MSU audio forensics expert aids news investigations into killing of journalist


BOZEMAN
— When leading news organizations sought to understand the recent shooting death of a well-known Palestinian-American journalist, they turned to a Montana State University audio forensics expert whose research on the subject has engaged nearly a dozen undergraduates.

Following the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh during a gunfight in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on May 11, investigations by The New York TimesCNN and other media outlets relied on analysis by Rob Maher, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in MSU’s Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering.

According to the news reports, several journalists were covering a raid in the city of Jenin when Abu Akleh was shot. Witnesses alleged the longtime television correspondent — who was wearing a vest that identified her as a member of the press — was targeted by Israeli forces, a claim disputed by Israel, which said the bullet could have come from Palestinian gunmen.

"The goal of my work is to provide an objective and scientific approach with findings that can stand up to scrutiny by other experts," said Maher, who wrote an authoritative book on audio forensics that was published in 2018. "When the international reporters contacted me, I wanted to be able to explain my measurements and methodology as clearly as possible."

In a smartphone video of the incident taken by an eyewitness and provided to Maher by reporters, he immediately recognized two distinct sounds per gunshot — a sharp "crack" as the supersonic bullet passed near the smartphone’s microphone followed by the gun's muzzle blast traveling at the slower speed of sound. By viewing the audio waveform using specialized software, he could precisely measure the milliseconds of delay.

"That blew the minds of the reporters," said Maher, who aided The Times in 2019 with audio analysis that corroborated the identify of a prominent Islamic State militant. He was contacted the day of the May shooting by CNN and Bellingcat, an independent news organization based in the Netherlands, and later by The Times. Four other news reports, including one by The Jerusalem Post, cited Maher's analysis.

Knowing the speed of the munitions commonly used by both sides of the conflict, Maher could estimate the distance that the shooter was from Abu Akleh at the time of her death. The published news investigations, which included eyewitness accounts, determined that the distance Maher measured matched the location of the Israeli forces who, the reports say, almost certainly killed Abu Akleh.

Maher recently completed a series of audio forensics research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Justice. The latest, backed by a $200,000 grant, focused on analyzing gunshots and other phenomena in smartphone recordings. Working with three MSU undergraduate researchers, Maher recorded MSU police officers firing several types of firearms and developed software that can streamline analysis of audio recordings. The work was published in 2021 in a paper he co-authored with two of the students.

"There's an educational aspect to this, working with students," said Maher, who estimates his forensics work has involved roughly 10 undergraduates in recent years. "And there's also a service aspect, which fits with MSU being a land-grant university serving the public interest."

"This was a tragic incident," Maher said, "but having reporters know that they can receive professional advice, it's an important role that we have as a university."