Australian Broadcasting Corporation Appears To Have Coached Accusers On What To Say For Documentary About Actor Who Was Found Not Guilty

Journalists with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) coached accusers on what to say when making allegations against actor Craig McLachlan, who was ultimately found not guilty of the accusations against him in court.

Not only did these so-called journalists attempt to manipulate accusers, according to footage of their interviews, but they also promised the women legal help and discussed when to release the story about McLachlan to provide the most damage because “ultimately we want him out of that job.”

They succeeded in getting McLachlan fired, but their deception was yet another example of how the #MeToo movement failed in Australia.

Sky News host Chris Kenny covered the footage, which was featured in a documentary about the trauma McLachlan endured following the accusations.

“The weekend documentary aired some footage from their interviews that gave us a disturbing insight into the intent of that journalism and the coaching the journalists and producers gave to the women making allegations against McLachlan,” Kenny said on his program.

In one clip, Kenny showed producers asking an accuser to use the word “predatory” in her response.

“They knew exactly what they were doing, those journalists,” McLachlan is then shown saying, with tears in his eyes. In the documentary that aired on 7News, he is played clips of journalists and producers manipulating accusers to use specific words against him and then asked to respond to those clips.

At one point, one of the journalists questions the manipulation, saying, “I don’t think we should be putting words into her mouth to some extent.” The interview however, does just that.

When the accuser finally says what the journalists want, the interviewer says: “Perfect.”

Kenny then asked: “This is a highly disturbing look behind the scenes. Are these journalists asking questions or dictating answers?”

But manipulating accusers for soundbites was not all that ABC and the former Fairfax Media (now 9News) did for their 2018 documentary. They also promised the women legal backing for making their claims.

“We’ve got a department of lawyers here at the ABC and at Fairfax that will back you all the way,” journalists told the women, whom they called seeking accusations.

ABC also discussed when they would run their story about McLachlan, with a senior journalist saying they wanted to leave a few days for follow-up stories because “ultimately we want him out of that job.”

McLachlan was apparently not contacted for his side of the story until just before the ABC documentary aired, giving him little time to prepare.

ABC responded harshly to the accusations (odd how they don’t like because accused of things), by calling them “offensive”:

The ABC rejects these claims. They are also offensive to the women who stepped forward to tell their stories.

Seven has selectively edited raw footage and used very brief grabs without full context from near the end of an almost hour-long interview with one of the women.

The unedited footage shows the interviewee was asked to repeat in a more succinct way statements she had already made on-camera. This is a normal television industry practice in some cases to ensure content is presented in a clear way for viewers.

The outlet also claimed it gave McLachlan “the opportunity of an interview, sent him detailed questions and ran his responses extensively.”

Conveniently, just before the documentary from Channel 7 about McLachlan’s trauma aired, three more women made accusations against him, even though he had been cleared of the previous allegations.

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