A harassment complaint against Stan Grant was allegedly investigated by ABC management after he publicly berated a colleague for several minutes, documents show.
the old Questions and answers the host allegedly lashed out at a senior ABC executive in the lobby of the channel’s Sydney headquarters in January this year after she asked him a question about the production of a show.
Grant, 59, quit his starring role on the current affairs show a few months later in May, citing racist abuse from online trolls and a perceived failure by ABC bosses to keep him publicly support.
Grant revealed last week that he had quit the ABC, where he hosted Questions and answers with another program China tonightand moved on to an academic job at Monash University.
Several staff at ABC Ultimo’s head office allegedly witnessed Grant’s outburst in January, which was investigated after a complaint was filed with bosses days later, according to documents. obtained by The Australian below freedom of information.
It is understood that the anonymous colleague to whom the alleged swearing tirade was directed did not file the official complaint herself. The alleged incident was later investigated by ABC Chief Information Officer Justin Stevens.
ABC management are reportedly investigating an alleged bullying incident in which Stan Grant (pictured) yelled at a colleague in front of other staff for several minutes
The FOI documents obtained by the newspaper were incomplete and extensively redacted citing attorney-client privilege, as the ABC was made aware of the “prospect of litigation” over the alleged incident.
The ABC’s rights management officer said the information in the documents was known to very few people at the ABC and shared “on a need-to-know basis with relevant decision makers and advisers”.
They also did not say whether the ABC’s investigation, conducted between February 3 and March 3, substantiated the complaint or whether any action had been taken against Grant.
Daily Mail Australia suggests no wrongdoing on Grant’s part.
The alleged Jan. 30 incident happened just hours before Grant hosted the first Q&A episode of 2023.
Indigenous issues featured prominently on the program with former Socceroo Craig Foster, Indigenous Senators Malarndirri McCarthy and Lidia Thorpe, Indigenous Voice advocate Tom Calma and National Senator Bridget McKenzie among the panel.
While the Wiradjuri journalist resigned from Questions and answers in May, his other program china tonightThe show was revamped with two new hosts in late February as the ABC investigation was in full swing.
Her Questions and answers the outing followed ABC’s coverage of the coronation of King Charles III, in which Grant hosted a 45-minute panel discussion on the impacts of British colonization of Australia as guests arrived at Westminster Abbey.
Complaints poured in on ABC about the segment, which the independent ombudsman said did not violate editorial standards of impartiality.
Grant claimed he was subjected to a “relentless” torrent of racist abuse online in the days that followed, prompting him to write a column for ABC announcing his decision to step down.
“On social networks, my family and I are regularly mocked or insulted on a racist basis. It’s not new. Hardly a week goes by without me being racially targeted. My wife is the target of abuse because she is married to a man from Wiradjuri,” he said.
Mr Grant wrote that no one at the ABC, “whose producers invited me to participate in their coronation coverage as a guest”, had “spoken a single word of public support” afterward.
“I am taking time because we have shown once again that our story – our hard truth – is too big, too fragile, too precious for the media. The media sees only battle lines, not bridges. He only sees politics,” he wrote.
The ABC received numerous complaints about its coronation coverage, particularly a segment featuring Grant.
Justin Stevens later said he was devastated. Grant did not feel supported by the channel, which had already filed a complaint on Twitter for the offensive comments directed at their star reporter.
Monash University announced Tuesday that Grant will be the first director of its Constructive Institute Asia Pacific.
Located at Aarhus University in Denmark, where Grant is currently visiting, the institute’s mission is to change global information culture to foster healthier democracies.
He said the new post would look at ways to practice public interest journalism that serves the public at a time when the stakes couldn’t be higher.
“What are the dangers of polarization that we see in our society right now? ” said Grant.
“The endless conflict, why does the media have to talk about conflict all the time? Why do we have to pit people against each other?
“Why do we find the point of conflict and seek to witness rather than finding the points where we connect and looking at the points where we disagree to build on the connection rather than the division? »
Grant said one of his focal points will be how technology, including artificial intelligence, affects and could influence journalism.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted ABC and Stan Grant via Monash University for comment.
