Brutal bathroom bust-up between Media Watch host Paul Barry and one of the ABC’s biggest names emerges – after bosses arrogantly dismissed a dire warning

EXCLUSIVE

The star journalist behind ABC’s scandal-ridden war crimes reports was so defensive about his work that he got into an awkward bathroom spat with one of the broadcaster’s biggest names after criticizing the series on air.

The revelation comes amid new allegations that the ABC ignored repeated warnings that it had a doctored vision of an Australian soldier allegedly shooting at unarmed civilians as part of the series, and ignored calls to address the concerns.

Seven’s Spotlight program broke the scandal last month after an audio expert told lead reporter Liam Bartlett that the sound of at least five gunshots had been added to the footage to make it appear as if the soldier shot villagers repeatedly rather than a single shot to issue a warning. shot.

ABC news bosses have said the offending view was removed from the website on September 13 after Spotlight first alerted them to the ‘error’ in the days leading up to the report.

However, Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Bartlett raised concerns about ‘the incorrectly edited recording sequences’ at the ABC as early as June 4, only to be rejected by the broadcaster for not approving of Seven’s journalistic standards.

In an embarrassing turn of events, the ABC has since been forced to admit the vision was ‘improperly edited’ and launched an independent investigation into how the footage ended up being included in an online report by their elite investigative unit.

ABC chief executive David Anderson has also been forced to admit that the broadcaster’s legal department was separately alerted to the falsified view almost two years ago but ‘regrettably’ failed to act on the information.

The scandal has sparked a strong backlash against the ABC, amid accusations that the video was deliberately used to denigrate the country’s war veterans and falsely accuse them of committing war crimes.

Although ABC news boss Justin Stevens said he did not want to prejudge the outcome of the independent review, he has defended the star journalist behind the series: saying that Mark Willacy was unaware of the clip and played no role in the tampering.

Willacy has also categorically denied any suggestion that he directed or authorized any changes to the audio of the vision in his story.

It comes amid revelations that Willacy was involved in an altercation with the presenter of the broadcaster’s Media Watch programme, Paul Barry, after the presenter criticized some of the war crimes committed by the Walkley Award-winning journalist reporting on his show .

The Daily Telegraph revealed that the row between Willacy and Paul Barry took place in the men’s toilets of the ABC’s Ultimo headquarters in Sydney in December 2021, after the Media Watch presenter told viewers he had a ‘problem with Willacy’s story’.

Sources told the newspaper that Willacy was ‘furious’ at Barry’s public condemnation of his work and it was widely discussed in the corridors of the ABC.

Barry confirmed he ‘had a little disagreement’ with Willacy after the segment, but told the Daily Telegraph it was ‘not a problem’.

Willacy’s investigative editor, Jo Puccini, also complained about Barry’s public removal, writing to the Media Watch team in February 2022 calling for an on-air correction.

Media Watch’s then-executive producer Tim Latham dismissed her concerns, replying, “I understand that you feel hurt by the criticism and that it is unfair, but I am afraid this complaint will not go away.’

Willacy then shot back, “YYou were wrong, and you offered absolutely nothing to validate the premise of your segment. Let us know if you take this complaint seriously. If not, we will escalate it further.”

Puccini and Willacy then escalated their complaint to ABC management, saying, “Media Watch did not take (our complaint) seriously. It has thrown us off course and not answered the fundamental questions we were asking.”

The Daily Telegraph revealed that in later correspondence Willacy told colleagues that ‘Media Watch was fed up.”

The story at the heart of the saga was eventually removed from the broadcaster’s website after the ABC and Willacy lost a subsequent smear battle brought on by retired special forces commander Heston Russell.

The ABC has been contacted for comment on why it ignored initial warnings about the doctored vision, and whether it had any response to the revelations about Willacy’s bathroom explosion at Barry’s.

Anderson has defended the “public interest issues raised by the government.” [Willacy’s] stories’ and said the ABC had removed the article with the doctored view pending the outcome of the investigation.

He said the investigation was crucial to maintaining public confidence in journalism.

“The ABC is subject to the highest scrutiny, as it should be, given the trust the public places in it.

“Trust in the ABC has been built over time by delivering excellent journalism, upholding the highest editorial standards and being transparent with the public about how we do it.

“The ABC is committed to maintaining that trust.”

In October 2023, decorated war veteran Heston Russell won a defamation case against the ABC over its war crimes coverage, after a Federal Court judge ruled that the broadcaster could not prove that the articles it published were in the public interest.

Those stories, written and produced by journalists Willacy and Josh Robertson, were broadcast on television, radio and online in October 2020 and on November 19, 2021.

The defamation case is estimated to have cost taxpayers up to $3.5 million in legal fees, on top of the nearly $400,000 in damages paid to Russell.

The shooting was not part of the defamation case brought by Russell, as the story about it was published by the ABC during his trial.