Karl Stefanovic defends ‘brilliant journalist’ Tara Brown and 60 Minutes

TODAY host Karl Stefanovic has launched a fiery defence of his friend and colleague Tara Brown and her 60 Minutes crew after the bungled “child recovery” operation.

TODAY host Karl Stefanovic has defended friend and colleague Tara Brown and her 60 Minutes crew after the bungled “child recovery” operation that saw them arrested in Lebanon.

The occasional 60 Minutes reporter weighed in on the case following the release of message from the families of Channel 9 staff locked up in Beirut.

Echoing the partners of Ms Brown, producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment, Stefanovic asked the public not to quickly judge his “brilliant” colleagues.

Drawing on Ms Brown’s award-winning career, Stefanovic argued his friend’s much criticised mission in Lebanon had a noble cause.

“Tara is a friend. She is a colleague. She is a mother. She is a brilliant journalist,” he wrote in a column for News Corp Australia.

“She has consistently broken stories, and forensically exposed wrong doing in society all around the world. She has religiously and without favour fought for the truth.

“I reckon that’s what she was doing in Lebanon.”

Tara Brown & Karl Stefanovic, pictured together at a Channel 9 function in 2006.

The crew’s input in the facilitating and recording the alleged kidnapping of Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner’s two children, taken by their father to Lebanon, has been widely criticised since the story surfaced more than a week ago following the crew’s, and Sally’s arrest.

Stefanovic voiced his support of the team, and said he had faith the program was doing the right thing pursuing the story.

“I admire good journalism. I support our team in the pursuit of it,” he said.

“I stand up for a show I know intimately with the knowledge they have always striven to tell stories someone else not want printed.”

He added: “If there were mistakes made they will have to deal with the consequences … The courts will decide our dear colleagues’ fate”.

Stefanovic said for Channel 9 journalists like himself, the story had become “very personal”.

He said he and his colleagues were “gutted” at what was going on.

“One of our own and some of our best have made the news and become the story while chasing the story,” he said.

“We are all gutted how it’s turned out. We all feel it. We are all asking ourselves how this could have happened and none of us have the answers.”

The crew travelled to Lebanon to cover the story of Sally Faulkner attempting to retrieve her children from Lebanon.

Earlier Sunday, in a statement released to news.com.au, partners of the detained crew — Cara Williamson, Denise Rice, John McAvoy and Laura Battistel — said it was comforting at least to know their loved ones were in “good health” and were being “well looked after” by Lebanese authorities.

Despite that, they said the past few days had been awful.

“This is a living nightmare. It’s hard to imagine it could be any tougher,” the statement read.

Some of the detained crew’s young children, including Brown and Mr McAvoy’s children Jack, 7, and Tom, 5, are yet to be told what was happening.

“It’s not an easy conversation to have with a five or seven year old who ask as they go to sleep each night when mummy or daddy is coming home. Understandably we are all anxious and worried sick.”

They denied reports they were being denied information, labelling them “beyond absurd”.

“The updates are daily. And hugely valued. Nine is sharing whatever it knows as they hear about it. It is a day by day proposition, complicated by the fact that there is so little to go on and of course none of us are familiar with the Lebanese legal system.”

The families of Tara Brown, David Ballment, Stephen Rice and Ben Williamson have shared their struggle.

The group also defended the team, saying they were doing their jobs covering an important story.

“As it turns out, a very important story. It’s what they do. It’s what they have been doing brilliantly for years. Obviously, this time, something went wrong.”

They appealed to the critics to hold off judging until all the facts were known.

“But if we have one message it’s that people who have been so quick to judge should at least wait until all the facts are known. We haven’t spoken to our partners since before they were arrested. Very few of the facts are clear at this stage. If we don’t have all the facts, how can anyone else?”