60 Minutes: Tara Brown’s job was on the line before only producer Stephen Rice was sacked
NINE Network bosses considered terminating up to four senior staff, including Tara Brown, over its now-infamous 60 Minutes bungled Beirut child snatching.
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NINE Network bosses last week considered terminating up to four senior staff, including star 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown, the show’s executive producer Kirsty Thomson and the network’s current head of sport Tom Malone, over its now--infamous bungled Beirut child snatching.
Insiders have revealed Nine CEO Hugh Marks had a pivotal phone hook-up with the company’s board — led by its chairman Peter Costello — on Thursday last week to hammer out the network’s response to a scathing report on 60 Minutes’ handling of the affair.
The futures of four Nine “names” were under active discussion: Thomson, Malone, Brown and the now-departed 60 Minutes producer Stephen Rice.
There was no serious consideration of firing the sound man in Beirut, David “Tangles” Ballment, or cameraman Ben Williamson.
It is understood that high-profile former Nine CEO and now board member David Gyngell intervened strongly at the meeting to defend one of the four in danger: Malone.
The revelations follow The Daily Telegraph’s publication this week of internal emails that show both Thomson and Malone were intimately involved in approving the proposal to use Adam Whittington’s child recovery firm CARI to abduct the children of Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner from the streets of Beirut.
The emails showed Thomson told Malone and Rice of the plan to pay “$115K ($69 up front) for CARI to snatch the kids, escape via water (jetskis) to a boat and then on to Cyprus”.
“Sally Faulkner has been talking to Adam Whittington for months about the possibility of snatching her 4 and 6 yo children from their father in Lebanon,” one email stated. “Classic ‘the kids aren’t coming home’ after holiday (story).”
Both Marks and the Nine board had received the report, headed up by founding 60 Minutes boss Gerald Stone, on Wednesday last week — 48 hours before announcing the decision to only fire Rice.
That full report, while strongly criticising the actions of all four senior staff, did “not recommend that any staff member should be singled out for dismissal”.
But the board meeting took a very different tone, with robust discussion about the futures at the network of each of Thomson, Malone, Rice and Brown.
It is understood one of the most animated discussions involved Mr Gyngell, by far Nine’s most high-profile board member. Insiders say he passionately defended Malone, and would not countenance moves to sack him.
Mr Gyngell presided over much of Malone’s rapid rise up the ranks at Nine, from executive producer of Today to 60 Minutes and now the network’s head of sport. Attempts to call Mr Gyngell yesterday were unsuccessful.
After his consultations with the board, the final decision was Marks’. He personally met Thomson, Malone, Brown and Rice to inform them of his decision, with only Rice fired.
Nine has been criticised for singling out Rice.
Marks said last week: “Why Stephen and not others? ... I think Stephen is the one who’s responsible. And it’s had a dramatic impact on the network, or the program in particular, and has cost us money and continues to cost us money.”
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