SYDNEY (Pacific Scoop / Pacific Media Watch): A prominent Fiji and Australian journalist has condemned the Nine Entertainment Company for making a "breathtaking" six figure deal with the parents of a 14-year-old boy arrested in Bali for drug possession, describing it as "lamentable, even by the standards of the Australian commercial media".
"Never mind the egregious act of rewarding criminal behaviour, which may be in breach of Australian laws prohibiting offenders from benefiting financially. Incredibly, this is a deal that has come to light even before the court case against the boy has concluded and may well jeopardise the efforts of Indonesian lawyers to secure his early release," wrote Graham Davis in his blog Grubsheet, republished on Pacific Scoop and PMC Online.
Reports of a deal between the parents and the Nine Network's 60 Minutes programme were featured by the Sunday Telegraph, The Sydney Morning Herald and other media last weekend but subsequently denied by both the family and company.
However, in a footnote to the original Davis commentary, he added: "The [denial] comes after a public outcry in Australia and warnings from Indonesian lawyers that the deal could jeopardise the boy’s release.
"It remains to be seen whether any deal has been scuppered permanently or is merely on hold until the boy leaves Indonesia."
Lawyers acting for the Lake Macquarie teenager believe the lucrative media deal reports ‘‘damaged’’ his reputation after prosecutors yesterday demanded he be sentenced to three months in prison for buying a small quantity of cannabis.
The boy, arrested on October 4 with 3.6 grams of cannabis outside a Kuta massage parlour, now risks spending Christmas and New Year in custody, most likely in a children’s prison in north Bali but possibly in a special cell for under-age offenders at the notorious Kerobokan jail.
Graham Davis wrote in his column: "All the normal conventions that ought to apply in this instance have been tossed to the winds in the blind pursuit of television ratings and magazine circulation.
"Nine’s action beggars belief. It is corporately irresponsible, legally questionable – maybe illegal – and morally reprehensible. With a 14-year old’s freedom and future at stake, it is quite simply mad.
"We’re told that the deal with the boy’s parents was concluded by Nine’s managing director Jeffrey Browne and signed off by group CEO David Gyngell. One truly has to wonder about the moral compass of these individuals, let alone their judgment.
"They – and the boy’s lamentable parents – stand accused in the court of public opinion of greed and stupidity on an epic scale. They deserve to cop the full force of that opprobrium, along with a rectal examination by the broadcasting authorities of the circumstances of this arrangement.
"It’s not merely the payment that is grossly offensive but the terms Nine is using to promote one of the basest instances of chequebook journalism Grubsheet has ever witnessed."
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Opinion: Chequebook journalism in Bali drug boy case irresponsible, stupid
Boy’s parents accused of abusing his rights
Graham Davis
