Amanda Blair: How sexist attitudes drove me from the microphone

I’VE been keeping a secret from you but feel that in light of a station’s programming decision this week, I should tell you the real reason why I left radio.

ON a day when our new Prime Minister is being lambasted by the Opposition because he’s only appointed one woman to a board, ironically, I’m reading a story about a commercial radio station in Adelaide which hasn’t appointed any women to their on-air line-up.

They’ve just announced the new team. Two blokes in breakfast, one bloke in mornings, one bloke in afternoons, two blokes in the drivetime slot and more blokes to take you through the night.

A conga line of blokes talking about bloke things. Welcome to FiveAA, the world where women are sometimes seen, but not heard.

I’ve been keeping a secret from you but feel that in light of this programming decision, I should tell you the real reason why I left radio.

I spent 14 years in the tough, competitive world of commercial radio. Men generally control the networks and often hire using the Peter principle — staff are promoted based on their competence in their current role, not their capability in their intended role.

Subsequently people reach their level of incompetence and stay there. So when the Black Thunder driver who hands out cans of coke rapidly gets promoted to, say, Program Director and then hands out employment contracts, it can make for interesting times.

Needless to say, there were many differences of opinion on the road towards producing shows I could be proud of. If ratings are to be believed, I was OK at it too — the now defunct SAFM achieved their highest ratings in the breakfast slot when my name was on the bill.

My show on FiveAA also generated the highest afternoon ratings, so why did I leave? My press release said I wanted to spend more time with the kids, and this was partly true.

I didn’t want to spend my days talking to people I didn’t know when the people who I wanted to know were in childcare. Plus I was bored in the afternoon slot; being highly competitive I felt like a thoroughbred forced to give pony rides.

I’d asked to be considered for the breakfast slot, but despite the fact that I had a proven track record, my boss told me I wouldn’t get to do it because — I quote — “you don’t work as hard as the men”.

He drew this conclusion because he didn’t see me in the office much. True, he didn’t, as I had four children under five, three board positions and in my last year on-air had done 156 appearances, many on behalf of the radio station.

Clearly I was slacking off. Even this offensive statement wasn’t the reason I quit. Although annoying, I saw this as just another gender-based obstacle I had to get past. I could do it. I could. I really could.

I’d got past so many others and I had to forge on for the “sisterhood”. But then, the moment when I realised I couldn’t get past and I was kidding myself.

The same boss called me into the office one day and told me that he didn’t want me to talk about politics any more. Although the ratings were healthy, we had our first female Prime Minister and I often got exclusive interviews.

He had a “feeling” that the audience didn’t like women who talked about politics. No research, no science, just a “hunch”.

I bit my tongue, stifled a laugh and asked him what he wanted me to talk about instead? He paused for a moment and replied, “Oh CAKES and HAPPY THINGS”.

It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so sad. This statement heralded the end of my broadcasting career for good. I couldn’t be arsed fighting this archaic attitude any more and my head hurt from hitting the glass ceiling — again.

This column was not written to get a job back in radio as I’ve well and truly moved on and haven’t missed a day away from the microphone.

But sadly for other women, they haven’t had the chance to get near the microphone because these sexist attitudes exist and I have a responsibility to call it when I see it. We all have a responsibility to call it when we see it.

I saw it then in 2012 and sadly I’m seeing it again in 2015. So the talkback radio question of the day is: Why haven’t we moved on?