Axed 7 star reveals dark truth on Aussie TV

Sacked Channel Seven newsreader Sharyn Ghidella has made a concerning statement about the media industry, following a series of high-profile scandals.

Sacked Channel Seven newsreader Sharyn Ghidella said she wasn’t shocked to hear about allegations of harassment and bullying at the network.

Seven was thrown under the spotlight by the ABC’s Four Corners this week, with many female employees describing it as a “toxic” work environment.

Ghidella, one of 150 Seven West Media staff sacked last month amid widespread redundancies, admitted she’d seen problematic behaviour during her 17 years at Seven.

“I did watch it. A lot of that was information that I already sort of knew about,” she told The Courier Mail.

“You see things sometimes that you may think are questionable. And I certainly speak up. I’m not someone who would ever sit back and allow things to happen to me that I didn’t feel were right.”

Sharyn Ghidella who has joined Channel 10.

Ghidella, who has since announced she’ll joining Network 10 to anchor the 5pm Queensland news bulletin, clarified she personally had had a good experience working in television but was saddened by those who hadn’t.

TV icon rips into media dinosaurs

This comes as Australian TV icon Tracy Grimshaw delivered a stark warning to media industry dinosaurs, warning them “the jig is up” following a series of high-profile scandals about the treatment of young women in journalism and other industries.

The former long-time host of Channel 9’s A Current Affair was accepting a lifetime achievement gong at the Kennedy Awards in Sydney on Friday night when she referenced recent allegations of toxic workplace culture, including at her own company Nine.

“Let all of this be a shot over the bow over anyone in any workplace anywhere who still thinks it’s the wild frontier land out there, because the truth is it’s just a phone call away from your own career-ending headline now,” she said.

“The jig is up — so cogitate on that.”

But Ms Grimshaw offered a “defence of the 98 per cent of people, including the blokes in this business, who are thoroughly good humans doing their jobs”.

“I worry that the message out there is getting distorted,” she said.

Tracy Grimshaw has issued a warning to media dinosaurs. Picture: news.com.au

“And I’m also not comfortable with young women being told they should somehow expect to leave their dignity and self-determination at the door when they get into this industry. They certainly should not and telling them that sets them up for failure. Think about it, if you’re told you’ll be bullied and harassed and you better not say anything about it when it happens, well guess what? You won’t say anything about it.”

Ms Grimshaw’s comments come days after staff working for Channel 7 lifted the lid on what they claim is a deeply toxic and sexist workplace environment, with two women allegedly left feeling suicidal.

The ABC’s Four Corners spoke to more than 200 people for the bombshell expose in which staff made allegations of a “boys club” where women were forced to work harder than men. One woman allegedly threw herself in front of a car outside the network’s Brisbane office after working extremely long hours for not much more than minimum wage.

Ms Grimshaw was the long-time host of A Current Affair. Picture: Supplied

When she told the network she was leaving it allegedly said she would have to keep working for another six months. “The only way I can describe it is I felt like I had a noose around my neck,” the young woman told Four Corners.

In a statement after Four Corners aired, Seven West Media said it was “clearly concerned about allegations of poor behaviour and mistreatment of employees”.

However it added that a “number of matters raised represent old issues that have been well aired and dealt with, in some cases many years ago”.

“A number of people who have displayed behaviour not reflective of SWM’s values have already been removed from the organisation,” the statement continued.

“We encourage all Seven West Media team members to call out any behaviour that does not reflect our values. Whistleblower protections are in place and are regularly re-emphasised with all staff.”

Nine Network also faced questions about its workplace culture earlier this year, after allegations surfaced that former news boss Darren Wick had acted inappropriately towards a female staff member.

Mr Wick quit the network on March 15 after a formal complaint was made against him by a female colleague.

Mr Wick had worked at the network for more than 25 years.

In a letter to all staff after the allegations surfaced, Nine wrote that “it is important we all acknowledge the trauma some of you have experienced in the past, and the distress and frustration the substance of these reports has caused”.

“Recent reports that detail alleged serious failings of leadership in television news clearly tells me more works needs to be done to ensure we have a safe and inclusive workplace throughout Nine,” Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby wrote.

Responding to the allegations, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland encouraged all media outlets to “do better” in their management of internal complaints.

“The media sector has been highlighted in recent years as an area that needs improvement, I say that as someone where I work in a profession where standards need to be lifted as well,” Ms Rowland told Sky News.

“That it is incumbent on all institutions, on all companies, including the one in question, to do better — to be transparent in the way that it conducts its investigations. We want good people to be entering the sector to be supporting the fourth estate which is an important pillar of our democracy and I would hope that the appropriate processes are a key in this case.”

Originally published as Axed 7 star reveals dark truth on Aussie TV