The drama unfolding in Beirut with a Channel Nine crew formally charged on kidnapping, not respecting local authority and causing harm is sobering, confronting and potentially a life changing lesson for anyone affected by the alleged kidnapping gone horribly wrong.
Snide comments were made by other media outlets in the first few hours after the story broke as they pondered just how well Nine would have rated in coverage of the story. But now we’re left to ponder how any of what we believe to be true was allowed to happen.
Who in Australia wouldn’t have compassion for a mum if it turns out her children were whisked away from her under false pretences and now live in another country?
Who couldn’t anticipate the compelling vision and the ratings potential for Channel 9 in a sensation-hungry world of sound bites and competition if the children were “rescued” and reunited in a heist worthy of a Jack Bauer episode of “24”?
But who considered the legal ramifications of chequebook journalism gone askew?
Who gamed out a scenario where the crew may be found in defiance of local laws?
And who worried enough about the risk to the children of getting hurt if it all went horribly wrong.

The lessons for us closer to home?

In this very sad and frightening story, we see the intersection of moral dilemmas, poor decision-making and failure to take account of unintended consequences. Rarely is a situation clear cut. Rarely is there one clear moral path. On a good day we can justify anything. We can rationalise everything. But in our attention seeking world, and ratings are a bid for attention, the end doesn’t always justify the means.