60 Minutes review: Producer exits Nine
Producer Stephen Rice is the only scalp named in Nine's review statement.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News, Top Stories
Stephen Rice, the story producer of Nine’s disastrous 60 Minutes story, is exiting the network as a result of Nine’s internal review.
Nine has not indicated if he was fired or has resigned saying in a statement, “Stephen Rice, the producer of the Sally Faulkner story, will be leaving the company effective immediately.”
Rice (pictured second from left) was one of four Nine staff behind bars in Lebanon last month.
No other staff have been named in a statement issued by Nine (including former EP Tom Malone, nor current EP Kirsty Thomson).
Nine indicates other staff involved in the planning and execution of the story have received formal warnings.
Nine CEO Hugh Marks said: “The manner in which we produced Sally Faulkner’s story exposed our crew to serious risks, and exposed 60 Minutes and Nine to significant reputational damage. We got too close to the story and suffered damaging consequences.
“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.”
“As a result of the review, we are expanding and upgrading our processes related to story selection and approval, how we approve contracts and payments and the way we conduct risk assessments. 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.
“We also accept a broader obligation to get our judgement calls right regarding what stories we pursue, and how we pursue them. Implementation of the recommendations of the review will assist us in making the right choices in the future,” Marks said.
Chairman of NEC, Peter Costello said after consideration of the Report, its recommendations and the response of management, the Board has decided to put in place a strengthened Risk Assessment Process in addition to enhanced financial controls and delegations. These procedures will be verified on a regular basis.
“It is the determination of the Board to build a robust system of checks and balances to guard against such events occurring in the future. Our talented people are the most valuable resource of the company and their safety is our priority,” Costello said.
The independent review was conducted by former producer of 60 Minutes, Gerald Stone, former producer and senior executive at Nine, David Hurley, and the company’s general counsel, Rachel Launders.
“I had the honour to help start that stopwatch ticking 37 years ago and regrettably this has been the gravest misadventure in the program’s history,” Gerald Stone said.
“It’s clear from our findings that inexcusable errors were made. I still believe, however, that 60 Minutes – lessons learned – can continue to earn the respect and attention of the viewing public for years to come.”
Nine has indicated that its crew potentially faces cases to answer from the Lebanese justice system.
The crew continue to receive counselling related to the events in Lebanon and the other team members will return to work soon.
“At its best, 60 Minutes represents outstanding journalism that remains of vital importance to our viewers, to the wider community and to Nine. This incident, while deeply regrettable does not diminish our commitment to the program or our confidence in its future given the highly talented team who produce the program each week,” Mr Marks said.
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16 Responses
So Channel 9 finally admit what we knew all along in that they did actually pay money to the recovery team.
They would never fire Tara but geez surely she should have realised this want the greatest idea.
There’s always more to the story, as there was as it was happening two months ago. If reports are to believed the story producer did his own thing and bypassed the upper layers of reporting. How true that is, i don’t know. With a show as big as that one, multiple people couldn’t have been shielded from what was being planned. For me, Tara Brown is just as culpable breach wise. Reporter and Producer are two sides of the same coin. That said if the executive producer or anybody else – supervising producer, production manager didn’t raise an alarm bell at the moral issue of payment, abduction etc; then more than one scalp is required. I get that the optics of it is that Nine have to be seen to ‘do something’ but one producer let go doesn’t forgive the stupidity of the whole endeavour. Would anything like it happen again? You’d hope not. I worked on Mediawatch during the original…
Damn you, 900 character limit! You worked on Mediawatch during the original what?
Agree that Brown would appear to be as, or nearly as, culpable as Rice. Rogue producer or not, he wouldn’t have been responsible for writing the cheque to CARI. As I said on the Key Findings article, Rice is merely the scapegoat because Nine don’t want to lose anyone higher up the chain including Tom Malone or Kirsty Thomson.
thanks secret squirrel for asking. Original era of Media Watch and host Stuart Littlemore. I worked on it in 1990 and then from 2003-2008. You’re correct about the chain. But the buck(s) begins and stops with executives. Curiously they survive this debacle!
I look forward to an apology on next week’s Footy Show…
Hah! Yes, a quarter-arsed one written by Tom Malone who has foot in both camps and he’s managed to shoot both of them.
So the two people who should be held responsible the most get formal warnings(bet they are shaking in their boots) and the person down the chain gets let go The words scape and goat come to mind.
Will Sunday Night do a story on whether he was sacked or resigned?
The Sunshine Coast Daily is reporting he was ‘sacked’.
It’s inconceivable that the EP was not across this story. What sort of culture inhabits 60 mins. if they seem to be able to do whatever they want with out proper checks and balances. Once again it’s a case of egos gone awry. Any one of that crew could have refused to do the story,especially Tara Brown, but it seems they were all caught up in “the excitement of the shoot “
“At its best, 60 Minutes represents outstanding journalism”
Best laugh I’ve had all week!
Released on a Friday arvo, I note.
Indeed.
Anyone know what sort of coverage this got on Nine News? It’s been buried down the page on the ninemsn site and is the only article on the homepage that doesn’t have an associated picture, making it fairly easy to miss.
I would not believe anything that comes out of Nine regarding this blotched attempt overseas!!
Are these people the same ones that (probably) said “yeah, do that story, that will be a cracker! Distraught mothers are the best for ratings!”