Dear Sally Neighbour
I am what you describe in your tweet as an Assange “Zombie supporter” and this letter an expression of the “madness” you refer to.
I am a filmmaker with 45 years of experience making documentaries. I understand how the raw material of many hours of ‘rushes’ can be edited in accordance with journalistic ethics to reveal the truth (or as close as possible to it) of the subject being explored.
I understand also how filmmakers with a bias, a pre-conceived idea of where the truth lies, or hell-bent on propaganda and character assassination, can manipulate the footage they are working with to achieve their desired result, whilst creating the illusion of ‘balance’.
I am also an Australian citizen who spent 15 months in a Cambodian prison, falsely charged with having engaged in espionage. Based on the two 4 Corners ‘Assange’ programs you were Executive Producer for I am thankful that the ABC did not apply its investigative skills to informing the Australian public about the reasons for and circumstances surrounding my incarceration.
There are many criticisms that can be made of the 4 Corners Assange programs and, no doubt, others working in the 4thEstate with a commitment to truth, accuracy and integrity in journalism, along with members of the viewing public, will write letters of complaint to you and the ABC also. You can dismiss all such criticism as having come from ‘zombie supporters’ if you so choose, but I would suggest that if 4 Corners is to maintain its credibility as an investigative program, the ABC should take note of these criticisms and respond accordingly.
There are many errors of fact, distortion, bias and omission that stand out for me in these two programs but I will address only one of them here, for the time being:
In Part One, “Hero or Villain”, segments of Wikileaks’ 2010 ‘Collateral Murder’ video were included. The most horrific 2ndpart of it was not. In this excluded footage we see a van driving up to rescue survivors of the airborne attack in which two Reuters journalists, amongst a dozen or so others, were killed. The rescue van has two children in it, visible to the helicopter’s camera. The unarmed rescuers were executed by the US military and the two children injured in this unprovoked attack on them. One US soldier is seen with an injured child in his arms, running from the scene of the carnage.
Hillary Clinton was US Secretary of State in 2010 when Wikiieaks published this video, revealing beyond a shadow of a doubt that the US military was guilty of a war crime. Why were the following questions not asked of Clinton? Or, if they were asked, why were her answers not included in the program?
(1) Did the murder of unarmed rescuers and the wounding of two children by the US military constitute a war crime?
(2) If, on the basis of the audio-visual evidence available it seems as though a war crime was committed, why have no US military personnel been charged?
(3) Regardless of the legality or illegality of these killings, do you believe that it was in the interest of the public that this footage be published by Wikileaks?
Why was the 2ndpart of the “Collateral Murders” video not included in your program? Why did 4 Corners notdelve into the question of why it is that the perpetrators of the ‘collateral murders’ have notbeen charged with a war crime? The question could have been put not only to Hillary Clinton but to others in the 4 Corners program critical of Assange.
Was this editorial omission made because you felt it would embarrass Clinton? Was it because its inclusion would horrify an ABC audience? Learning that the US military fires on unarmed civilian rescuers and children, with the clear intent to kill them and is able to do so with impunity? Or was it that you feared audiences might think to themselves, “Congratulations to Wikileaks and Julian Assange for having brought this war crime to our attention,” and respond with sympathy and understanding to his current plight?
Not showing any of the 2ndpart of the ‘Collateral Murder’ video amounts to editorial censorship of the kind that 4 Corners practiced in so many ways in its Assange ‘investigation’, whilst at the same time attempting to create the impression of impartiality and balance.
I have 4 questions for you, for the 4 Corners team and for ABC management vis a vis the “Collateral Murders” video:
(A)If 4 Corners, in July 2019, came into possession of cogent audio-visual evidence that a war crime had been committed by the US military recently, would the ABC broadcast it?
(B)If the ABC would broadcast it, would the national broadcaster allow staff to censor it by cutting out those parts of it that did not reflect well on a political party or politician that members of ABC staff were supporters of?
(C)Given the threat that the imprisonment of Julian Assange poses for all of us in the 4thEstate, and for our democracy, would the ABC decide not to broadcast such a video out of fear that members of its staff might be extradited to the United States to face espionage charges?
(D)Was Julian Assange given an opportunity to respond to the various allegations made about him in accordance with what must surely be a fundamental principle of investigative journalism?
Hero or villain, like him or hate Assange, this last question goes to the heart of what should be of the greatest concern to all journalists working at the ABC.
In your recent “Zombie follower’’ tweet, along with your “Putin’s bitch” re-tweet a couple of years ago, in your refusal to ask Hillary Clinton tough questions, you have revealed yourself to have a clear bias against Assange and in favour of Hillary Clinton. You should have recused yourself as Executive Producer for these two programs. Indeed, ABC management should have not allowed you to executive produce the programs under the circumstances.
For me, a longtime viewer and fan of 4 Corners (40 or so years), you have besmirched the reputation of one of the most important programs on Australian TV and damaged the reputation of the ABC at the same time.
I believe that you should either resign in shame for having executive produced such an ill-researched, poorly-crafted and biased program or, in future, adhere to the investigative journalism standards that have provided 4 Corners with its good reputation worldwide.
best wishes
James Ricketson
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