澳大利亚广播公司（ABC）记者Mahmood Fazal在被解雇后发起反击，指责批评者背弃了ABC，并暗示自己沦为了多样性招聘的替罪羊。[1]Fazal于2024年5月被ABC解雇，目前正在进行诉讼，要求因不公正解雇获得赔偿。[1]
ABC的Media Watch节目曝露了Fazal在两部节目中的操作方式：他在2023年的《Cocaine Nation》和2024年的《Meth Highway》中分别使用不同的身份呈现了同一位消息人士。[1]这一发现促使ABC撤回了这两个节目。[1]
Fazal通过社交媒体视频为自己辩护，声称"他们用我讲述他们想要的故事类型，然后当新老板上台时，我就成了靶子"。[1]他表示自己是被招聘来接触犯罪人物的，并暗示所有节目都经过了审查程序。[1]
但Media Watch主持人Linton Besser对此提出了尖锐批评，指控Fazal"冷酷地背弃了那些支持他的人"。[1]根据报道，Fazal是阿富汗难民之子，曾经是Finks和Mongols摩托车帮的成员。[1]他最终因与黑社会人物Ryan Naumenko合作的播客未获ABC最终批准而被解雇。[1]
Mahmood Fazal, a reporter dismissed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), has accused his critics of betraying the national broadcaster and portraying him as a diversity hire.[1] Fazal was fired in May 2024[1] after the ABC discovered he had presented the same source under different identities across two programs about Australia's drug trade.[1] The broadcaster subsequently withdrew both episodes: "Cocaine Nation" (2023) and "Meth Highway" (2024).[1]
In a social media video, Fazal defended his reporting methods, asserting that all programs underwent editorial review and that he was specifically hired to access criminal figures.[1] He suggested he became a scapegoat following the arrival of new management, stating: "They used me to tell the kinds of stories they wanted, and then when the new bosses come in, I become a target."[1] Fazal is currently pursuing legal action, claiming unfair dismissal.[1]
The controversy intensified when Media Watch host Linton Besser accused Fazal of having "coldly betrayed those who championed him."[1] Fazal's termination also followed his collaboration on a podcast with Ryan Naumenko, a figure with organized crime connections, which the ABC declined to greenlight.[1] Fazal, the son of an Afghan refugee, had previously been associated with members of the Finks and Mongols motorcycle clubs.[1]