NBR staff say they’ve ‘no interest’ in working with Kamahl Santamaria after ‘uncomfortable’ visit

Thursday, 2 March 2023

The hiring of Santamaria, who resigned as Breakfast presenter after a month, shows the broadcaster's recruitment process is not suited to presenters.

The newsroom at the National Business Review has told the publication’s owner they were “uncomfortable” with Kamahl Santamaria turning up for a meeting and have “no interest in working with him”.

Co-editor Hamish McNicol confirmed Santamaria turned up to NBR’s Auckland newsroom on January 24, where the former TVNZ host met with NBR owner Todd Scott.

In May, Stuff revealed Emmy-nominated broadcaster Santamaria quit a high-profile presenting job at TVNZ – lasting just 32 days – after a complaint from at least one female colleague about inappropriate workplace behaviour.

Stuff later revealed Santamaria sent a lewd email to a female colleague at previous employer Al Jazeera. The woman resorted to hiding in the toilets to avoid him at work.

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Kamahl Santamaria met with National Business Review owner Todd Scott at the publication’s Auckland office.

The BBC later published an investigation into inappropriate workplace culture at Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar, which contained further allegations about Santamaria. In that piece, a young producer said she had to “go to the bathroom to wipe Kamahl's saliva from my face” on more than one occasion.

Santamaria has apologised for what he’s described as being “flirtatious, over-friendly” and engaging in “just a bit of banter” in the workplace.

Scott’s decision to meet Santamaria in NBR’s office caused some concern.

McNicol said he and co-editor Calida Stuart-Menteath were not involved in the meeting “but were introduced briefly to him [Santamaria] later”.

McNicol said Scott had told him the meeting was in a “personal capacity” – but Santamaria’s presence in the office still made people “uncomfortable” and it was enough for the newsroom to tell Scott they did not want to see him become a colleague.

New Zealand journalist Kamahl Santamaria took down his website in the wake of the TVNZ scandal in May last year, but has recently revived it.

“After the meeting we made it clear to Todd we were uncomfortable with [Santamaria’s] presence and made it clear we had no interest in working with him,” McNicol said.

Scott did not respond to emails from Stuff, including about whether he intended to hire Santamaria and whether it was appropriate to meet him in front of the NBR’s editorial team.

When called, Scott hung up the phone.

Santamaria did not respond to emails from Stuff either.

However, he did address some of Stuff’s questions on his recently revived website.

“I am a private citizen, who met up with a personal friend at their place of work,” Santamaria wrote.

“If I was going – or indeed do go – for a job interview, then that’s between me and the prospective employer.

“And if I go into an office – or indeed anywhere – to meet someone who I already know, then that’s definitely not the media’s business.”

The NBR has been part of the media landscape since 1970 and employs some of the most specialised reporters in the country.

Its website states “we will play the ball, not the man or woman, and expect our contributors and commenters to do the same.”

McNicol said as far as he was concerned about Santamaria, “we are not hiring him, and have told our team this”.

Scott, who took over full ownership of NBR in 2020, is reportedly looking to sell.