Anatomy of a media breakdown: Bondi Junction, misinformation and Channel 7

The horror that took place at Bondi Junction shopping mall on Saturday, where a 40-year-old man murdered five women and a male security guard and injured 12 others before he was shot dead by police, was a perfect example of a story that required sensitive and assiduous reporting. It did not receive it.

There will be, rightly, a great deal of coverage in the coming days, scrutinising the epidemic of male violence against women, responsible reporting on mental health, and the level of celebrity and personal notoriety we afford men who commit mass killings. For now, here is Crikey’s timeline covering what happened, the cynical attempts to spread misinformation (and the major network that amplified that misinformation), and the young man incorrectly identified as the killer.

Saturday, April 13

3.20pm: The attack begins. A total of 17 people are stabbed, including a baby. Almost all of those attacked are women. Five people, plus the attacker, die at the scene. Twelve others are taken to hospital, including one woman who dies at St Vincent’s Hospital.

4.31pm: The Sydney Morning Herald first reports four people dead: 

The Herald can confirm four people have died in a stabbing spree at the Bondi Junction Westfield on Saturday afternoon.

‘Many more’ are in a critical condition, a police source not authorised to speak publicly said.

Police have shot one person; it is unclear if the shot was fatal.

4.31pm: Speculation on social media as to the attacker’s race, religion and motivation begins.

4.36pm: Police release the following statement:

A critical incident has commenced following the shooting of [a] male at Bondi Junction.

Just before 4pm (Saturday 13 April 2024), emergency services were called to Westfield Bondi Junction following reports of multiple people stabbed.

People are urged to avoid the area.

Inquiries are continuing in relation to the incident and there are no further details.

4.41pm: The SMH reports “terrorism links are being considered” by police.

5pm onwards: Speculation on social media as to the attacker’s race, religion and motivation ramps up. According to researcher Marc Owen Jones, the attacker’s motivation is primarily ascribed to Islamic fanaticism for the first few hours.

This shifts as a 20-year-old university student with a common Jewish surname is incorrectly named on social media, and his name begins to trend, aided by misinformation accounts with large followings. Thousands of posts begin to circulate, arguing that the attack was related to his religious identity and/or to Zionism.

5pm: Channel 7 ends its racing coverage and switches over to Bondi more than an hour and a half after the attack began, roughly an hour after 2GB first reported the attacks, and nearly 30 minutes after the SMH commenced its liveblog covering the situation.

5.25pm: Security camera footage appears on the SMH liveblog of the killer carrying a knife around the mall. 

5.42pm: The first police press conference is held.

5.49pm: The ABC reports there are fears of a second attacker.

6.08pm: Reports about a second attacker are found to be likely incorrect. 

6.29pm: NSW Police assistant commissioner Anthony Cooke says, “Nothing that we are aware of at the scene … would indicate any motive or any ideology,” but adds, “We’re not ruling anything out.”

7.19pm: Australian Federal Police commissioner Reece Kershaw says it is “too early to determine a motive” and warns it would be “unhelpful to speculate” at this stage.

Prime Minster Anthony Albanese adds:

I think the AFP commissioner has made it clear that speculation … would be unhelpful at this time, we should allow the investigators to go about their work … I’ve also had a discussion tonight with the director general of ASIO. The motive at this stage is unknown and we will, of course, continue to update the Australian public as more information is known.

8.09pm: Julia Hartley-Brewer, a host on right-wing UK broadcast outlet TalkTV, posts on X: “Another day. Another terror attack by another Islamist terrorist. Six dead, others seriously injured, including a baby”, accompanied by an uncensored photo of the attacker after he had been shot dead. Hartley-Brewer has more than 460,000 followers. 

8.30–9.30pm: Channel 7 incorrectly identifies a student as the killer on its YouTube channel and website. The network hook this to “expert analysis” from criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro. Watson-Munro gets several details of the attack wrong during the interview. This clip stays on the Channel 7 YouTube channel for more than an hour. It is viewed at least 3,000 times. 

8.39pm: NSW Police commissioner Karen Webb says the attacker is believed to be a 40-year-old man and that terrorism is no longer the suspicion: “We are waiting to confirm his identification and if it is the person we believe it is, we don’t have fear for that person holding an ideation. In other words, that it’s not a terrorism incident.”

Sunday, April 14

6.05am: Channel 7 presenter Matt Shirvington, broadcasting live from the Bondi Junction on Sunrise, once again incorrectly identifies the student as the killer.

7.10am: The father of the erroneously identified student posts on X, demanding NSW Police release the name of the true perpetrator “before this nonsense claiming it was my son causes more harm”.

8.44am: A 40-year-old Queensland man is confirmed as the attacker.

~12.15pm: Channel 7 issues an apology for incorrectly identifying the killer. (It has declined to comment on where it originally sourced the incorrect name.)

7.59pm: The student mistakenly identified by Channel 7 as the killer tells The Australian: “It’s extremely disappointing to me to see people mindlessly propagating misinformation like this without even the slightest thought put into fact-checking”.