Expert panel in charge of RNZ pro-Russian edit investigation revealed

RNZ’s board chair Jim Mather has revealed who will investigate how a journalist was able to insert pro-Russian sentiment to the public broadcaster’s international articles for the past five years.

The RNZ board met on Tuesday night to determine who would run the independent investigation, as well as the terms of reference.

Mather told RNZ’s Morning Report on Wednesday the investigation panel will be made up of media law expert Willy Akel, who will chair the panel, public law expert and former journalist Linda Clark, and former director of editorial standards at the ABC, Alan Sunderland.

The review will look at why the behaviour of journalist Michael Hall was not identified earlier.

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Mather said the panel will ensure “no stone will be left unturned”.

“The Board had concluded a review independent of RNZ was appropriate, and that drawing upon such expertise is the best way forward,” he said.

“We have tasked them to conduct a robust and comprehensive review of RNZ editorial processes. This is in the interest of achieving and protecting the highest standards of journalism at RNZ.”

Mather said the board was “focused” on restoring the public’s confidence in the government-owned media organisation.

The panel will “examine factors and warning signs” that led to the international stories being tampered with.

“We have specifically and purposefully asked the panel to not limit the investigation in any way, shape or form,” Mather said.

Mather said the board were prepared to deal with whatever may arise as a result of the thorough investigation, and would not “rule out” the involvement of other staff members.

The following points are the terms of reference the RNZ board decided the investigation would cover at their meeting on Tuesday night.

1. To review the circumstances around the inappropriate editing of wire stories discovered in June 2023, identify what went wrong, and recommend areas for improvement. This includes reviewing the handling of the complaint to the broadcasting minister from the Ukrainian community in October 2022.
2. To review the editorial controls, systems, and processes for the editing of online content at RNZ, assess their effectiveness, and recommend improvements.
3. To review RNZ editorial policy and practice and recommend improvements based on any relevant findings.
4. To advise the board on options for ensuring RNZ has processes in place to safeguard against misinformation or partiality in its news and current affairs content.
5. To advise the board on any other related matters that warrant further consideration

While talking to Morning Report, Mather said he retains full confidence in RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson, saying he was pleased with his transparency and actions following the discovery of the edits.

The investigation comes after it was discovered that Hall had made pro-Kremlin edits to Reuters wire copy covering the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

It was revealed on Tuesday these edits did not just involve the Ukraine-Russia conflict, but extended to wire copy covering conflicts in China and Taiwan, North and South Korea, Syria, Israel and Palestine.

To date, RNZ has found edits were made to 22 articles, 21 from Reuters and one from the BBC.

Mather said he was “extremely disappointed” about how the public may view RNZ, following the discovery of the edits.

“We see ourselves as guardians of a taonga, and that taonga being 98 years of history that RNZ has in terms of the trusted public media and high standards of excellent journalism,” Mather said.

Hall was stood down from his position on Friday, when the edits were discovered.