Sex, sleaze and a traumatised boy sacrificed for ratings

This article was published in The Brisbane Times 24 February 2010

At age 15, you can't vote, you can't die for your country, and you can't even take a legal drink. But it seems you're fair game if your parents lost their lives in the most pored over local sex scandal of the decade.

If you don't like it, well, turn off the telly.

Nine Network's telemovie about Maria Korp, the woman strangled by her husband's mistress and left for dead in the boot of the family car, raises questions about how a child caught up in his parents' complications can be offered up so easily at the altar of Nine's quest for ratings.

The 15-year-old — not named here, in line with the family's wishes — can take comfort from the fact that his tragedy will be — in the words of Nine's head of drama, Jo Horsburgh — the network's highlight of 2010.