Why was Channel Nine filming a kidnapping?

There’s been a lot of stories about the detention of the Channel Nine crew who went to Lebanon to film the kidnapping or recovery of two children by a team hired by their Australian mother.

I can understand why the mother would want to hire a team to recover her children after their father refused to return them from a holiday.

But why a media organisation thought it would go along and film this, I do not know. Even worse, they may have put up the money for the operation, which means they face criminal liability for the kidnapping.

I feel sorry for the staff who are in jail in Lebanon. They may face a lengthy jail sentence. The ones who should be in the gun are the decision makers who decided to authorise this and authorise the money.