When you think of Australian journalists who are of a high caliber and have had a long, prosperous career, you think of Tara Brown. Since joining the Nine Network in 1992, Brown's career has only strengthened and for many years, she has been a well renowned, respected journalist on 60 Minutes.
But, is this really the case now? How can we view Tara, as well as the three 60 Minutes crew who were also apart of the controversial Lebanon case, in the same manner that we did previously? It is well known in the general public that Nine paid for the releases of Brown and the three 60 Minutes crew members. When news broke that the "star plagued" individuals were released, the people of Australia welcomed them with open arms and accepted them back into our society. Now, i'm not suggesting that people should not have expressed their happiness or "enjoyment" of the 60 Minutes crew returning; I am entirely supportive of free speech and beliefs. However, shouldn't we question how morally unethical it was too leave five people, who had the same involvement as Tara and the 60 Minutes crew, wasting their lives away in prison with no action being undertaken to grant them the same rights and freedoms as the 60 Minutes crew? I don't understand how the Australian society is so naive on the entire matter. It is not as if the general public does not have any knowledge of the five people who remain in prison. Every night, every day of the week, we were subjected to the latest news that came out of the entire scenario. The excuse that people "do not know that they are still in prison" is laughable and completely ridiculous.
What we must understand is that Tara Brown and the three 60 Minutes crew, faced the real possibility of serving an imprisonment of twenty years, as well as enduring hard labour. Could you imagine the repercussions Nine would have had if the imprisonment was served by all involved? Despite the relatively unlikely scenario, it ultimately would have been the best outcome. Nine deserve to be punished over the circumstances, just as much as Tara Brown and the 60 Minutes crew deserve to serve the imprisonment. Would Tara Brown, as well as the 60 Minutes crew, have been released if they did not have a role in the Australian Television industry? No, of course not. In a world where equality is encouraged on a day to day basis, we have to ask ourselves...why were the 60 Minutes crew treated any differently? If it had of been you, or myself, in that scenario, we would have had to serve the twenty year imprisonment. It's not as if something or someone, would "buy" us out of the situation. That is something which we certainly cannot dispute.
Whilst Tara Brown's prosperous and successful career is something that is worth reflecting upon, the unethical circumstances that allowed Brown and the three 60 Minutes crew to walk free is something that should not. Tara, Channel Nine and the 60 Minutes crew, you have put this country to shame and quite frankly, all parties deserve to be punished in some form or another.
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