Mahmood Fazal: What Did Australian Media Expect?!
As ridiculous as mainstream media may be in the U.S. and Europe, Australian media outlets always seem to be looking for ways to humiliate themselves.
The Australian Broadcast Company recently announced that Mahmood Fazal, who had been working for the network’s investigative reporting serial Four Corners, has been fired. He was first placed on administrative leave before being let go after it was discovered that he had agreed to collaborate on a podcast with Ryan Naumenko, a media personality that monetizes his past association with Australian organized crime.
The Afghan-born Fazal has been the darling of the diversity-obsessed and antisemitic and anti-Israel Australian media.
WHAT THE ABC GOT WRONG
Mahmood Fazal is always held out as “an award winning journalist,” which he is–technically. He received a 2020 award in the “Media Diversity” category that was awarded through, but not by, the Walkley Foundation.
Fazal’s background doesn’t commend him, however, to take a coveted position at Four Corners, which is now in its 65th season. Reporters on this series follow in the footsteps of many of Australia’s most well-respected media professionals, but the ABC appears to have been very eager to prove their woke bona fides by hiring a man with no real credentials except his time as a member of a violent gang, his place of birth, and the religious identity of his family.
The quality of his reporting did not withstand the scrutiny of an internal investigation that led to the humiliating withdrawal of two of his stories due to “concerns identified about the veracity of certain sources used in both programs.” The sources? Fazal’s former criminal associates from his days as a sergeant-at-arms (whatever that means!) for a violent “bikie” gang.
The ABC and the producers at Four Corners seem surprised that known criminals do not make reliable sources for serious journalism.
THE REAL STORY
Fazal was lauded for reporting that seeks to “challenge our views on crime, violence, imprisonment and radicalisation.” These are themes that don’t seem to require much nuance to understand. The Jewish victims at Bondi Beach, the families of those killed each year by organized crime across and the civilised world, and the countless victims of Islamic terror likely don’t care to have their views challenged. The solutions to Islamist violence and organized crime seem to be rather straightforward–enforcement of existing laws, tighter border security, and zero tolerance for the anti-Jewish and anti-Western hatred that emanates from the “marginalised Australian community” that Fazal defends.
EMILY’S VERDICT
As long as media executives are obsessed with anything other than truth and transparency, the Western media will never be able to play the role that it must in defending and preserving liberal democracy, not to mention shedding light on the forces within our societies that pose violent threats to our citizens. Purging the ABC of Mahood Fazal is a great first step, but there are dozens more like him ready to manipulate the media in Australia, the United States, and Europe.