Outraged Channel Nine star EXPLODES over TV station’s ‘toxic culture’ report on all-staff phone call: Shocking details emerge of ‘Punishment Island’ at the network

EXCLUSIVE

Outraged Nine employees have accused the company of trying to ‘whitewash’ the systemic toxic culture within the network’s newsrooms following a scathing independent investigation into the company.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal that 60 Minutes star reporter Dimity Clancey, Melbourne newsreader Tom Steinfort and A Current Affair weekend presenter Deborah Knight were among the most vocal critics at a staff meeting over the company’s response to the review.

The report, conducted by culture company Intersection, found that the embattled media empire had “a systemic problem with abuse of power and authority; bullying, discrimination and harassment; and sexual harassment.”

More than 120 former and current members participated in the evaluation and reported their own experiences of inappropriate workplace behavior within the company.

Senior executives were briefed on the report’s findings on Thursday morning before polling about 300 employees in a live-streamed meeting via the national network of newsrooms.

The survey found that 57 percent of staff at the media company’s broadcast division had experienced bullying, discrimination or harassment in the past five years, while a third said they had been sexually harassed in the same period.

According to the report, the company’s toxic culture was enabled by ‘a lack of accountability from leadership; power imbalances; gender inequality and a lack of diversity; and significant distrust in leaders at all levels of the company.”

It is understood staff were told that because the review was carried out by an external company, none of the complaints would result in action being taken against individual perpetrators without a separate internal investigation.

Sources said Clancey was outraged by the company’s lack of action and complained that many Nine staffers had spent hours “pouring out their souls” complaining about specific people, but that Nine again failed to act.

Nine’s board said the report had made 22 recommendations for resetting corporate culture listed in the report, and was committed to implementing all of them.

The recommendations include revising and updating the company’s code of conduct, exploring an external complaints management system, establishing a best practice process for recruitment and updating mandatory training on inappropriate workplace behaviour.

But angry staff said the recommendations did little to address the very personal complaints raised during the investigation and no action was taken against those who had behaved inappropriately.

Welcome to ‘Punishment Island’

Many of the complaints involved both male and female managers in the network’s television news and current affairs division, with staff describing horrific examples of rampant bullying.

“I’ve been on the ice [by my manager] for speaking out,” an employee told investigators.

‘Everyone calls it ‘Punishment Island’. When I was younger, something like this would make me burst into tears.

‘I’m loose now. I’m exhausted from the games.’

Another described “Punishment Island” as “typical… baiting one employee for a period of time and then moving on to someone else.

“If you’re not on Punishment Island that month, it’s just as upsetting to see your friends and colleagues there.”

Another said of their editorial manager: ‘[She is a] toxic bully. I cried in my car when I got to work because I knew I had to deal with her.

“She’d make you look stupid. She would constantly undermine you… She had a real disregard for people’s well-being. She would say, “A thousand people would kill for this job.”

Many believed that male reporters at the company got to hear all the serious stories, while women did notjust here to look pretty.”

“Women’s right to report seems to be tied to appearance,” one employee said.

‘A female presenter was told when she became pregnant: ‘Why would you do that?’ What is more important: the news content or how I look?’

There were repeated complaints of unwanted sexual advances by predominantly senior male staff towards younger female colleagues.

Some of the perpetrators’ behavior was so well known that newcomers were warned about them soon after joining the company.

“I was warned about him… I was in my 20s… His comments about my body were constant,” said one female employee.

“He made me feel like I was just a piece of meat to be ogled… and that he was the credible one just because he was the older guy… Over time this undermined my self-confidence… It just went off.

Another said: ‘[My supervisor] said to me, ‘Don’t let him touch your breasts.’ He mainly targeted young women. Women were constantly in tears about their interactions with [Individual]. Younger women were afraid to say anything.”

A third recalled: ‘When I was inside [location] [Individual] tried to take care of me. At the Christmas party he also touched my ass and at other times he rubbed my legs under the table. In [location] I saw him do it to other women.’

Yet another staff member said, “On my first day working in the … newsroom, I overheard some other female reporters talking about [Individual]. One said: ‘Have you even worked at Nine News… like [Individual] hasn’t gotten your ass yet?’.’

Cover-up culture

Almost as bad, some claimed, was the company’s cover-up culture, with senior managers deployed to ensure no one spoke out about the bullying and harassment.

”The day after [the inappropriate workplace behaviour] happened, [individual] came to me to talk about it,” one employee said.

“I thought she wanted to see if I was okay or if I wanted to do something about it, but no. She was there to make sure I didn’t say anything, that I didn’t complain.

“She made it very clear that it wouldn’t be in my best interest to make an issue of it.”

Company employees said the toxic culture within the network was so entrenched “we talked about being bullied, harassed or publicly humiliated as if you were talking about the weather.”

“Looking back now, I’m shocked at how normalized it had become,” they said.

They also complained that the network had a booze-fueled culture and that cases of alcohol abuse were laughed off or not properly addressed.

‘There was a work meeting… that was known for heavy drinking. At some point in the evening, [Individual] “I was standing in a circle with myself, my then-boyfriend… and a few other colleagues in the newsroom,” one person said.

‘There were a few innocent jokes about the relationship etc earlier. [Individual] said to my partner… “You can fuck her in my office if you want… just tell me when you’ve done it”. I don’t need to comment on how disgusting this is.

Another complained: ‘My direct manager at Nine propositioned me repeatedly over an extended period of time and I felt I couldn’t say no in a forceful way because he controlled my pay.’

Nine chair Catherine West issued an unequivocal apology to staff who were forced to endure the system’s bullying and intimidation.

“Today is an incredibly difficult day for Nine as we come to terms with these findings and reflect as an organization on serious cultural issues,” she said.

‘The behavior outlined in the report is unacceptable. Abuse of power, bullying, sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior are not okay. There is no place for this behavior at Nine.

‘We recognize that too many of our former and current employees have been harmed by poor workplace culture, the prevalence of inappropriate workplace behavior and Nine’s past inadequate response to that behaviour.

“To anyone who has experienced inappropriate behavior that does not meet Nine’s values, we are deeply sorry. On behalf of the board, I apologize unconditionally.’

The report was commissioned by recently departed Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby in June following a series of allegations against the network’s former head of news and current affairs, Darren Wick, but he quit last month weeks before it was released.