David McBride and his lawyers have accused the ABC’s Four Corners program of broadcasting a biased story attacking McBride before he is sentenced for leaking government documents to the ABC.
McBride’s lawyers have also suggested it could be a contempt of court. If it is contempt, Grace Tobin who reported the story and ironically, Dan Oakes, the investigative journalist who dealt with McBride for his reporting of “The Afghan Files” could be facing charges.
McBride’s lawyers, XD Law, said on Twitter:
David McBride risked everything to help the ABC and Dan Oakes produce the ‘Afghan Files’. They got the applause and awards but barely glanced up when David was led away in chains. They have largely ignored his story ever since. They totally ignored our request for evidence they held which was vital to David’s defence. They extracted the information they needed and dumped him and only return now as he awaits sentence to pour this venom on him. While we are limited in what we can say until the proceedings end.
We will briefly address Oakes’ comments in the message to follow but our true dismay is how ABC management could allow this 4 Corners episode to broadcast at this time. It is possibly a contempt of court and the worst time imaginable to be spreading half-truths. We gave some interviews to this program on a solemn undertaking that it would not be broadcast prior to sentence. It was a promise given virtually every time the camera rolled. Once they had what they needed it was a promise that was thrown in the gutter like David McBride. At least they are consistent. (Click here to see on Twitter)
and:
We would rather not be engaging in this argument just before a sentence hearing but are compelled to briefly respond to 4 Corner’s Dan Oakes story.
Yes, David did defend soldiers wrongfully accused of war crimes. He remains proud to have done so and those innocent men are grateful to him. That was part of the material given in a shopping bag to Dan Oakes and McBride was disappointed that the ABC didn’t wish to publish it.
The other part of the shopping bag related to acts undertaken by Australian special forces that had been glossed over in sham reports. David was in a very dangerous position at the time. He didn’t need to write ‘war crimes’ in texta across the top of these files. The inappropriateness was self-evident without him writing memos or post it notes.
He knew that any intelligent reader, which Oakes was, would see their significance and would see the difference between improper prosecutions McBride was being asked to conduct and shocking acts that had been ignored by military command They were both part of the same problem in McBride’s view. But Dan was entitled to make his own journalistic decision. Yes, harsh words were spoken but did Dan really need to wait 6 years to vent wounded feelings on the very eve of McBride being judged and sentenced. There might be a time and a place but while a man is facing jail is not that time. We would be grateful for a bit of calm as David works with us on his sentence and prepares for his fate. (Click here to see on Twitter)
ABC’s Four Corners
The Four Corners show on McBride is titled “Rules of Engagement” and went to air on Monday the 25th of March 2024. It says on their website:
Four Corners goes behind the scenes of David McBride’s fight to clear his name.
The former Australian military lawyer is credited with exposing war crimes in Afghanistan — but was that his intention when he released government secrets?
Reporter Grace Tobin has spent months with McBride, through his public court battle to his private moments with his family, and now, as he waits to be sentenced.
She also interviews Dan Oakes, the investigative journalist who dealt with McBride for his reporting of ‘The Afghan Files’, which led to the AFP’s high-profile raid on the ABC. This is the first time he’s spoken out about what really happened. (Click here to see on the ABC website)
The full “Rules of Engagement” broadcast is below, and you can make up your own mind if it was biased and/or breached “sub judice law” which is “the publication of material that has a real prospect of interfering with the administration of justice in a matter before the court (sub judice contempt or contempt by publication). (Click here to read more)
Grace Tobin and others also published an article on the 25th of March titled “Telling secrets“.
If someone leaks Australian Defence Force documents knowing they could go to jail, for the benefit of the public, they are a whistleblower. I don’t recall that being said in the Four Corners show.
The big issue with “sub judice” is that media do not influence a jury. So, when a matter is heard in a judge only trial it is harder to argue that the judge was potently influenced by the media. And given David McBride has already been found guilty, and is only awaiting sentencing, a breach of sub judice would be even harder to establish.
But even so, the sub judice claim is worth raising because the ABC should have not gone anywhere near breaching it. Especially given it was only in June 2022 that the Bruce Lehrmann rape trial was delayed because Lisa Wilkinson breached sub judice law with her Logies speech only a couple of weeks before the trial was meant to start.
I could say a lot more but won’t at this stage and leave it at what David McBride’s lawyers said above. But I think after David McBride is sentenced there needs to be an explanation from the ABC about why they ran the story before McBride’s sentencing which breached the undertaking McBride’s lawyers say the ABC gave them and McBride.
David McBride’s sentencing was postponed at the beginning of March, at his lawyers request, after the government filed new evidence. Once McBride’s lawyers have had a chance to consider the new evidence a new date will be set.
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Categories: ABC, Australian Defence Force
Governments need to stop persecuting whistleblowers. Period.
Very odd story presented by Four Corners, first time I’d seen the full history, almost like ABC went out of their way to convict their subject, any whistleblowers from now on would be reluctant to give their story to ABC, the ABC in WA sunk the group who objected to big miners destroying the state, a friendly demo outside a CEOs house and ABC happily sided with WA police to assist in the prosecution of the demonstration group…ABC on the decline towards old media like worst of the worst Sky/Murdoch/7/9/10
Don’t watch ABC, Don’t believe anything they say or write if you watch or listen as they have no idea how to be fair and objective when reporting. Have been getting worse over the years.
Sadly, the ABC appears to have been influenced by some sus forces over the last few years whose influence does them, their image and the public’s confidence in their fairness and balance no good at all.
So sad. Not the ABC I once knew and loved.
Why would anyone trust the ABC!
I read recently of the ABC.
“Renowned for its quality journalism, educational content, and commitment to impartiality, the ABC plays a crucial role in fostering national dialogue and upholding democratic values. Despite occasional controversies and funding challenges, the ABC remains a trusted source of news and information for millions of Australians, serving as a cornerstone of the country’s media landscape.”
This description reminds me of the ABC of old.
While I would really like to feel comfortable with this description of the ABC, I beg to differ with the inclusion of some specific words in this paragraph.
IMHO, the ABC Management MUST without delay, run inhouse workshops to ALL staff, referring directly to the Sections within the ABC Act and detailing the Principles+ Standards, by which the ABC must operate, including the new amendments.
https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A02723/latest/text
https://about.abc.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/EditorialPOL2011.pdf
Now would be a very appropriate time with the commencement of Kim Williams, the new Chair of the ABC. Something MUST be done.
Fred, as Charles Pierce in Idiot America stated, it`s not about facts, evidence, truth, but what ratings demand. Journalists go with the flow. If they ever had integrity, it was gradually diluted to keep in the ratings race. While whistleblowers (I hate that term, but naming them patriots has likewise become a fading description), are now placed on the same level as lawyers and real estate agents, we can expect corruption to continue to flourish.
I enjoyed The Drum. On the ABC, Monday to Friday, 6 -7pm. There was a panel of 4 people with some connection to the topics discussed.
And the topics were relevant to politics or events of the day.
Then, late last year it was cancelled.
Supposedly poor ratings. But I wonder……
Maybe the ABC prefers bland programming now. Limited critical analysis of topics that may be important to many Australians.
Is this a directive from management?
Many people commented on Facebook that they were disappointed The Drum wouldn’t be continuing.
I will never forget how they treated Nick Ross, their own technology editor, at the behest of Turnbull, who didn’t like how Ross attacked “Abbott’s Internet”, accusing him of bias against the Liberals, even though he wrote an article attacking Labor’ss NBN.