The allegations, made by former commando Heston Russell in an interview with Seven’s Spotlight program, concern an online article and 7.30 story by Mark Willacy from the ABC’s Investigations unit.
Willacy is one of the ABC’s most experienced journalists, with seven Walkley awards to his name including a Gold Walkley in 2020 for exposing alleged war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
The stories in question, which centred on operations by the 2nd commando regiment during a 2012 deployment in Afghanistan, included helmet cam footage captured by the commandos.
“It has now come to my attention that in November 2022, ABC Legal was sent a letter raising concerns about the audio editing,” Anderson said. “Regrettably, at no point was this letter, or the information in the letter, disseminated to ABC News.”
Guardian Australia understands the letter was sent to the ABC’s lawyers by Russell’s solicitor Rebecca Giles who was representing him in his defamation suit against the ABC.
Russell won the case and was awarded $390,000 after a federal court judge found the public broadcaster did not prove its reporting was in the public interest.
Justice Michael Lee found that Willacy and his colleague Josh Robertson had not established the public interest defence.
Lee said he had no doubt Willacy “believed the publication of the matter was in the public interest” but “his belief was not reasonable in the circumstances”.
Anderson said the ABC is subject to the highest scrutiny, given it enjoys the public’s trust.
“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,” he said. “The ABC is committed to maintaining that trust.”
Anderson and the broadcaster’s news director, Justin Stevens, have backed the journalists involved in the stories. They said earlier ABC Investigations head Jo Puccini, Willacy and Robertson “had no role in the production and editing of the online video”.
“The public interest issues raised by the stories remain valid,” Anderson said.
On Sunday Seven accused the ABC of adding gunshot sounds to a video which accompanied the online story and alleged raw footage of the incident shows that one shot from a helicopter became six shots in the ABC video.
The original video did contain audio of both one shot and six shots but the edited video transposed the six shots.
The ABC has removed the full online article and associated video content until further notice.
