Nine’s TV news boss Fiona Dear ‘angry’ she had to clean up ‘someone else’s sh*t’ after exit of Darren Wick
The head of Nine Entertainment’s TV news division has voiced her fury after the exit of Darren Wick and said she felt ‘cheated’ after taking over from him.
Nine Entertainment’s television news boss Fiona Dear has launched a blistering attack on the culture within Nine’s newsrooms, revealing she was furious that she “had to clean up someone else’s shit” after taking over from her ousted predecessor Darren Wick.
Dear made the candid admissions as part of the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia’s new report, “An unfinished story: understanding gender bias in Australian newsrooms’’, which was released on Wednesday.
Dear participated in a question-and-answer profile for the report, and was asked: “How did you feel coming into that kind of environment knowing that women in the newsroom were really angry?”
Dear said seven times in her response that she too was “angry” after taking over from Wick in May.
“I was angry myself. I worked in the newsroom in that period (under Wick),” she said.
“I was angry. I was angry as a woman who worked in that environment at that time.
“I was angry that I was given this opportunity and had to clean up someone else’s shit.
“This sounds selfish but I was angry.”
In May, The Australian revealed that a formal complaint was lodged against Wick by a female staffer, which led to his departure from the company.
Upon Wick’s announcement of his resignation, Nine’s head of television Michael Healy, issued an email to staff that read: “I personally want to thank Wickie for his commitment to the Nine News brand and wish him well.”
Wick’s exit sent the media company into turmoil and prompted an independent review into misconduct at the network.
In the interview with the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia, Dear said she was angry that she was “cheated of the experience” when she was promoted to take over from Wick, who had been at the company 29 years and head of news and current affairs for 13 years.
“I was angry that the time that I get a dream job, there was no time for me to step back and say: ‘Wow, you got that. You achieved that, that’s a pretty significant thing that you just achieved’,” she said.
“There was no time for me to mark that moment.
“I’m angry at certain people that I feel a bit cheated of that experience.”
Dear also said that after she was appointed as Wick’s replacement in May, her first priority was to “change the culture and change it within this newsroom.”
“I want this newsroom to be the poster child for this business,” she said.
One former senior male staffer was aghast when learning of Dear’s comments, telling The Australian: “She’s angry because Nine has been found out … it sounds like it’s the ‘poor me’ scenario”.
“We knew Wick was a leech and no-one said anything about it,” he said.
“Everyone turned a blind eye to his bad behaviour.”
A network source said Dear is a big “part of the culture at Nine”.
“She’s part of the past, so can she be part of the future?”
Dear, who is understood to be on leave this week, sent an after hours email to newsroom employees on Monday night, telling them she understood they were “hurting” following scathing findings by consulting firm Intersection’s external review into the company’s workplace culture.
It revealed damaging allegations about a culture of sexual harassment, bullying and misconduct across Nine’s entire business, including newspapers, radio and its streaming business Stan.
Nine’s acting chief executive officer Matt Stanton said on Monday that multiple “active investigations” over misconduct allegations were underway.
The Australian also revealed earlier this week that a senior male manager at the company is the subject of an alleged rape that was reported by a former junior female staffer member as part of the company’s independent review.
Nine will hold its annual Upfronts event in Sydney on Thursday, where it will reveal its programming content for 2025.
The Australian has contacted Dear and Mr Stanton for comment.
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