TLC / Reality Vetting Proceedure

[fabkiwi06]

Apologies to the mods in advance if this should go somewhere else.

 

Came across this article about how the Duggars got around the already really lax background checks for reality TV.

http://www.thewrap.com/inside-tlcs-19-k ... n-scandal/

 

Essentially, there are no standard requirement for a background check for reality shows. Network shows like Survivor and American Idol tend to do fuller checks with health screenings - but they also tend to have a bigger budget and more staffing (that stays long term).

 

For cable reality shows, they don't really do a whole lot to check people out - it's up to the production company and network.

 

In the case of the Duggars, since they started as a one-off special for Discovery they weren't required to do any screening - just prove that they had a bunch of kids.

 

TLC bought out Discovery, and got access to the Duggars that way - and may have made the assumption that Discovery already vetted them.

 

The article is solid. The Wrap is a pretty well respected internal entertainment news site that caters more towards the business end of showbusiness. They typically have good info.

 

It does not excuse TLC or Discovery in any way, but I can see how the ball got drooped.

[MichellezBangz]

Apologies to the mods in advance if this should go somewhere else.

Came across this article about how the Duggars got around the already really lax background checks for reality TV.

http://www.thewrap.com/inside-tlcs-19-k ... n-scandal/

Essentially, there are no standard requirement for a background check for reality shows. Network shows like Survivor and American Idol tend to do fuller checks with health screenings - but they also tend to have a bigger budget and more staffing (that stays long term).

For cable reality shows, they don't really do a whole lot to check people out - it's up to the production company and network.

In the case of the Duggars, since they started as a one-off special for Discovery they weren't required to do any screening - just prove that they had a bunch of kids.

TLC bought out Discovery, and got access to the Duggars that way - and may have made the assumption that Discovery already vetted them.

The article is solid. The Wrap is a pretty well respected internal entertainment news site that caters more towards the business end of showbusiness. They typically have good info.

It does not excuse TLC or Discovery in any way, but I can see how the ball got drooped.

Would anything come up on a background check for the Duggars? Would that police report show up?

[fabkiwi06]

Weeellllll.... here's where it gets iffy.

Since they were filming one of the specials around the same time as one of the cases, it would be highly unlikely that it wouldn't have been noticed - but it might not have impacted the special so they didn't care. Then the issue "went away" and years passed, staff changed, issue was not noted, and THEN they got the show.

I don't really know - I don't know how much involvement Discovery had in the Duggars' lives at that point or how BIG of a deal they made out of it. I would assume that they knew Oprah had cancelled their appearance - and as the article said, that should have been a major red flag.

[MisUndrstd]

I don't know how much we can blame TLC or Discovery for this. I'm sure they would have run background checks on JB and Michelle, why would they need to run background checks on kids? Plus Josh never had an arrest record really. I'm sure TLC heard the internet rumors going around but it was probably explained away, like maybe Josh got caught with a girl his age. I'm sure Oprah might have tipped them off about the email they received, but at the time it may have been written off as rumor because it was an anonymous email that anyone could have wrote. I don't blame the network they are in the business to make money and they did that. I put the blame on JB and Michelle, especially if the network spoke to them about it and they lied.

[skulduggery]

I agree, there's a lot of different possibilities/scenarios where the ball could have been dropped unintentionally.

Though, I have a hard time believing that Oprah would get an email about the Duggars, but TLC wouldn't.

[Tatar-tot]

If "alice" and company reached out to TLC they may have been dismissed as kooks and ignored, however, Oprah is another story. Given her history of abuse, I would imagine her and her staff would have been far more sensitive and sympathetic. It probably boiled down to risk and they decided to error o the side of caution.

Thank God they did for this release is the only real chance of any of Josh's victim receiving the help they need.

[16strong]

Yeah, but wouldn't TLC have heard about the rumors by the end of the 1st season? Seems knowledge about Josh was an open secret. They could have (and should have) cancelled then, while the family was still relatively unknown.

[Nic]

Well according to TMZ this am, one of the reasons why TLC is leaning towards cancellation is that they are pissed that JB didn't disclosed that they had a son who was an admitted molester.

I'm leaning if they did know, they wouldn't have featured Joshy so prominently. No DC check-ins etc.

[FaithAndReason]

I don't know about rules for television but I run background checks for volunteers that work with children at our church. The only thing that shows up for our checks are actual court convictions of crimes. We don't have access to every police report filed against people.

From what I've read, the police reports regarding Josh are just that--reports. There was never an arrest, trial, etc. (and I admit I haven't had time to read all the pages of the Josh threads) If you ran a background check on Josh nothing would show up. He has no convictions. From that end, I'd give TLC a pass. However, if they had, in fact, heard rumors about Josh then they should have investigated further.

[gustava]

Wouldn't TLC have wondered why Oprah dropped the Duggars from her show? And asked a few questions of Oprah????

[MamaJunebug]

Wouldn't TLC have wondered why Oprah dropped the Duggars from her show? And asked a few questions of Oprah????

IMHO? Not if the money was rolling in already. I'm betting the TLC corporate machine was willing to gamble that nothing would come of whatever Harpo had learned; after all, there was no conviction and possibly not even a police report. Chances of continuing to sell all kind of ads for this show vs. chances of a scandal? In '06, I think the odds seemed very good that nothing would come of rumors and so the money would continue to come in.

[1st wiccan fundie]

Here's my 2 cents..... I don't care about they should of known. I care about what they know now. And last I heard it's still not officially canceled. Just the reruns are pulled from the short term line up. Clearly they're waiting to see if this blows over. With honey boo boo...it was cancelled pretty much immediately, with no way left for the door to be open a smidge. I can't believe that I agree with June that this isn't fair or ok. I'm not leaving her off the guilty, wrong board but this is worse than what she had done! They cancelled her show because June knowingly let a child molester near her kid/s. The Duggars let theirs live with them, they protected him, they're standing up for him at this very second! It's no secret that 19k&c is TLC's biggest money maker and their integrity is transparent. So now is way more important than what they knew before.

[TXGirlInAMaterialWorld]

I don't think TLC knew the full story at the time of the investigation in 2006. Filming a special doesn't mean there were cameras around them 24/7.

I think that TLC probably found out more as time went on and then buried their head in the sand. I think that someone had to have sent TLC info once the 17KAC started airing. I am sure JB and Michelle completely downplayed the situation to TLC and said that no charges were filed and that Josh and victims received "counseling".

It's awful to think that fundies do believe talking to one of their religious parrots is the equivalent of talking to a licensed professional counselor. My parents made me attend many "counseling" sessions with the pastor of our church once they realized I wasn't fully buying all the BS they were shoveling out. These sessions consisted of the pastor asking me about my sins, commanding me to repent and assigning bible studies for me to complete. It skeeves me out to realize all the times this old dude asked me in detail if I had any sexual thoughts or misdeeds to confess.

I saw it mentioned somewhere that TLC/Discovery has had several shows cancelled due to sexual abuse scandals. The more I thought about it, I realized that reality TV shows are usually based on people who live on the extreme end of society in one way or another. I have also noticed that many of them have a "the rules don't apply to me" type of attitude. Does that make them more prone to be abusers?

[Rainytown]

This isn't the first time TLC has been caught doing a less-than-stellar job of "vetting" their reality personalities, and I'm sure it won't be the last. I'm DYING to know what kind of "vetting" was performed before Honey Boo Boo started its run, for instance. (Let me guess: NONE.) I read an interview several years ago with the psychologist who used to specialize in working with those being cast on reality shows; he gave up in disgust when he learned that the producers of shows were not only disregarding his advice. They were actively casting the craziest of the crazy. After all, they made good TV.

Considering the fact that we are at one week since the news broke, TLC has NO intention of cancelling this show. They're going to wait until they think things have cooled off somewhat (good luck with that; the stat I read yesterday stated that 1 in 5 adults was molested as a child) and the reruns will start up again. I'm also expecting new programming that will make this scandal pale in comparison. After all, reality is still the cheapest to produce and the Discovery Networks' CEO made in excess of $150 million last year.

Yes, you read that correctly.

This channel (and every other) won't get serious about vetting, psychological testing, etcetera until someone kills someone else on-camera, or until an exploited minor sues them out of existence.

[lilwriter85]

]If "alice" and company reached out to TLC they may have been dismissed as kooks and ignored, however, Oprah is another story. Given her history of abuse, I would imagine her and her staff would have been far more sensitive and sympathetic. It probably boiled down to risk and they decided to error o the side of caution.

Thank God they did for this release is the only real chance of any of Josh's victim receiving the help they need.

I also think this happened. Oprah for a long time had discussed the abuse/rape she suffered at the hands of her uncle. She did shows about victims of rape, sexual abuse, and physical abuse. She also interviewed Ellie Nesler, the woman who killed her son's molester. Oprah's staff prior to the Duggars had experience in dealing with the topic of sexual abuse and right away the emailed tip probably made them take action.

I give credit to the Harpo staff and Oprah for contacting DHS in Arkansas and canning the Duggars' appearance. It is sad that after that the Duggars still managed to get a show on TLC. The blame there lies with TLC, especially if they ignored tips from Alice and other people.

[Buzzard]

TLC reality show questionnaire for potential talent (I'm totally making this up and am intentionally using non pc language)

1 - Please circle if you believe you fit one of more of the following categorie (bonus points if you fit one of more)

a - fat

b - a "little person"

c - have a serious visible deformity

d - live a lifestyle that most people view as strange

e - have a romantic or sexual relationship with an inanimate object

f - have more children than you can fit in a mini van

g - believe you speak to the dead

h - make unusual things out of food

i - an alien

j - have a rare/gross/painful medical condition

k - have a talent or condition that would have qualified you for a "side show" in the 1960s

l - poor

2 - Have you ever been convicted of a felony?

a - Yes

b - No

3 - Have you ever posted something on the internet that would be easily found that is contrary to the show you'd like

a -yes

b - no

4 - Do you have a lawyer?

a - yes

b - no

[Buzzard]

I also think this happened. Oprah for a long time had discussed the abuse/rape she suffered at the hands of her uncle. She did shows about victims of rape, sexual abuse, and physical abuse. She also interviewed Ellie Nesler, the woman who killed her son's molester. Oprah's staff prior to the Duggars had experience in dealing with the topic of sexual abuse and right away the emailed tip probably made them take action.

I give credit to the Harpo staff and Oprah for contacting DHS in Arkansas and canning the Duggars' appearance. It is sad that after that the Duggars still managed to get a show on TLC. The blame there lies with TLC, especially if they ignored tips from Alice and other people.

I will PAY to see the recorded footage. Maybe she'll sell it and give the proceeds to a charity.

edited to fix quote

[mpheels]

Apologies to the mods in advance if this should go somewhere else.

Came across this article about how the Duggars got around the already really lax background checks for reality TV.

http://www.thewrap.com/inside-tlcs-19-k ... n-scandal/

Essentially, there are no standard requirement for a background check for reality shows. Network shows like Survivor and American Idol tend to do fuller checks with health screenings - but they also tend to have a bigger budget and more staffing (that stays long term).

For cable reality shows, they don't really do a whole lot to check people out - it's up to the production company and network.

In the case of the Duggars, since they started as a one-off special for Discovery they weren't required to do any screening - just prove that they had a bunch of kids.

TLC bought out Discovery, and got access to the Duggars that way - and may have made the assumption that Discovery already vetted them.

The article is solid. The Wrap is a pretty well respected internal entertainment news site that caters more towards the business end of showbusiness. They typically have good info.

It does not excuse TLC or Discovery in any way, but I can see how the ball got drooped.

Discovery Communications acquired TLC in 1991, well before Josh was even born molested anyone, so the network switch is no excuse. Also, Figure8 films produced all of the specials and the series, so there was continuity among the producers.

Edit to correct a brain fart...

[SassyPants]

Discovery Communications acquired TLC in 1991, well before Josh was even born, so the network switch is no excuse. Also, Figure8 films produced all of the specials and the series, so there was continuity among the producers.

Josh, Jana and JD were all born before 1991.

Jill was born in 1991.

[16strong]

Discovery Communications acquired TLC in 1991, well before Josh was even born, so the network switch is no excuse. Also, Figure8 films produced all of the specials and the series, so there was continuity among the producers.

Uh... Josh is older than me, and I was born in the 80's.

[mpheels]

Josh, Jana and JD were all born before 1991.

Jill was born in 1991.

Sorry, had a brain fart and was thinking 1981. Still, Discovery acquired TLC years before Josh molested his sisters.

[skulduggery]

If "alice" and company reached out to TLC they may have been dismissed as kooks and ignored, however, Oprah is another story. Given her history of abuse, I would imagine her and her staff would have been far more sensitive and sympathetic. It probably boiled down to risk and they decided to error o the side of caution.

Thank God they did for this release is the only real chance of any of Josh's victim receiving the help they need.

I'm thinking all this is likely, too. TLC saw the money rolling in and probably deleted the email as hate mail and forgot about it. Maybe alice or concernedmom forgot to point out that there's an arrest record and a sealed suit against DHS to support their claims. There's a lot of reasons they may have been ignored.

Still. I'm not convinced that TLC is just hearing about this now and feels super betrayed.

Edited for syntax.

[December]

I will PAY to see the recorded footage. Maybe she'll sell it and give the proceeds to a charity.

edited to fix quote

Sorry if I've missed this in other threads, but was the Duggar episode actually recorded or was it nixed before they actually made it? If it was recorded, was it destroyed after it didn't air? Or is there some hope of it actually coming to light one day?

Also, if there was no actual police reports visible to TLC, I maybe can see why they proceeded with the show. A little surprised Josh was featured prominently. Perhaps, like some people here, they assumed the "sin" could've involved something considered harmless in other families (i.e. looking at porn).

[Chococat]

Us Magazine is saying Jill/Jessa are in talks with TLC for a spinoff. Guess the Seewald/Dillards won't have to be vetted since they're already TLC family.

www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/j ... al-2015275

[lilwriter85]

Us Magazine is saying Jill/Jessa are in talks with TLC for a spinoff. Guess the Seewald/Dillards won't have to be vetted since they're already TLC family.

http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment ... al-2015275

In my opinion, I don't think any of the other Duggar kids deserve spin-offs. I think the whole family has lied about other things not related to the Josh incidents. I think both couples need to man up and learn to survive financially without Boob or TLC.