When Nine Network news director Fiona Dear was promoted to what had been her dream job, she was angry.
Instead of celebrating the reward for years of hard work as a journalist, she felt she had to ‘clean up someone else’s s***’.
She took over the role in May after veteran news director Darren Wick resigned following allegations of inappropriate behavior towards female staff.
Ms Dear was interviewed for the Women for Media Report 2024, released on Wednesday.
The report, published by the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia, looked at gender bias in Australian newsrooms.
Ms Dear did not shy away from the problems at Nine, saying that when she started the job, many women in the newsroom were very angry.
“I worked in the newsroom at that time,” she says.
‘I was angry as a woman working in that environment at the time.
Nine Entertainment television news and current affairs head Fiona Dear
‘I was angry that I was given this opportunity and had to clean up someone else’s s***. This sounds selfish, but I was angry.”
She said her focus was on regaining staff trust.
“A lot of trust, especially among women in the newsroom, has been eroded,” she said.
She plans to give women their voice back, as many felt her predecessors had taken them away.
An independent report from Nine Entertainment last week found that the company has systemic problems with abuse of power, along with bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment across the company.
Based on 122 interviews, it was concluded that ‘known perpetrators’ were not tackled and that victims, including staff, were only warned to avoid them.
Another goal is to improve the promotion process so that more women feel they are eligible for job openings.
The Women for Media Report, led by political scientist and academic Andrea Carson, said gender bias is widespread within newsrooms, despite almost equal numbers of male and female journalists.
It found that women still disproportionately publish ‘soft news’ stories, while men write the ‘hard news’ topics and women have less access to exclusive tags and less visibility on the premium pages of newspapers.
Seven has also faced allegations of bullying, misogyny and a toxic workplace culture.
Ms Dear did not shy away from the problems at Nine, saying that when she started, many women in the newsroom were very angry
A Four Corners investigation into the organization found it was a ‘second chance club’ for older men and linked to allegations of bullying, sexism and abuse that left staff in hospital or unable to work.
An additional study into experiences of racism at the ABC earlier this month found that ‘systemic’ problems were disadvantaged by diverse staff.
Professor Carson produced research earlier this year that found there is significant discrimination against women in local government, and her latest report found the same dynamics in the media, despite these two fields having very high female participation rates.
For example, the study found that a disproportionate number of male experts were quoted in news articles – estimated at 80 percent.
“Gender equality is critical in the news media for democracy and civic engagement,” she said.
“We need to change the norms about who we see and hear as leaders and experts – and that starts with bringing more diverse voices into public commentary.
‘Both in terms of who produces the news and who appears in it.’
The report made six recommendations for news organizations to address the lack of gender bias, including encouraging women to take on roles in traditionally male-dominated areas of reporting.
It also suggested increasing women’s representation on high-visibility pages, using more female sources and developing policies to protect female journalists from online harassment.
A report on women of color in Australian workplaces found two in three said they had experienced discrimination, a 10 percent increase from 2021.
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