Seven News faced backlash after incorrectly identifying an innocent man, Benjamin Cohen, as the perpetrator of a knife attack at Westfield Bondi Junction, which resulted in six fatalities. The error, attributed to human error, was made on Weekend Sunrise by presenter Matt Shirvington and was replicated across Seven's website and YouTube channel. The misidentification was based on misinformation circulating on social media. Seven News issued an apology, stating the mistake was immediately escalated and rectified. The incident, reported by @australian, has raised concerns about the verification processes in news reporting.
Seven News apologises on-air after naming an innocent man as the knife-wielding Bondi killer. The error was made on Weekend Sunrise including by presenter Matt Shirvington. https://t.co/zDiixRagaI
Channel 7 has blamed “human error” for identifying the wrong man as the knife-wielding murderer who killed six people at Sydney’s Bondi Junction Westfield on Saturday, @australian. https://t.co/8IXR5fSwvh
#BREAKING 🚨 Seven releases statement after naming wrong person as Westfield Bondi Junction attacker: “The mistake was human error. It was escalated immediately and rectified. Seven sincerely apologises for the error.” | #6NewsAU
This is regarding an 7NEWS interview which had a description naming the attacker as a man who had been wrongly accused on social media. The error was replicated across their website and YouTube. https://t.co/bQ4WTceUYq https://t.co/lzSpc8kWk2
Seven has apologised for naming the wrong person as the Bondi Junction attacker this morning. A Seven spox: “The mistake was human error. It was escalated immediately and rectified. Seven sincerely apologises for the error.”
Channel 7 News is responsible for saying the #BondiJunction attacker was "Benjamin Cohen". Multiple screenshots and archived links of the story are saved. Put the web archive link on your telegram and see for yourself. https://t.co/Ytn0TsbHIY Blame @OzraeliAvi and @DrewPavlou… https://t.co/JDaK5BgT4g
It appears as though 7NEWS incorrectly reported the name of the Bondi Junction perpetrator, incorrectly claiming that it was another, uninvolved individual whose name had been circulating on social media. I've contacted 7 for comment #BondiJunction https://t.co/30jg9a5Adl