Nine Network makes major move after news chief sparked MeToo email to TV stars and staff over his sudden exit

Nine has appointed respected journalist Fiona Dear as director of news and current affairs following the sudden resignation of long-serving director Darren Wick.

The network made the announcement a day after CEO Mike Sneesby called on employees with complaints about “inappropriate behavior” at the network to come forward.

Dear, who started her television career as a work experience kid at WIN Wollongong, has been executive producer of A Current Affair for the past five and a half years.

She will oversee a selection of nine programmes, including the 6pm news bulletins, Today, A Current Affair and 60 Minutes, as well as the breaking news teams.

“I am honored to be in this role and look forward to the challenges, the news that makes our business great and leading our people as we tell Australia’s stories every day,” Dear said.

Mr Sneesby sent an email to all nine employees on Wednesday afternoon, two months after Wick’s departure.

“It is important for everyone at Nine to know that we will not tolerate inappropriate behavior in the workplace and want to know if any inappropriate behavior is occurring so that it can be addressed immediately,” Mr Sneesby said.

Mr Sneeby then assured employees that filing a complaint about such behavior would not harm their careers.

“…If you feel you have been victimized because you have complained about a particular issue, you should raise it with our company’s senior leaders or People and Culture,” he wrote.

‘Our guidelines on workplace conduct and how we deal with complaints about workplace issues are on our intranet.

‘I encourage you to raise any concerns you have about workplace behavior to ensure Nine is a safe and supportive place to work in for all of us.

“We have all been involved in developing our purpose and values, which guide the way we show up every day.”

A spokesperson for Nine said the network would not comment on the timing of Mr Sneesby’s email, the reasons for Wick’s departure or the nature of any allegations of inappropriate behavior.

Mr Sneesby’s email referred to recent media attention to Nine’s “internal processes and policies relating to workplace conduct complaints” following Wick’s departure, but did not mention Wick by name.

Stories published by News Corp this week claim there was a “toxic culture” at his rival’s workplace during Wick’s reign.

Wick announced his resignation in a statement on March 15, ending weeks of speculation about his future, with Nine insisting he just took an extended summer break.

“I am resigning as National Director of News and Current Affairs and leaving Nine,” the 61-year-old told colleagues in an email sent on Friday afternoon.

“This is my 13th year in that role and my 29th year with the Network.

“Some of you know that I took a few weeks off to think about my future. And after many long walks on the beach and even longer conversations, I know deep down that this is the right time for me to step down and leave Nine.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘retire’ because I don’t know how to sit still. But I’m going to take a very long break from the forty years I’ve worked as a journalist. I’m tired and need some rest.’

Nine’s programming boss Michael Healey paid tribute to Wick at the time for his work at the network.

“I would like to personally thank Wickie for his commitment to the Nine News brand and wish him well,” he said.

Wick described himself as an alcoholic after he was caught driving more than four times the legal limit following a Nine feature in October 2020.

After being pulled over in his Jeep Grand Cherokee with a blood alcohol content of 0.227, Wick blamed his excessive drinking on a combination of stress from his high-pressure job and a double hip replacement.

Wick’s lawyer John Sutton told Hornsby Local Court in January 2021 that his client was effectively working 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Mr Sutton said Wick was also suffering from anxiety over the detention of 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown and her crew in Beirut during a failed attempt to bring two children back to Australia in 2016.

On the day he was arrested, Wick had gone to lunch and then taken an Uber back to Nine’s studios and then to Willoughby on Sydney’s lower north shore, where he attended a farewell party for a colleague.

“He drank and he drank and he drank,” Mr Sutton said.

According to a police statement, Wick had planned to drive the 20km to his home in Narrabeen on the Northern Beaches, but had only traveled 1.2km before he came to the attention of police.

Wick almost fell on the road when he was stopped.

Mr Sutton said one might question why a colleague had not stopped Wick from getting behind the wheel, but Magistrate Robyn Denes quickly dismissed that submission.

“Who’s going to stop him?” said Mrs. Denes. “When you think about his role in management, who’s going to stop him?”

Mr Sutton said Wick had apologized to Nine staff for his actions and noted that media coverage of his drink-driving had reached more than nine million people.

“He now calls himself an alcoholic,” Mr. Sutton told Ms. Denes. ‘He understands that he is an alcoholic. That should be the first stop on the road to recovery.”

Ms Denes sentenced Wick to a nine-month intensive corrections order, including completing 100 hours of community service.

Wick, who was convicted of drink-driving in 2010, had appeared in court expecting to be sent to prison.

“I’m in a position where I know better and should have known better,” he said after the hearing.

‘But the bottom line is that I let an alcohol addiction get out of hand. I didn’t respect it for what it was.

“I made a terrible mistake that could have hurt others.”