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Scathing MediaWorks review reveals 'boys' club culture', bullying and racism

Wednesday, 4 August 2021

MediaWorks chief executive Cam Wallace, left, and chief operating officer Jeff McDowall.
MediaWorks chief executive Cam Wallace, left, and chief operating officer Jeff McDowall.

News and radio company MediaWorks has promised a wide-ranging overhaul of its culture after a scathing report revealed widespread harassment, bullying and racism.

The review has resulted in six separate employment investigations including probes into bullying, sexism, harassment, inappropriate relationships and use of illegal drugs at company events.

Stuff understands at least one senior employee has left the company as a result of one of those investigations.

Chief executive Cam Wallace said today MediaWorks would put all 32 recommendations by Maria Dew QC into place with a culture change plan driven by the board and the leadership team.

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Fifty roles could be disestablished at MediaWorks as part of a board proposal for Today FM.
Fifty roles could be disestablished at MediaWorks as part of a board proposal for Today FM.

Dew and her team interviewed 126 current and former staff, and surveyed 483 current staff. Her report, which appears mostly concentrated on the culture at the company’s radio stations, found:

MediaWorks has been running a 20-week review into employee behaviour. The results are out today.
MediaWorks has been running a 20-week review into employee behaviour. The results are out today.

A concurrent review of pay found an 18 per cent gender pay gap, double the national overall pay gap between men and women.

Dew highlighted one incident as particularly concerning and “an example of poor accountability”.

In 2019, a young woman who won a radio competition attended a MediaWorks party where alcohol was served. The woman became intoxicated after drinking for hours and had sexual contact with a MediaWorks employee “more than 20 years older than her”.

The following day, unable to remember the extent of the sexual contact, the woman was distressed and went to police and doctors for advice. Dew said evidence showed MediaWorks employees witnessed the incident but none made reports to the company about it. The young woman’s father complained to the chief executive of the time but a subsequent investigation was inadequate.

“There was a short internal investigation conducted by MediaWorks people & culture. There was no written report of the investigation ever made by MediaWorks. The investigation concluded with an oral discussion, between key senior executives, that the male employee’s conduct did not warrant termination. However, some formal consequences were imposed on the employee,” Dew said.

When the review was announced, a thorough examination of past and current workplace culture and practices was promised.
When the review was announced, a thorough examination of past and current workplace culture and practices was promised.

The young woman was not informed of any outcome and suffered serious psychological harm as a result of the incident, Dew found.

“MediaWorks’ response was seen as reinforcing a culture of acceptance of misconduct and a lack of accountability by senior male employees,” she said.

On Wednesday, Wallace apologised to staff for “not looking after employees”.

MediaWorks also operates billboards after it merged with QMS Media in 2019.
MediaWorks also operates billboards after it merged with QMS Media in 2019.

In her comments, Dew said MediaWorks had not done enough to protect female employees from inappropriate workplace conduct and had a “boys’ club” culture that was harmful to the progress of women’s careers.

“MediaWorks has a radio industry history of disproportionate male dominance in leadership, management and other influential on-air announcer roles. While the company does outwardly appear to have a large female pool of employees, there are few in senior roles.

“It is my assessment that MediaWorks has done little to address this male dominance in MediaWorks. It is this imbalance that is causing many of the problems in the current culture. It has enabled the damaging perception of the ‘boys’ club’ to thrive”, Dew wrote.

In a statement, Wallace described the report as “a pivotal moment in MediaWorks’ history”.

Earlier on Wednesday, staff reported Wallace delivered “three apologies [within the space] of 15 minutes” as he presented results of the 20-week review into harassment and culture at the company.

Stuff has spoken to current and former employees who met with Dew to add their experiences to the review.

One former staffer said they had attempted suicide after trying repeatedly to get help from MediaWorks executives for chronic bullying in their team. Stuff has chosen not to reveal the former staffer’s name or gender.

The former staffer said they had begged for a “safe working environment” and had been assured training sessions were being put in place in 2019. None were ever scheduled, they say.

The employee says they then went to MediaWorks’ human resources staff, with no result. The staffer was given the option of being “moved” to another part of the company but opted to leave.

Another former employee of a MediaWorks radio station, who alleges she was sexually assaulted by a fellow employee in the late 2000s, says she was disappointed by the review experience, which “felt rushed” and “like a box-ticking exercise”.

“It felt like a data collating rather than an acknowledgement of harm. She pushed me on, ‘What do you want from this?’

“I am not looking to name and shame, I don't want anything from MediaWorks but for the culture to change.”

The wide-ranging review was sparked by allegations of harassment against MediaWorks radio staff aired on social media in mid-March.

After questions from Stuff on March 12, a MediaWorks spokesperson announced “a thorough review of historic events and our current workplace culture and practices”.

A week later, it appointed Dew to lead the review. Stuff understands the months-long investigation included interviews with 140 current and former staff, and covered concerns dating back to 2018.

Announcing the review in March, Wallace promised a thorough examination of past and current workplace culture and practices.

In the same week Dew was appointed, Stuff revealed MediaWorks stood down two radio employees while it conducted an internal investigation into harassment allegations against them.

One of them, a high profile on-air personality, has not returned to work and all mention of him was removed from the MediaWorks website and promotional material at the time.

The internal investigation process subsequently cleared the other worker, who returned to his job.

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