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The ABC has appointed experienced media executive and journalist Alan Sunderland to conduct an independent review into the ABC's Line of Fire reports.
The review will cover all aspects of the reports — broadcast on 7.30 in September 2022 and published online — including a story that featured an "editing error in the audio" of helmet cam footage captured by commandos in Afghanistan.
The ABC has requested a final report into the matter by the end of October. The report will be made public, including recommendations.
On Channel Seven's Spotlight program earlier this month, ex-commando Heston Russell accused the ABC of adding the sound of five extra gunshots into a video clip of Australian troops firing from a helicopter in Afghanistan.
Heston Russell has accused the ABC of adding audio of extra gunshots into a video. (AAP: Flavio Brancaleone)
The issue with the audio was brought to the attention of ABC News in mid-September, with it immediately looking into the claims.
Managing director David Anderson said a preliminary inspection had identified an editing error in the audio, and the video in question had been removed.
"This error should not have occurred," he said, while announcing an independent review into the reports.
Sunderland is a Walkley Award-winning journalist who spent 40 years working for SBS and the ABC.
From 2013 to 2019 he was the ABC's editorial director, with overall responsibility for editorial standards, editorial complaints and journalism training.
He is also a former executive director of the international Organisation of News Ombudsmen, and an independent journalist member of the Australian Press Council.
ABC managing director David Anderson said the error should have never occurred. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito)
Line of Fire, a series of reports from the ABC Investigations team, raised questions over the conduct of the 2nd Commando Regiment in Afghanistan, focusing on allegations of kill counts and the use of enemy casualty numbers as a measure of performance.
The ABC investigation said it had obtained hours of footage of commando operations in Afghanistan during 2011 and 2012, and highlighted a video it said showed a soldier firing his assault rifle from a moving helicopter at what appeared to be unarmed civilians in residential compounds.
In one of the clips, the story alleged an Afghan man could be seen ducking and trying to find cover as a commando fired his weapon from the helicopter above.
Mr Russell told the Channel Seven program the ABC was "happy to jump to a conclusion from 15 seconds of footage".
An image from one of the videos in the ABC's Line of Fire reports. (ABC News)
Other allegations have subsequently been made about the ABC’s reporting and use of the helmet cam footage, including how it was edited in the 7.30 broadcast.
"It has now come to my attention that in November 2022, ABC Legal was sent a letter raising concerns about the audio editing," Mr Anderson said as he announced the review.
"Regrettably, at no point was this letter, or the information in the letter, disseminated to ABC News."
The Spotlight allegations and subsequent media coverage prompted ABC News director Justin Stevens to address the issue in a speech to the Melbourne Press Club on Tuesday.
Mr Stevens said "mistakes are certainly made" at the ABC and the national broadcaster "must admit when we can do better".
Last year, Mr Russell was awarded $390,000 in damages in his defamation case against the ABC, after a judge rejected the broadcaster's public interest defence.