Aaron Smith

I just heard it. Car crash.

Watching the eternal denial over Dan Andrews is like hearing someone insist the sun didn’t rise this morning.

The man won 3 elections, winning more seats each time, and left his opponents in a smoking ruin.

Is there a medical diagnosis for this level of denialism?

Forget Shaked and Rotman, Gideon.

Just send Netanyahu instead so Australia can fulfil its obligations as a signatory to the International Criminal Court and deliver him to The Hague.

You see Ronni, and I quote James directly here, "the Sheik's office made those comments - that's a pretty standard thing".

And I can't be clearer than that.

You mean to tell me old mate Matthew didn't turn up today?

So James pretends that comments from an individual - that they directly attributed to this individual man - and who has been in prison for two years, should automatically be known by the public as really his "press office"?

#pffft

The unanswered question here is who else knew — and who was party to quietly changing the article so substantially.

Surely Knott wasn’t the only one?

I'd be interested to see that comparison. I'd suggest the print edition will be as originally published, and the online edition would be whichever version they published last!

The initial smear was bad enough. The attempt to hide it was utterly reprehensible.

Why did the @sydmorningherald.bsky.social let Knott completely rewrite the story to correct his embarrassing "stuff up" & claim it had merely been "updated"?

And why is #Insiders not interrogating this properly?

Must read thread.

This is extraordinarily poor in any circumstance, but in the context of an issue this controversial and a claim this incendiary, it’s genuinely shocking.

A newspaper committed to ethical journalism would have sacked Matthew Knott on the spot and retracted the article.

If you managed to get this far but missed the original thread the covers what the SMH did, it's here:

bsky.app/profile/aaro...

YouTube video by The West Report SMH Fake Hamas Scoop Exposed | Scam of the Week

This scandal has been covered extensively in a video released this morning by @MichaelWestBiz - a link to the video on YouTube is below;
youtu.be/exSr2Lh0sQg?...

Claim a quote from a Hamas co-founder who’s in prison unable to comment.

Quietly rewrite when busted.

Pull Knott from the Insiders sofa and send Massola instead to waffle about "offices".

Keep running the smear anyway.

That’s SMH. That’s #Insiders. That’s garbage.

First Matthew Knott's words were quietly scrubbed in his discredited article, now Matthew Knott himself has been quietly scrubbed from #Insiders.

I will be!

And, by complete coincidence I’m sure, this Sunday on #Insiders the guest will be “Proud Zionist” Tim Wilson.

On the couch? Matthew Knott.

I don't know whether to laugh, or cry.

/end

On a topic this sensitive, it’s indefensible.

This is precisely when journalism must be unimpeachable.

Instead, its credibility is being torched in real time.

/12

These aren’t small edits. They’re substantial and making them without disclosure is unethical.

In print, it’s impossible. Online? Two readers can see 'the same' article hours apart and get different facts.

That's not journalism.

Attached image shows them side by side.

/11

The rewritten article is here:
archive.md/7ZoD0

/10

The original article as published is here:
archive.md/uKAru

/9

There’s more, but wading through it is exhausting - the changes aren’t tweaks, they’re a rebuild.

And the only nod to this quiet surgery?

A microscopic first published note in the byline and a limp clarification tacked on at the end.

It’s fig-leaf transparency at best.

/8

Deleted entirely: a paragraph noting both the LNP opposition and the Israeli Government agreed Labor was “rewarding Hamas.”

I’ve not yet unpacked why it vanished, but I have theories, as I'm sure others do too.

/6

Originally, Knott said it was the first time Hamas had commented on Australia’s decision.

Now, that’s replaced with a line saying Hamas denies Yousef made the statement, (because he’s in prison and isolated).

This denial exists entirely because of what Knott published.

/5

First change:

Originally — Knott claimed Yousef gave the SMH a direct statement.

Now — it’s “via his office.”

Also new: a concession that Yousef is in prison.

/4

I’ve saved two versions of the article from these exact times: (I'll link them later)

🗓 12:29 pm Wed 13 Aug
🗓 1:49 pm Thu 14 Aug

In just 24 hours it grew by 40%, with whole sections removed and new ones added.

Which version you saw depended entirely on when you read it.

/3

After the backlash, and an AFR piece (same parent company, see quote tweet) inadvertently called Knott's article into question without explicitly saying so.

The SMH / Knott quietly rewrote the article.

They should've written a new one. They didn't.

/2
bsky.app/profile/aaro...

You’ll remember the blow-up over Matthew Knott’s SMH piece quoting a Hamas co-founder in what looked like a hit job on Albanese. (Context in the quote tweet below if you aren't up to speed.)

Well, it gets worse, and no one’s noticed. A thread....

/1
bsky.app/profile/aaro...

AFR article says Sheikh Hassan Yousef couldn’t have made the quote because he’s been in prison for 2 years with no outside contact.

And yet, AFR didn't touch the obvious question - why their sister paper, the SMH, claimed he did.

/2
t.co/MnsCKOiB3A

OMFG. AFR says Hamas denies co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef praised Albanese - because he’s been in prison for 2 years.

Hey AFR - maybe wander over to your SMH colleagues and ask why / how they quoted Yousef from prison, because that is now the fucking story.

Link below

/1

Plenty of detail in this piece, but the glaring omission is the bigger story - Ninefax / SMH somehow has a direct line to Hamas, and the article never once explains how that came to be.
t.co/6UkGjnyAAb

The rift between the Federal Government and pro-Israel groups Ninefax’s Matthew Knott has basically been a stenographer for pro-Israel groups and the Federal Government for roughly the entire period…

According to Abraham Edwards, SMH journalist Matthew Knott has been a “stenographer” for pro-Israel groups - and today’s coverage suggests he may have a direct line to Hamas.
medium.com/@abrahamedwa...