Reporter Tara Brown, producer Stephen Rice, sound recordist David Bellament and cameraman Ben Williamson are free today, after Channel Nine shelled out what some believe to be $3 million to secure their release from a Beirut prison. Now the spin begins.
Nine paid a considerable amount of money to facilitate a serious crime, that of kidnapping two young children. What will it do with the resulting footage and its employees’ harrowing story of derring-do? It is illegal in Australia to benefit from the proceeds of crime — but it seems unlikely the police will be able to quantify and confiscate the considerable ratings bump 60 Minutes would enjoy from putting this tawdry tale to air.
Will Nine apologise for causing an international incident, kidnapping two small children, terrifying their father and grandmother and landing their mother in jail? Will the station let the matter drop now, copping the $3 million on the chin as a warning to stay away from such tabloid intervention in future?
We’re not holding our breath.
Who/what was the 3m paid to ?
That 3m is just a guess, Deano…I’ve heard anything from a few hundred thousand to 1m.
It appears that the father of the children will receive the bulk of this money…’payment’ for dropping personal charges against his estranged wife and the Ch9 lot…but he still wants the child recovery guys charged.
Justice Lebanese style…I still feel some sympathy for the mother of these small children, as the father insisted, as part of the deal, that she grant full custody to him, and he will decide if/when she can visit them in Lebanon…never Australia!!
Holy crap ! That’s an appealing outcome for the kids and mother 🙁 Surely if the father overstayed in Lebanon (presumably) in breach of the pre-existing Australian custody terms then this new deal is null and void ? Where is the Federal government in al this in support and protection of the children who are/were lawfully entitled to be home with their mother ? Holding this charges to her head and demanding $3m and full custody cannot possibly be lawful ?
Bloody autocorrect, ‘appealing’ should of course read appalling. And ‘this charges’ should be ‘these charges’
Channel 9 should not profit from this tawdry story at all. The four staff are extremely lucky to have been released and not jailed (unlike which might happen to the other men from the Child Recovery Unit or whatever it is called) for a considerable period of time. Obviously the father has come away with a tidy sum of what essentially is a bribe… labelled compensation… to drop all charges. There are no winners in this odious story whatsoever… the estranged parents, their children and extended families.
Hopefully a line has been drawn in the sand with this affair and tabloid “journalism” might take stock and rethink such opportunities but I somewhat doubt it.
Ray “Paxton” Martin’s been defending them too?
Thankfully I don’t watch channel 9 fullstop, adds with a crap filler….just like most, if not all, commercial TV. I think the journalists are morons who deserved to spend a few years in a Beirut prison to think how stupid they are. Channel nine Exec’s who approved this fiasco should be charged in Australia for an offence relating to it as well.
To answer your final para. – “NO, a,b,c, d & e” & “NO, a & b”. I truly loathsome effort from a loathsome outfit.
The only question is how many & how loud the dog-whistles in the forthcoming “My Beirut Hell-hole Horror” continuing saga, eps 94 & counting.
There would be no difficulty whatsoever in prosecuting Ch9 over profitting from criminal activity but that chances of that happening are less than the success rate of nailing jelly to a ceiling.