Onthebeach, clearly thousands of professional journalists don't hold such a black and white philosophical view as does your ethics committee writer. Each case is clearly different and depends on the circumstances. In many cases, win-win situations can apply and in the real world of commercial media, where ratings matter, it is a tool that can be used wisely. Poor journalism is paid for all the time, so are sportsmen, singers and everyone else. If I had a unique story to tell that would rate highly, I certainly would not go to the trouble of telling it for nothing. That is the reality today, even if you don't like it.

As to your other points, you are clearly jumping the gun. An investigation has been launched by Channel 9, which will in due course answer all those questions.

Roskop, the bloke who struck the grandmother clearly got it wrong, I have not defended him and AFAIK he was not instructed to do that, so is in the wrong. If Lebanon wants to be taken seriously, then hopefully they will take all domestic violence seriously, which when I google about it, is presently not the case. Violence is violence, wether it is committed by a husband of by a stranger

A number of commenters persist in referring to Sharia law in Lebanon. That probably says more about their own views than it does about the law. Lebanon does not have Sharia law. The legal system is set out in the 1926 constitution. It reflects the diverse nature of Lebanese society, and provision is made for Christians, Jews, Druze, and Muslims . There is no State religion.
The dominant civil code is based on the French system, hence the role of the examining magistrate in case currently attracting attention.
No legal system is perfect, and after more than 30 years of practice in the Australian family law system I can confidently say that is also true of Australia.
Having read all of the comments above I can also say that if there is one thing they reflect in common is that there is a lot of speculation and personal opinion, and very little based on the facts of this case. A major reason for that I acknowledge is due to the appalling coverage by our media that seem to suffer from the same faults as those who venture to comment.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/broadcast/60-minutes-to-midnight-as-ali-alamin-tightens-grip-on-children/news-story/53138a7517e0f9c3ae5bcb07060fcd96

James, according to this article, posted in the Australian on April 16th, according to Ms Faulkner's Lebanese lawyer, the father was granted authority to have sole care, by religious leaders. In other words, he took religious control. The speaker of the Lebanese parliament, to which the father is seemingly related, is Shia.

Perhaps you missed the Human Rights Watch link which I posted some time ago on this thread, which explained how family law works in Lebanon. Sharia Law applies to Muslims, but all women are seemingly discriminated against in Lebanon, according to the HRW article.

I have a firm conviction that a 2 year old and 5 year old, belong with their mother, so it is the kids that I feel empathy for. I needed my mother at that age too and it would be far worse for a girl.

@Yabby, "all women are seemingly discriminated against in Lebanon". So is discrimination a good thing or a bad thing? In the following paragraph you suggest that fathers should be discriminated against. Me thinks you may be a prize hypocrite

Wasn't the Media Watch episode tonight (2/5)illuminating?

Nine is in deep denial, too ignorant and arrogant to understand what it is they have done wrong.

If they had watched tonight's 4 Corners they might have begun to learn what current affairs journalism actually is, but you doubt their vanity would have permitted it.

Of course what 60 minutes did was wrong. I doubt anyone intelligent would condone what they did.
However, in my mind, the father asking for full custody or he would ensure their mother was jailed, is despicable. And the Lebanese legal system/religious leaders agreeing to this sort of deal is even worse.
The kids will find out about this one day, and they will hate their father....