ABC removes third Four Corners episode led by Mahmood Fazal
The ABC has removed two more investigative programs associated with sacked reporter Mahmood Fazal, including a Four Corners episode about hitmen operating in Sydney, after completing its internal review into the journalist’s work for the national broadcaster.
Acting news director Lee Glendinning told ABC staff on Monday that the broadcaster had removed three more pieces of content, including an episode of flagship investigative radio show Background Briefing and part of a separate Four Corners episode Fazal had co-reported.
The removals are part of a deepening scandal at the ABC, which had trusted Fazal to front some of its most prominent programs, but removed him in May after he appeared on an unauthorised external podcast. That led ABC sources to raise concerns about the authenticity of sources on some of Fazal’s broadcasts, three of which have already been pulled.
Silent Orders, an investigation led by Fazal in 2024 into underworld assassins in Sydney, was one of three pieces of material removed on Monday after the ABC’s review found the use of anonymous interviewees did not meet its editorial standards.
“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,” the ABC said in a statement. “Therefore, in order to ensure complete confidence in published content, we have taken the decision to remove them.”
Fazal has previously denied any wrongdoing in his reporting and said that his stories went through a rigorous editorial process.
Glendinning also told staff that current Foreign Correspondent executive producer Morag Ramsay was taking over as acting head of investigations and current affairs, following the recent exit of her predecessor Jo Puccini.
The ABC Ombudsman is conducting a separate investigation into the two previously removed Four Corners episodes, Cocaine Nation and Meth Highway, with the final report still yet to be published.
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