Australia's ABC has removed two more programs reported by former Four Corners journalist Mahmood Fazal and edited out a segment he contributed to a third, following a review that found the broadcaster's verification policies for anonymous interviewees were not followed to its required editorial standard.
ABC pulls two more Fazal episodes, edits third over anonymous source policy failures
Australia's ABC has removed two more programs reported by former Four Corners journalist Mahmood Fazal and edited out a segment he contributed to a third, following a review that found the broadcaster's verification policies for anonymous interviewees were not followed to its required editorial standard.
Fazal's employment was terminated in May after an ABC investigation into his appearance on a podcast with a former underworld figure, ABC managing director Hugh Marks confirmed at a Senate estimates hearing that month.
Prior to the latest removals, three of Fazal's programs had already been withdrawn: Four Corners episodes Cocaine Nation and Meth Highway were removed due to accuracy concerns, and a Background Briefing audio program titled Remy was 12 when she became a drug dealer was removed in July.
The ABC said it completed a review of anonymous interviewees across all stories Fazal reported for Four Corners and Background Briefing, which identified concerns with three further programs. The two programs now removed are the Four Corners episode Silent Orders and the Background Briefing episode Meet the teens at the frontline of organised crime.
A short segment contributed by Fazal in the Four Corners episode The Postcode Wars, in which he said he visits a drug 'trap house', has been edited out. The ABC said the remainder of that episode meets its editorial standards and will remain available online with an editor's note.
Fazal, a former member of the Mongols bikie club, is described as an award-winning journalist whose reporting has appeared in VICE, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Monthly, and The Saturday Paper.
Earlier in July, the ABC announced its head of investigations and current affairs, Jo Puccini, was leaving the public broadcaster after a 25-year career. Puccini had oversight of Four Corners and Background Briefing. Other senior managers at the ABC at the time of Fazal's reporting have also since left the broadcaster.
- The source does not state the specific nature of the verification concerns identified in each of the three newly affected programs.
- The source does not state whether Fazal has responded publicly to this latest round of removals.
- The source does not state what, if any, disciplinary or editorial review process applied to the managers who oversaw Fazal's reporting while they remained at the ABC.
- The source does not state whether any of the anonymous interviewees in the removed programs have been contacted by the ABC as part of its review.
- The source does not state whether any awards Fazal received relate to the programs that have now been removed.
Read the original at ABC News Australia