Plan B Forum

Deception for Investigative Journalism: Right or Wrong?

In 2015, Al-Jazeera’s Investigative Unit had a question: what did the National Rifle Association say about mass shootings behind closed doors?

To answer it, they planned a lengthy undercover investigation, in which a reporter posed as an Australian gun lobbyist to infiltrate meetings with the NRA and with One Nation, a far-right, anti-immigration party.

The result, released in a two part documentary that aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, is — at the very least — compelling.

In hidden camera footage shot during a trip to the United States last year, senior figures from One Nation are heard discussing the influence a donation from the American gun lobby could buy in the Australia’s parliament. The cameras also captured advice from the NRA on how to respond to mass shootings and sway public opinion toward gun ownership.

Australia has some of the toughest gun laws in the world, and the country is proud of it. So news that a political party’s officials were willing to soften the rules for foreign donations were met with alarm.


Since then, Pauline Hanson, the party’s leader, has said the comments were taken out of context — she called Al-Jazeera an “Islamist” organization and a “Middle Eastern foreign agent.” But she also attacked the report’s ethics, calling it an “illegal, covert operation.”

So news that a political party’s officials were willing to soften the rules for foreign donations were met with alarm