Seven’s Sunday Night will this week air an exclusive interview with Adam Whittington, the head of Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI), who has returned to Australia.
Mr Whittington was released from prison in Beirut at the end of July after nearly four months behind bars over his involvement in the plotting and failed abduction of Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner’s two children from Lebanon, with an Australian television crew.
The interview with Sunday Night’s Mike Willesee, Mr Whittington’s first on the failed child snatch, airs on Sunday at 8pm on Seven.
Sunday Night made no payment to Mr Whittington, his family or any other party for the interview. The fact that he wasn’t paid will be disclosed in the program.
Seven bluring out all Nine and Ten logos during the Beirut story, and not even any acknowledgement that they used footage from The Project.
The big revelation was Whittington posting a video on Facebook the day before the snatch. There has to be more to the whole thing, because some questions still remain. Willesse didn’t nail it.
Of course there would have to be more to it, we all know that Seven really only wanted the interview so they could really stick it to Nine because they made a huge f****up. That’s how the commercial networks in Australia work these days.
As much as I like Nine News, but they really did stab themselves in the foot this time.
FATAL DISTRACTION
Admit it. We’ve all done it - snuck in a mobile call or tapped out a text while we’re driving. Not only are we risking hefty fines, we’re also placing our lives - and the lives of others - in very serious danger. Accidents caused by distracted drivers are now one of the biggest killers on our roads, especially among young people. But it’s not just mobile phones that are the culprit. Cars are now bristling with all manner of electronic gadgetry to make the driving experience easier. Sadly, they’re also making it easier to be fatally distracted. But, as Alex Cullen reports, there’s help on the way… thanks to an ingenious Aussie invention.
THE BOSS
‘The Boss’ - two simple words that say everything about Bruce Springsteen: the rock and roll giant. Bruce Springsteen’s impact on music is colossal - his live stage performances with the E Street band were the stuff of legend. And, at 67, he’s never been more at ease in a stadium packed to the rafters with adoring fans. But, in an extraordinarily frank interview with Rahni Sadler, we learn about his early years and the dark days that were the driving force behind Bruce Springsteen’s road to greatness.
YUMMY MUMMIES
In the upside down world of becoming a new mum, Ashy Bines has become the go-to girl for those wanting to get their old bodies back. She’s built a booming fitness empire helping mums and mums-to-be achieve health and happiness, and get back in shape and into a bikini. They’re called ‘yummy mummies’ but their pursuit of a perfect body has created a storm of outrage, with critics claiming it’s promoting unhealthy and unrealistic goals which end up doing more harm than good. Sunday Night’s Melissa Doyle weighs in to the post-baby body debate.
HOUSE OF HORRORS
Natascha Kampusch was just 10 years old when her life turned into a nightmare. She was on her way to school when a deranged loner snatched her off a street in Vienna. Natascha was taken to a suburban house and locked up in a cellar, purpose-built by her kidnapper. Trapped in the darkness, she was subjected to unimaginable abuse for eight long years before one day making a daring escape. But as Rahni Sadler discovers, there’s now a bizarre final twist to this story – Natascha has become the proud owner of the house of horrors where she was imprisoned.
A TALL TALE
With the AFL season drawing to a close, clubs throughout Australia will once again be on the hunt for that winning edge, a secret game-breaking weapon. The formula is simple – players have to be fast, fit and most of all, tall. Increasingly, Aussie Rules clubs are turning their attention overseas and in particular America. They’re targeting the best and the biggest talent the U.S. has to offer and it’s a bold recruitment drive that’s already paying dividends.
The Seven Network and the pugnacious Muslim Aussie family it flew to the French Riviera with the aim of provoking beachgoers into a “racist” reaction to the “Aussie cossie” burkini owe the traumatised people of Nice and France a swift apology.
The cynical stunt pulled by the Sunday Night program, where it spirited Sydney hijab-proselytising medical student Zeynab Alshelh and her activist parents off to a beach near Nice to “show solidarity” with (radically conservative) Muslims, featured the 23-year-old flaunting her burkini in an obvious attempt to bait Gallic sun lovers into religious and ethnically motivated hatred. Except according to the French people filmed against their will, the claimed “chasing off the beach” that made international headlines never occurred because Seven used hidden camera tactics, selective editing and deliberate distortion to reach its predetermined conclusions.
This unethical exercise in journalism deliberately painted France as “hostile to Muslims” even though the most hostile countries in the world for Muslim women are places such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, where being female entails forcible veiling and the threat of punishment with the lash, prison or worse for flouting bans on driving, playing sport, committing “adultery” or doing much at all without a male guardian.
Very lengthy article full of details from witnesses. Looks like classic Media Watch material.
HUNTED
It was a Tuesday morning a little over two years ago when Glen Turner left home for work. He would never return, the victim of a brutal act of revenge and murder. On an isolated road in the Australian bush, the father-of-two was killed simply for doing his job. On that day, Glen was investigating a wealthy and powerful farmer who had been caught continually breaking the law. In doing so, he made a very dangerous enemy. For the first time on Sunday Night, Glen’s colleague and the sole witness to the senseless murder recounts the last terrifying moments of his mate’s life – a bloody showdown that’s left an entire community shattered.
TRUE BLUE DOC
He’s become the world’s most popular television doctor, a role based on his dislike for children, animals and even his patients. He is of course Doc Martin. But the man who has turned the grouchy medico into an international star is nothing like his TV persona. In real life, Martin Clunes is a generous and caring family man who overcame bullying in school to eventually find his true purpose – making people laugh. And as Kerri-Anne Kennerley discovers, Martin found plenty of new material on a recent trip down under.
This edition of SUNDAY NIGHT hosted by Melissa Doyle.
THE FATAL SHORE
Summer is not yet here and already there’s been a shark attack on our beaches. Thankfully, teenage surfer Cooper Allen survived his encounter last week with a four-metre great white. But of greater concern is where it happened – a beautiful and dangerous stretch of coastline that’s fast becoming our Fatal Shore. As the debate again surfaces over how to best protect surf-loving Aussies, young Cooper tells Sunday Night he had one greater fear than being bitten by a shark – what his Mum would say. Reporter Rahni Sadler catches up with mother and son as he recovers from the terrifying attack.
THE HUNTING GROUNDS
A shameful epidemic is sweeping our universities. Female students are being sexually assaulted in frightening numbers, with only a fraction of the assaults resulting in any punishment for the offenders. While the accused are often allowed to continue their studies, their victims are left broken and afraid. In a Sunday Night major investigation, three brave young women speak out for the first time. And as PJ Madam uncovers, they all paint the same picture – that some of our most reputable universities have become hunting grounds for young predators.
KING OF THE WALTZ
In a time of pop, rock and roll and heavy metal, he chose the most unlikely musical path to fame and fortune. But by becoming the King of the Waltz, André Rieu has taken his violin to the top of the charts to become one of the world’s most popular and successful artists. As Kerri-Anne Kennerley discovers, the musical maestro’s life is like one of his extravagant concerts, full of passion and surprises.
HE’S BACK
From Mad Max to Hollywood outcast, Mel Gibson’s life on and off the big screen has been a wild ride. Along the way he’s picked up two Oscars, earned a pile of cash and attracted a bucket load of bad publicity. But there’s no doubting that Mel is a survivor, overcoming scandals that would have destroyed the careers of just about anyone else in Tinsel Town. On Sunday Night, in an exclusive interview with Mike Willesee, the award winning actor- director speaks from the heart about his breakdowns, his break ups and his struggle with sobriety.
CLASS WAR
It’s highly controversial and it’s dividing schools around the country. The ‘Safe Schools’ program is promoted as the answer to schoolyard bullying and discrimination. But it’s critics, and there are many, warn it’s only pushing an extreme left-wing ideology. As PJ Madam discovers, children as young as five are being exposed to sexual material designed to increase their acceptance of homosexual and transgender kids. But how young is too young?
TOWERING AMBITION
They’re two-years in the making but the results are nothing short of spectacular. Human towers that reach dizzying heights when teams of more than 100 men, women and children climb on top of each other to create a living skyscraper. It’s a celebration of strength, courage and most of all, balance. And the highlight - when the smallest child in the team clambers to the summit. This year, Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock put his body on the line to take part in this death-defying feat.
This edition of SUNDAY NIGHT hosted by Melissa Doyle airs on Sunday at 8.15pm on Seven
