The Kamahl Santamaria scandal at TVNZ, why it matters and what next
Wednesday, 27 July 2022
TVNZ’s head of news and current affairs has stepped down following an independent inquiry into his hiring of Breakfast host Kamahl Santamaria.
Paul Yurisich’s resignation, announced on Wednesday evening, comes after Santamaria quit the station in May after 32 days in the role.
Why it matters
- Yurisich hired Santamaria at TVNZ after the pair worked together at Al Jazeera in Doha.
- Yurisich’s actions came under fire after it was revealed Santamaria had resigned because a female colleague had made a complaint of inappropriate behaviour from him.
It later transpired Santamaria had been given a formal warning by the director of news at Al Jazeera after complaints he acted inappropriately with a young female colleague.
A former colleague of Santamaria’s at Al Jazeera later came forward, alleging he made sexual comments towards her and gave her inappropriate hugs over a number of years. Santamaria denied the allegations, saying the pair were “good friends”.
A summary of the independent inquiry, released on Wednesday, showed Yurisich did no reference checks before hiring Santamaria and TVNZ’s hiring process was not suitable for hiring presenters.
Key players
- Paul Yurisich: The former TVNZ producer and Bloomberg journalist was named head of news and current affairs at TVNZ in September 2020. Prior to taking up the position, he was based in Doha as the executive producer of news for Al Jazeera English, where he had been since the mid-2000s.
Kamahl Santamaria: The beleaguered TV host began his career with TV3 in the 1990s before moving overseas. He became a news presenter for Al Jazeera English in 2005. Santamaria took up the position as host of Breakfast in April, replacing John Campbell, before abruptly resigning in May.
Margaret Robins: The employment lawyer carried out the independent inquiry for TVNZ. It looked both at recruitment practices and processes in general and the specific recruitment of Santamaria.
Simon Power: The TVNZ chief executive and former National Cabinet minister announced Yurisich’s resignation in a statement. He has declined interviews.
The breakdown
Power did not blame Yurisich, who has been on leave since the review began, for the Santamaria saga.
Instead, he said, “the fundamental problem was the failure of TVNZ’s recruitment policy to provide a suitable process”.
Power said he wished Yurisich the best for the future and thanked him for his “drive and commitment” to TVNZ, saying he had “spearheaded a digital transformation for our newsroom which has set TVNZ up strongly for the future”.
Who said what
In her summary, Robins said key TVNZ presenters had been recruited “consultatively”. However, Santamaria was recruited “without meaningful input from key individuals”.
Power said TVNZ would be amending its recruitment policy and “determining how best to involve key people in a transparent and consultative way for unique roles, such as presenters”.
Reporter Nicole Bremner, during a segment on Yurisich’s resignation on 1 News on Wednesday night, said the saga had been a “dark period” for the newsroom.
“The review comes as a relief for many, who just want to move on.”
What next?
Phil O’Sullivan will continue in the role of acting head of news and current affairs for TVNZ.
Meanwhile, TVNZ is set to merge with Radio New Zealand into a new public media entity, which will be up and running by July next year.
The bill combining the two passed its first reading in Parliament on Tuesday.