<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/15/AR2005061502569.html>
Runaway Bride's Dowry Deal Top Agent Offers $500,000 for Story Rights; NBC Gets Interview
By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, June 16, 2005; Page C01
New York superagent Judith Regan has bought the rights to the life stories of runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks and her fiance after offering them $500,000 for a package that -- in an unusual twist -- included the first news interview with the couple.
NBC anchor Katie Couric interviewed the couple last weekend for an hour-long prime-time special to air Tuesday, but the network's news and entertainment divisions say NBC isn't paying Wilbanks and John Mason a dime. A deal memo to the couple's spokesman, written by a Regan staffer, specified that an interview would be part of the agreement.
"I really can't comment about any decision I make about who gets interviews if I have the rights to things," Regan said yesterday. But, she said, "NBC has not paid for an interview. Nobody pays for interviews."
NBC News spokeswoman Allison Gollust said the news division never pays for interviews. "This was a 'get' by Katie," she said. "It takes a lot of work. You talk to a lot of people. We put our best people out there."
Stephen Philion Assistant Professor, Dept. of Sociology St. Olaf College http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/sociology/People/faculty-staff/steve.html