NBC accused of shoddy checkbook journalism on Brazil child custody story

NBC accused of shoddy checkbook journalism on Brazil child custody story

Admittedly, we didn’t have a lot of interest in the case of David Goldman, the American father who was battling to get his son back from the kid’s adopted stepfather in Brazil. But when we saw that Goldman was flying back and forth from New Jersey to Brazil in a private jet, we briefly thought to ourselves, “Jeez, that guy must have a ton of money.”

We were wrong. Turns out NBC has a ton of money and they spent it like Barack Obama on speed to become the exclusive David Goldman network.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that NBC’s actions have earned the network a scathing rebuke from the Society of Professional Journalists’ Ethics Committee:

The panel says it’s “appalled” because NBC News chartered a plane for Goldman and his son, Sean, to fly from Brazil to the United States. They were reunited after a five-year custody battle, and they arrived in Orlando on Christmas Eve. In paying for the plane, NBC News engaged in “checkbook journalism,” the Ethics Committee says.