ABC removes content from three more stories by sacked reporter Mahmood Fazal

The ABC has removed three more pieces of content by sacked bikie turned journalist Mahmood Fazal because of concerns over his use of anonymous interviewees.

Sally Neighbour, a former Four Corners executive producer, alleged in the Monthly that “an associate of Fazal played different roles in different stories, disguised behind a mask”.

Media Watch echoed that claim.

Two Four Corners episodes, Meth Highway (2024) and Cocaine Nation (2023), were taken down in July amid concerns about the “veracity” of Fazal’s sources.

Fazal said at the time that he stood by his reporting, and that he could not answer the allegations without revealing “confidential contributors, sensitive news-gathering methods or private editorial processes”.

In a statement on Monday, the ABC said it had reviewed the use of anonymous interviewees in all of Fazal’s stories for Four Corners and Background Briefing and identified three more issues.

“Three further stories of concern have been identified: Four Corners episode ‘Silent Orders’, Background Briefing episode ‘Meet the teens at the frontline of organised crime’ and a short segment contributed by Mr Fazal in the Four Corners episode ‘Post Code Wars’ in which he says he visits a drug ‘trap house’,” the statement said.

“The review found that in each of these cases ABC verification policies concerning the use of anonymous interviewees were not followed to a level that meets our editorial standards.

“Therefore, in order to ensure complete confidence in published content, we have taken the decision to remove them.”

The full two episodes – Silent Orders and Meet the teens – were taken down, and the segment was removed from Postcode Wars.

The national broadcaster sacked Fazal – a former serjeant at arms for the Mongols outlaw bikie gang – in May after investigating his appearance on a podcast. He had initial approval to appear but that was withdrawn because of its sponsorship by an online casino.

This latest decision is separate to the investigation into Fazal’s podcast appearance, and there is also an ongoing ABC Ombudsman review into Cocaine Nation and Meth Highway.

“The ABC is committed to journalism of the highest standard. Maintaining the trust of Australians depends on upholding those standards and we take any concerns about our journalism seriously,” the statement said.

In July, Fazal said he was “shocked” by the removal of the two Four Corners episodes and that he believed the ABC’s process and decisions “set a worrying precedent for the organisation’s independence and commitment to public-interest journalism”.