EXCLUSIVE
It’s the secret phone call between the top brass at Seven and Nine that has the entire industry talking – except for the men who were actually in on the conversation.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal Nine’s acting chief Matt Stanton rang a senior executive at rival Seven after being door-stopped by 7News reporter Annie Pullar outside his luxury Sydney home on Friday.
Pullar had respectfully approached the newly minted media heavyweight with questions about a bombshell report into Nine’s toxic newsroom culture.
The independent inquiry found the network had ‘a systemic issue with abuse of power and authority; bullying, discrimination and harassment; and sexual harassment’.
‘We’d just like to talk to you about the culture at Nine,’ Pullar told Stanton from the public footpath outside his property.
But Nine’s top boss wasn’t interested in fielding any queries.
‘Sorry, can you just get off,’ he replied, winding down his window and pointing at his driveway.
‘Will heads roll today?’ Pullar enquired.
Seven News reporter Annie Pullar approached Nine’s acting chief executive, Matt Stanton, with questions about the damning review into the network’s toxic newsroom culture
Stanton declined to answer Pullar’s questions but was soon on the phone to her bosses
‘Thanks very much, guys – nice to see you,’ Stanton said as he cut off her queries and reversed into the street.
Although he didn’t have time to talk to Pullar, Stanton was soon on the phone to the reporter’s bosses at Seven.
What took place on that call is now a matter of conjecture.
According to some network insiders, Stanton tried to convince his counterparts at Seven to kill off the story.
Others suggest that is not true: he was simply letting his contemporaries know what had happened – though, to what end is unclear.
Either way, Stanton was not prepared to discuss the contents of the secret conversation with Daily Mail Australia.
Any plea to bury the door-stop ultimately fell on deaf ears, with Seven news supremo Anthony De Ceglie running the story in both the network’s 4pm and 6pm news bulletins.
As news of the phone call spread through both newsrooms, Nine staffers were appalled by what could be perceived as a clumsy attempt by their boss to bury a rival outlet’s news story about him.
‘Seriously, why would he be giving Seven [executives] a heads up that he had been door-stopped by their own reporter if not to complain and try to get it pulled?’ one baffled Nine insider told Daily Mail Australia.
Seven news supremo Anthony De Ceglie ran the story in the network’s bulletins that day
Some even went as far as describing any move to kill-off a door-stop interview as hypocritical given Nine’s own reporters were required to do similar – and often far more combative – ‘bounces’.
After all, Stanton is the man currently tasked with overseeing some of the most aggressive news shows in the country, including A Current Affair and 60 Minutes.
‘It’s absolutely out of order,’ one Nine insider told Daily Mail Australia.
‘We’re out ‘bouncing’ people for the 6pm news or A Current Affair every day of the week – and we usually go a lot harder than that.
‘If any of (those people) called and asked us not to show that vision, the answer would be a resounding ‘no’.
‘It’s embarrassing he even asked: The boss of a media company complaining about having to talk to the media – what sort of message does that send?’
Another Nine staffer added: ‘You’d think that after everything that’s happened this year, the head of a media company would have a better idea of ho the media operates.’
The comments come after a disastrous string of run-ins between Nine executives and journalists that have caused the company both embarrassment and, in one case, even cost the media giant’s chairman his job.
Stanton’s predecessor, Mike Sneesby, copped sustained criticism over his excruciating responses after being approached by Seven outside his five-star hotel in August during the Paris Olympic Games.
Seven News dynamo Ray Kuka peppered the then Nine boss with questions about his decision to carry the Olympic torch and stay in the lavish, inner-city digs while Nine staff back in Sydney were striking for a modest pay rise.
Sneesby fumbled as he tried to fend off Kuka’s questions by explaining he was ‘meeting his family’.
‘You’re the boss of a media business here for work, or are you here on a holiday with your family?’ Kuka replied before adding: ‘Let’s not do a Peter Costello again, surely someone from Channel Nine can stop to talk to us?’
Costello was forced to resign as Nine’s chairman in June after he appeared to knock over a reporter from The Australian at Canberra Airport during yet another disastrous door-stop about the company’s culture.
Former Nine chairman Peter Costello, pictured in the video, was filmed appearing to push over journalist after being approached with questions at Canberra Airport
The journalist had introduced himself to Costello (pictured) and began questioning why the Nine boss hadn’t show his support for the network’s then chief executive, Mike Sneesby
The one-time federal treasurer has rejected claims he assaulted the reporter or mocked him as he lay sprawled on the ground following the run-in – all of which was captured on camera.
Sneeby, who commissioned the Intersection report into the company’s culture in June, also ended up resigning from the network.
He announced he was exiting the embattled broadcaster last month, five weeks before the review was finalised, but said he was stepping away for unrelated reasons after a difficult year.
Stanton has been appointed as the company’s caretaker chief executive while a formal recruitment process for the network’s next top boss is completed, though insiders speculate he is likely to end up taking on the role full-time.
On Monday, he assured staff there would be ‘change at Nine’ in the wake of the damning external investigation.
‘Given some of the conjecture within and outside Nine, I also wanted to be clear about what we are doing to hold people to account,’ he told staff in an internal email to the media giant’s 5000 employees.
‘We currently have a number of active investigations underway into issues raised by employees, some of which are being led by an external investigator whom we have partnered with.
Sneesby commissioned the Intersection report into Nine’s workplace culture in June but ended up resigning for unrelated reasons five weeks before the findings were finalised
‘No two cases are the same, and I’m sure you can appreciate these investigations need to be conducted in a manner that follows a just and proper process, which can take time. This will not be influenced by outside interest or public scrutiny.’
‘Formal investigations that found wrongdoing would lead to a ‘proportionate’ response, he added. It could be counselling, formal disciplinary action, or even sackings.
Stanton added: ‘There is no place at Nine for the abuse of power, bullying, sexual harassment of inappropriate conduct outlined in the Intersection report of for people who behave that way.
‘There will be change at Nine and individuals will be held to account for behaviour of this nature.’
His email came after some of the network’s biggest stars – 60 Minutes reporters Dimity Clancey and Amelia Adams, and Melbourne newsreader Tom Steinfort – spoke up during a staff meeting about the report last week to demand action be taken in the wake of the findings.
Sources said there was widespread angst within Nine about the way in which the Intersection investigation had been handled.
60 Minutes star Dimity Clancey was outraged by Nine’s response to a damning independent investigation that found the media empire has ‘a systemic issue with abuse of power and authority; bullying, discrimination and harassment; and sexual harassment’
A number of Nine sources said there were concerns employees who bravely spoke up about their experiences had been ‘hung out to dry’ by the final report after lengthy extracts of their grievances were made public.
Although complainants’ names were anonymised – along with those of the alleged perpetrators – extensive, candid details were littered throughout the Intersection report when it was released last Thursday, leaving many feeling exposed.
‘Everyone is ropeable – first we were told that this investigation was going to change Nine’s culture,’ one insider told Daily Mail Australia. ‘Then we are told that no action is actually going to be taken.
‘And now, everyone is reading personal details from our complaints – which have completely re-traumatised many of us – and playing a guessing game to see who they’re about and who made them.
‘There are heaps of quotes in the report that giveaway who’s involved.
‘The people we complained about are still in power, so there is a very real fear that there’s going to be a witch hunt or some form of retribution against those who spoke up.
60 Minutes star Amelia Adams was among those to raise concerns about the lack of action
‘Terms like ‘Punishment Island’ aren’t used by everyone … but everyone knows who uses them – those sorts of things are dead giveaways.’
One Nine employee told Intersection it was a phrase used to describe the practice of being frozen out by their manager for perceived workplace failures.
‘I have been on ice [by my manager] for speaking up about a story,’ one staffer told the investigators.
‘Everyone calls it ‘Punishment Island’. When I was younger I would be in tears about something like this.
‘I have now became disengaged. I am exhausted by the games.’
Another described ‘Punishment Island’ as ‘typically … picking on one employee for a period of time and moving onto someone else.
Melbourne newsreader Tom Steinfort raised questions about the lack of accountability at the network in the wake of the confronting revelations
‘If you’re not on Punishment Island that month, seeing your friends and colleagues there is just as distressing.’
Another Nine source there had also been widespread speculation about the parties involved in an incident in which a manager allegedly offered to let a couple have sex in his office during a work function.
‘I’m not sure why anyone would think it is a good idea to be releasing these sorts of details to the public in this fashion,’ the insider told Daily Mail Australia.
In the account, the complainant said: ‘There was a work function… known for plenty of heavy drinking. At one point in the evening, [Individual] was standing in a circle with myself, my boyfriend at the time… and a few other newsroom colleagues.
‘There were a few harmless jokes about the relationship etc., before [Individual] said to my partner … ‘You can f*** her in my office if you want … just tell me when you’ve done it’. I don’t need to comment on how disgusting this is.’
Nine has repeatedly reassured complainants they would be protected and has vowed to support everyone who came forward and participated in the review.
