by ABC news Tara Brown and Stephen Rice (R) were detained in Lebanon for weeks over the story.

The Nine Network today released its report into the bungled child recovery in Lebanon. A
statement from Nine said Rice, the producer of the story about Brisbane
mother Sally Faulkner and her bid to return her children to Australia,
would leave the company immediately.

Nine chief executive Hugh
Marks said the recovery operation exposed the crew to “serious risks”
and “significant reputational damage”. “We got too close to the story and suffered damaging consequences,” Mr Marks said. “Amongst
other elements of the execution of this story it was inappropriate, and
at odds with our standard procedure, for a payment to be made directly
by 60 Minutes to the recovery agency that had been independently
contracted by Sally Faulkner.

“It was also inappropriate, with the
risks involved for our crew, not to have consulted with Nine’s security
advisers before the story was finalised.”

Mr Marks said the company would improve its processes related to story selection and approval.

“We
have an obligation to our staff, our shareholders and our viewers to
operate in ways that enhance our reputation as a leading producer of
news and current affairs,” he said.

“We also accept a broader obligation to get our judgement calls right regarding what stories we pursue, and how we pursue them.”

Other staff involved in the planning and execution of the story received formal warnings.

The
independent review was conducted by the founder and former producer of
60 Minutes, Gerald Stone, former producer and senior executive at Nine,
David Hurley, and the company’s general counsel, Rachel Launders.

Journalists ‘failed to ask basic questions’

Mr Stone this afternoon said staff involved in the story had been “complacent”.

“There’s
no doubt about it, there were questions that should’ve been asked,
basic questions that experienced journalists would normally ask and they
simply weren’t,” he told 702 ABC Sydney.

“One of the things that
struck me was how lucky that program has been, because [60 Minutes] has
always been prepared to take risks that come with what I like to think
of as cutting-edge TV journalism.

“But we always try to keep the
risk in relation to the situations involved, and I think this time they
got to the stage where — after 37 years of never having a major disaster
— [they] were simply too complacent.”

He said the crucial error was staff’s failure to ask what would happen “if it goes wrong”.

“And
that question was never asked, they never even asked ‘well what is the
penalty for being alleged to be involved in the kidnapping in
Lebanon?’,” Mr Stone said.

Stephen Rice ‘treated badly’

Crikey media writer Glenn Dyer, who disclosed he has worked with Rice, said the producer had become the “fall guy”.

“This is very unfair,” he said.

“Nine’s
… report recommended that there be no action such as sackings levelled
against anybody from the 60 Minutes team or other executives, and yet
Hugh Marks, the CEO of Nine, sees fit to sack Stephen Rice, the person
who was least culpable in this.

“Why didn’t they take action
against the people responsible for the story getting into the 60 Minutes
production process and that is the two EPs [executive producers]?

“To me it is just illogical to sack a
producer and not go higher up the chain and sack people who must have
approved the story in some way or another.”

Earlier Mr Stone defended Nine’s decision not to dismiss senior staff.

“That is strictly a management decision … our committee did not recommend dismissals,” he said.

“We’d rather have the people learn from their mistakes, but management has a perfect right to make that kind of decision.”

The
Nine crew, including reporter Tara Brown and Brisbane mother Ms
Faulkner, were held in detention for nearly two weeks after being
accused of being involved in an operation with a child recovery team to
snatch Ms Faulkner’s children from her estranged husband Ali Elamine in
Beirut.

Four others allegedly involved in the scandal remain in a prison in Tripoli in Lebanon’s north.

Senior executives made key decisions: lawyer

Former
Australian solder Adam Whittington and the three others faced a Lebanon
court last week where investigating judge Ramy Abdullah denied their
application for bail.

The group’s lawyers have said the television program hired them to snatch Ms Faulkner’s children.

Mr
Whittington’s lawyer Joe Karam said he was “surprised and shocked” the
Nine report did not deal with his client’s ongoing detention.

Mr Whittington has not had a chance to read the report, but Mr Karam said Nine had a duty to help get him out of jail.

He argued those decisions were taken by Nine’s senior managers and not producer Rice, who he views as a victim in the process.

The case is now back in the hands of the general prosecutor who must refer it to a trial court, which could take months.