A Channel Nine boss has acknowledged staff are “hurting” in an out-of-hours email sent to TV employees as the network tries to quell growing discontent over its handling of a scathing criticism of its work culture.
Fiona, Head of TV News and Current Affairs at Nine Entertainment. Dear: who replaced former news chief Darren Wick following his sudden departure earlier this year, sent the email at 8.29pm on Monday.
The email was sent four days after an independent report found Nine workplaces had ‘a systemic problem of abuse of power and authority; intimidation, discrimination and harassment; and sexual harassment’.
Ms. Dear, who has not yet scheduled a meeting with all staff to discuss the findings of the report compiled by the employment consulting firm Intersection, wrote that she was “proud” of the way her team had told the “incredibly “painful.”
“I wanted to say how proud I am of the professionalism you all have shown in telling this incredibly painful story last week and how you have conducted yourself since the report was published,” she says in her email to staff.
“It has continued to deliver high-quality journalism despite what we are going through as a team and as a company in general.”
Some insiders said news corporation that Dear’s late-night email had similarities in terms of the timing of Wick’s resignation note, sent at 7:36 pm on a Friday in March.
The Australian has reported that several members of Nine newsrooms across the country have condemned the “terrible leadership skills” of the company’s managers in the wake of the report and say they feel “betrayed”.
Nine Entertainment’s TV news and current affairs director Fiona Dear sent an out-of-hours email to staff addressing a scathing report about Nine’s culture.
More than 120 former and current Nine employees took part in the review and reported experiences of inappropriate workplace behavior within the company.
Although the alleged culprits have been named, no action is planned to be taken against them, despite staff claiming they were told the names would be given to Nine’s board.
It is understood that staff were subsequently told that because the review had been carried out by an external company, none of the complaints would result in action being taken against individual perpetrators without a separate internal investigation.
Insiders reportedly said News Corp Headlines that the names of staff accused of bullying appeared in an open chat thread.
Daily Mail Australia revealed last week that 60 Minutes reporter Dimity Clancey, Melbourne news presenter Tom Steinfort and A Current Affair weekend presenter Deborah Knight were some of the administration’s most outspoken critics. at a staff meeting.
Sources said Clancey was incensed by the company’s lack of action and complained that many Nine employees had “poured their souls” for hours, complaining about specific people, only for Nine to once again fail to act.
60 Minutes star Dimity Clancey was outraged by Nine’s response to a damning independent investigation which found the media empire has ‘a systemic problem of abuse of power and authority; intimidation, discrimination and harassment; and sexual harassment’
Nine’s board said the report had made 22 recommendations to reform its culture and had committed to implementing them all.
Recommendations included reviewing and updating the company’s code of conduct, investigating an external complaints management system, establishing a best practices process for hiring, and updating mandatory training on inappropriate workplace behavior.
But angry staff said the recommendations did little to address deeply personal complaints raised during the investigation and took no action against those who had behaved inappropriately.
Nine interim chief executive Matt Stanton said on Monday that “active investigations” were being carried out into allegations of misconduct.
Nine’s editorial chief Tory Maguire emailed staff on Monday afternoon saying the report’s “headline findings are distressing to read”.
“Nine leaders are working on what needs to be done to incorporate the necessary changes to ensure everyone at Nine is guaranteed a safe, respectful and positive work environment,” he said.
Over 120 past and present employees. Nine took part in the review which reported a toxic work culture.
“The first step was an unequivocal apology from our chair, Catherine West, on behalf of the board, acknowledging the prevalence of inappropriate behavior in the workplace, the harm to our people and Nine’s past inadequate response to those behaviors “.
Nine Radio CEO Tom Malone, who oversees 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR, held a meeting with staff on Tuesday to discuss the review’s findings.
The review found that 57 percent of staff in the media company’s broadcast division had experienced bullying, discrimination or harassment in the past five years, and a third said they had been sexually harassed in the same time period.
The company’s toxic culture had been made possible by “the lack of leadership accountability; power imbalances; gender inequality and lack of diversity; and significant distrust in leaders at all levels of the company,” the report states.
