The Aporia · Ben Roberts-Smith interview LIVE updates: Alleged war criminal, Victoria Cross recipient speaks with 2GB’s Ben Fordham in pre-recorded interview

Ben Roberts-Smith interview LIVE updates: Alleged war criminal, Victoria Cross recipient speaks with 2GB’s Ben Fordham in pre-recorded interview

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗

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Surdo, D. L., & Bachelard, M. (2026, October 21). Ben Roberts-Smith interview LIVE updates: Alleged war criminal, Victoria Cross recipient speaks with 2GB’s Ben Fordham in pre-recorded interview. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/national/ben-roberts-smith-interview-live-updates-alleged-war-criminal-victoria-cross-recipient-speaks-with-2gb-s-ben-fordham-in-pre-recorded-interview-20261022-p617is.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Quick Summary

Tom Malone, CEO of Tapt Media which owns 2GB and 3AW, announced that Ben Roberts-Smith will be interviewed by Ben Fordham for a pre-recorded interview. This interview is part of Tapt Media's new strategy to attract audiences on digital platforms as the company transitions under its new ownership by the Laundys family. Selected excerpts will air on 2GB before the full interview premieres on YouTube at 9am.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-21, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Ben Roberts-Smith, a former Australian SAS soldier and Victoria Cross recipient facing war crimes charges, was interviewed by 2GB Breakfast host Ben Fordham in a two-hour pre-recorded interview set to air on October 21, 2026. The full interview premiered simultaneously on YouTube at 9am, with selected excerpts airing earlier on the radio station. Roberts-Smith, who has become a controversial figure due to his alleged war crimes and defamation trials, launched a new clothing brand called EPIC 1 TWO just days before the interview, named after his radio callsign during combat in Afghanistan. The interview is part of 2GB's strategy under its new ownership by the Laundys family to attract audiences on digital platforms.

Written for “Ben Roberts-Smith Interview Controversy” on 2026-10-21, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

Why this leaning score

This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.

No political leaning scored for article 97244 · logged 2026-10-21

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Ben Roberts-Smith has a lot to say. Now it's time for him to say it: How Australia's most decorated soldier and accused war criminal is set to spill in 'gobsmacking' two hour interview - as he launches EPIC 1 TWO brand same event · 100%

Daily Mail

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 36 📰 publisher trust 64

“Both articles refer to the same pre-recorded two-hour interview with Ben Roberts-Smith, which will be aired on 2GB and then in full on YouTube.”

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 4 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

61/100

The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Politics

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-21 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 4439 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Daniel Lo Surdo

28 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 Tom Malone, chief executive of Tapt Media, which owns 2GB and 3AW, said the interview will showcase the company’s digital transformation in its new era owned by pokies and publican billionaire family, the Laundys.

2026-10-21 · assertive framing · Ben Roberts-Smith interview LIVE updates: Alleged war criminal, Victoria Cross recipient speaks with 2GB’s Ben Fordham in pre-recorded interview

🔮 The manhunt began after 10.20am on Friday when the man was allegedly confronted over a stolen van taken from a nearby inner west suburb days earlier. He allegedly set fire to the van, near an apartment complex at Williams Parade and Constitution Road in Dulwich Hill, and waved the shotgun at three witnesses, before fleeing on foot with the weapon. Nearby businesses, cafes and schools were put into lockdown on Friday as tactical police, along with the police helicopter, combed nearby streets for the alleged gunman.

2026-10-18 · mixed framing · Arrest in hunt for man who roamed Dulwich Hill with sawn-off shotgun

🔮 Officers have established the operation near Williams Parade and Constitution Road, urging public to avoid the area as they sweep the scene.

2026-10-16 · assertive framing · Gun shots in Dulwich Hill, police lock down area

🔮 A post-mortem examination will be held to determine the child’s cause of death.

2026-10-16 · assertive framing · Boy, 5, found dead in NSW home was duct-taped into sleeping bag, blindfolded, police say

🔮 The investigation of the botched assassination attempt was handed to detectives under Taskforce Falcon, the NSW Police initiative launched in May 2025 to confront escalating gangland violence across Sydney.

2026-10-14 · assertive framing · Teenager charged over attempted assassination at Sydney school pick-up

🔮 “I could just smell petrol all over, my hairs singed, my eyebrows, got smoke in my eyes, just everything, just been pumping me with water.

2026-10-14 · mixed framing · Patient suffers burns in alleged petrol attack inside major Sydney hospital

🔮 Police announced the establishment of Strike Force Mexvo on Wednesday morning, which will bring together specialist detectives with officers from the Sex Crimes Squad to investigate whether the incidents are linked.

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🔮 Investigators believe the boy, who cannot be legally identified, may have been one of several people handling an illegal gun when it discharged inside an apartment in the Moda complex in Norwest.

2026-10-13 · assertive framing · Sydney man charged with murder of 12-year-old boy fatally shot in face

🔮 At least two other young people present during the attack are expected to be charged, Batchelor said.

2026-10-12 · mixed framing · ‘Absolutely senseless’: 13-year-old on bail allegedly kills Sydney father on his way home from work

🔮 He will return to his four-bedroom family home in Randwick, in the care of mother Nik Bambrick, on Friday.

2026-10-09 · assertive framing · P-plater accused of horror Newcastle car crash bailed to family home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs

Also by Daniel Lo Surdo

Arrest in hunt for man who roamed Dulwich Hill with sawn-off shotgun

2026-10-18 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Gun shots in Dulwich Hill, police lock down area

2026-10-16 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Boy, 5, found dead in NSW home was duct-taped into sleeping bag, blindfolded, police say

2026-10-15 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Teenager charged over attempted assassination at Sydney school pick-up

2026-10-14 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 28 articles by Daniel Lo Surdo →

Michael Bachelard

9 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

2026-10-21 · assertive framing · Ben Roberts-Smith interview LIVE updates: Alleged war criminal, Victoria Cross recipient speaks with 2GB’s Ben Fordham in pre-recorded interview

🔮 “It had all the credibility of a Melbourne weather forecast,” said Ryan, after the hearing.

2026-10-16 · assertive framing · ‘Just business’: Brethren leaders admit meeting far-right – and Trump

🔮 “The Brethren may be the first to face this, but I do not believe they will be the last,” wrote Pastor Lucas Miles, who leads Turning Point USA Faith, in a recent post on social media platform X.

2026-10-13 · assertive framing · American right-wing body Turning Point USA backs Exclusive Brethren before hearing

🔮 A young Australian taken as a boy to live with the Islamic State was on the brink of travelling home when American soldiers snatched him from a Syrian prison and transported him to Iraq, where he could face trial on terror charges.

2026-10-05 · mixed framing · Young Australian caught up in IS could soon come home on passport

🔮 The family of a young Australian taken as a 12-year-old boy to live under Islamic State in 2015 believes he could be released in coming weeks after indications emerging from Iraq that he would not face trial as a criminal.

2026-10-02 · mixed framing · ‘Still like a child’: Family believes Australian taken to Syria as a boy could be released soon

🔮 “What will eventually bring in finality to the whole Jewish question, that remains in the hands of Christ and perfectly under the control of God.”

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🔮 How thick could you get?

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🔮 Angela Bell plans to fly out this week with human rights lawyer Bernadette Zaydan to Idlib province in Syria as her son, Patrick Stevenson – a 20-year-old convert to Islam – waits in a local prison facing charges that, if proven, could result in the death penalty.

2026-09-15 · assertive framing · ‘Of course I’m frightened’: Australian mother flies to son accused of murder in Syria

Also by Michael Bachelard

‘Just business’: Brethren leaders admit meeting far-right – and Trump

2026-10-16 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Exclusive Brethren hearing LIVE updates: Church leader Bruce Hales to appear over allegations church campaigned in 2025 election, paid neo-Nazi associates to harass PM

2026-10-15 · The Sydney Morning Herald

American right-wing body Turning Point USA backs Exclusive Brethren before hearing

2026-10-13 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Young Australian caught up in IS could soon come home on passport

2026-10-05 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 9 articles by Michael Bachelard →

Topics

3AW Laundys Nine Tapt Media YouTube

Subjects

Laundys PERSON · 2× 3AW ORG · 1× Nine ORG · 1× Tapt Media ORG · 1× Tom Malone PERSON · 1× YouTube ORG · 1×

Narrative

Tom Malone, chief executive of Tapt Media, which owns 2GB and 3AW, said the interview will showcase the company’s digital transformation in its new era owned by pokies and publican billionaire family, the Laundys.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-21

2026-10-21 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Ben Roberts-Smith interview LIVE updates: Alleged war criminal, Victoria Cross recipient speaks with 2GB’s Ben Fordham in pre-recorded interview · assertive framing

Claims (4 extracted, 0 hedged)

interview → own → pokies

The network is using the long-form interview format as part of a new strategy to find audiences on digital platforms outside traditional radio. asserted

network → use → radio

While selected excerpts of the interview will first air on 2GB, it will premiere in full on YouTube at 9am. asserted

it → select → 9

The radio stations were formerly owned by Nine, the owner of this masthead, until the Laundys’ purchase at the start of the year. asserted

stations → own → year