Channel 7 axes prominent Brisbane newsreader Sharyn Ghidella
Veteran newsreader Sharyn Ghidella has launched an extraordinary attack on Channel 7 just hours after she was sacked while sitting in the hairdressers for work.
Veteran Channel 7 newsreader Sharyn Ghidella has launched an extraordinary social media attack on her employer, just hours after she was sacked by the TV network.
Ghidella, who reads the 6pm Brisbane weekday news bulletins alongside Max Futcher, said she had been “sitting at the hairdressers for work” on Friday morning when she received a shock phone call telling her “my time was up.”
In a social media post, Ghidella also lashed job cuts at the network and across the commercial TV industry, including at Seven and Nine, and said: “The past couple of weeks in TV has, sadly, been a miserable affair.”
Ghidella’s departure is the latest in a long line of experienced staff to exit since Anthony De Ceglie’s appointment as Seven’s director of news and current affairs in April.
De Ceglie has dramatically overhauled the network’s news business over the past three months, appointing a raft of under-35s to prestigious roles while calling time on the careers of senior employees with decades of experience.
The 38-year-old news boss has also drawn criticism for some curious editorial decisions – most notably, his move to introduce a “comedy spot” at the end of the 6pm Friday bulletin, and the inclusion of astrology readings during the news.
In a post on Facebook on Friday morning, Ghidella took a swipe at the De Ceglie-led initiatives.
“I’m also not one to have my evening news served up with humour and horoscopes either, so, to be honest, it is time to go,” Ghidella wrote.
She also reflected on the state of the television industry.
“When you work in TV for as long as I have, not a day goes by when you aren’t expecting the proverbial tap on the shoulder,” Ghidella wrote on Facebook.
“After 38 years, my shoulder tap has finally come.
“It wasn’t quite how I expected it to end at Channel 7.
“I was actually sitting at the hairdressers for work, when I got the call informing me, that after 17 years with the network, my time was up.”
“So, for now, as I sign off for the last time from 7NEWS... it’s good night from me.
“Here’s hoping my horoscope for tomorrow will be for brighter times ahead.”
Last month Seven announced it was shedding 150 jobs and axed several key managers including chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette, managing director Seven Melbourne and head of network sport Lewis Martin and chief marketing and audience officer Melissa Hopkins as part of a move to save about $100 million.
Of the many departures at Seven in recent weeks, Ghidella said: “A long list of talented, loyal and dedicated employees have been shown the door, in what seems to have been an interminable process of pulling the band-aid off slowly when it comes to removing what’s been deemed excess stock from the building.”
Prior to joining Channel 7, Ghidella also worked at the Nine and Ten networks, including on Nine’s Today Show and National Nine News Sydney.
Ghidella said she was off to “find a new job, whether it be in TV or a new adventure” and asked her followers for suggestions.
It is understood Ghidella’s contract was up at Seven and she was not offered a renewed deal.
Interestingly, an internal note sent to staff at Seven in Brisbane by Ghidella on Friday was vastly different from her attack on the Kerry Stokes-controlled network on her Facebook page.
She said she was offered an on-air send-off by Seven Brisbane’s news director Michael Coombes but declined.
“Coombesy has kindly offered me a send-off on air, but I’m not sure I have the intestinal fortitude for a long goodbye, so I’m making a clean break, and I probably won’t get the chance to bid you farewell in person,” she said in the email to staff.
De Ceglie said in a statement: “Sharyn has made a significant contribution to Seven over the past 17 years, we are grateful for her hard work and are sorry to see her go.
“She leaves with sincere thanks from everyone at Seven and our very best wishes for the future.”
Futcher will continue to read the weekday bulletins on his own.
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