The Channel Nine boss was forced into an awkward encounter with a journalist from rival broadcaster Seven as he tried to enter a luxury Paris hotel while embroiled in a bitter pay dispute where his salary and benefits came under fire.
In a clip posted on X, Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby is seen in Paris with a Seven microphone pointed at him as the media giant he runs faces a strike by newspaper staff on the eve of the French capital hosting the Olympics.
Nine holds exclusive Australian broadcast rights to the Olympics as part of a $305 million deal that runs through to the 2032 Games in Brisbane.
A visibly upset Mr Sneesby initially tried to ignore the Seven reporter.
“It’s really not the time for chatting,” he said.
“It’s quite simple, should you have carried the torch yesterday?” the journalist persisted as Sneesby walked past him.
The journalist was undeterred and fired more questions at Mr Sneesby, who continued walking without saying anything.
“Is it inappropriate for you to stay in a boutique hotel when you have just laid off staff?” the journalist asked.
Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby tried to chase away a journalist from rival broadcaster Seven in Paris
Mr Sneesby tried to shoo the journalist away, but he continued to be questioned.
“The staff are going on strike today. Why don’t you stop and talk to us now?” the journalist asked.
Wincing in pain, Mr. Grimace once again attempted to shake off his interrogator.
“I will meet with my family and…” he said.
“You are the head of a media company, are you here to work or on holiday with your family?” the journalist interrupts.
Beneath the confrontation, Seven posted the tagline: ‘Nine Olympic strike: Nine boss in luxury hotel as staff strike over pay.’
Nine employees have called on Sneesby to give up bonuses and other benefits as journalists walk out of their jobs in search of higher pay.
Journalists at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Brisbane Times and Watoday went on strike. Starting at 11am on Friday.
Members of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance union at Nine’s publishing division have demanded a 20 per cent pay rise over three years.
Nine reportedly offered a 10.5 percent increase, almost half of what staff were asking for.
The Age’s state political reporter Broede Carmody said journalists were calling on Sneesby and all other executives to give up bonuses from the past two financial years and reinvest them in the company.
Nine employees of the newspaper walked off the job at 11am on Friday in protest over their wages and other demands.
“Mike Sneesby wants to talk about sustainable business, let’s talk about sustainable business,” Carmody said outside Nine’s Docklands office in Melbourne on Friday morning.
“How many jobs could have been saved if this company had not flown non-Olympic television people to Paris and put them up in luxury hotels costing $1,000 a night?”
Carmody also criticised an alleged million-dollar handshake given to former news chief Darren Wick despite sexual harassment allegations against him.
An external investigation has been announced into allegations that Wick harassed a dozen women at the media giant.
“The pain will really start to be felt” as hundreds of staff members across the country walk off the job, Carmody added.
“If Mike Sneesby says today that coverage will continue and that newspapers will have a great image, well, I’m sorry, how is the newspaper going to have a great image for five days with 500 people walking out the door?” he asked.
“This just doesn’t make sense.”
Carmody said reporters would not rule out taking further action if Nine did not “come to the table with a fair offer”.
“Everything the company is going to offer us this fiscal year is below inflation. We are going through a cost of living crisis and we need that money now,” he said.
Other employees said Thursday’s strike would be their fifth during their time at Nine.
Nine said in a statement that the company “recognises the rights of unions to take industrial action but believes that returning to the negotiating table is the best way forward on the EBA.”
“With our new and improved proposal representing a fair and reasonable offer to our people, we remain open to resuming good faith negotiations as soon as possible,” the statement said.
Nine journalists are demanding better pay, especially for freelancers, and more diversity in newsrooms
MEAA deputy chief executive Adam Portelli spoke outside Nine’s Docklands office after staff at the media giant went on strike.
With half the content produced by The Age and nine other newspapers being contributed by freelance journalists and their staff, Mr Portelli said all staff should be treated equally, including staff “outside the building”.
Mr Portelli said Nine had repeatedly rejected requests from staff members for greater diversity within the newsroom.
“We’ve said to the company, ‘We want diversity in our newsrooms,’ not just for ourselves… but for those communities and so we can tell more stories to more people,” she said.
“The company has said no.”
Mr Portelli said Nine had shown its employees a “complete lack of respect” throughout the negotiation process.
“We have been looking for a cost of living increase while Mike Sneesby was sunbathing in Paris,” he said.
‘We just have to acknowledge the failure of his boss, the failure of Channel 9 throughout this process.
‘They have consistently taken the shareholders’ point of view and it is time for them to take the point of view of their front line.’