The Project host Sarah Harris publicly apologized after the show mistakenly used footage from a different protest, incorrectly portraying a peaceful pro-Palestinian demonstration as a violent event.
On Sunday night’s broadcast, Harris covered a pro-Palestinian rally in Melbourne, where thousands of people marched in support of Palestine and Lebanon amid ongoing conflicts with Israel.
The largely peaceful demonstration included speeches and included the names of children murdered in Palestine over the past year, written on hundreds of paper kites placed on the ground outside the library.
However, the programme’s coverage included dramatic footage showing protesters setting bins on fire and police wearing gas masks, helmets and riot gear.
These images are actually from a different event: a violent protest against a gun show that took place on 9/11.
Harris apologized on-air to viewers for the mischaracterization of the rally.
“We need to correct a mistake that aired Sunday night,” Harris said.
‘Our story about a demonstration in Melbourne included several seconds of footage from a completely different protest.
The Project’s co-host Sarah Harris apologized to viewers after the show aired erroneous footage depicting a peaceful pro-Palestinian demonstration as a violent protest.
The Project used footage from a violent demonstration against a gun show in September and merged it with the weekend’s largely peaceful protest.
‘This was a mistake and risked mischaracterizing the day’s events and should never have happened.
‘It was not deliberate and we apologize. “We are reviewing processes to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Mediawatch presenter Paul Barry criticized the network for the mistake.
‘The project took images of that protest over the weapons exhibition and merged them with the pro-Palestinian demonstration.
‘And in doing so, he completely misrepresented what happened. Shrewd, eh, or incompetent.
In a statement, the chain apologized for the error.
‘Archive footage was wrongly used in a report that aired on The Sunday Project about peaceful pro-Palestinian protests.
‘Once this error was confirmed, the report was removed from all platforms.
“We sincerely apologize for any discomfort this may have caused viewers.”
