Nine Radio (Talk)

[crankymedia]

@NewsWeary

a former 2GB producer

Who is the producer?

[SamuelGS]

@crankymedia

@NewsWeary

a former 2GB producer

Who is the producer?

Chris Bowen

[littlegezzybear]

Will Macquarie do anything?

Macquarie Media declined to comment on reports two more staff had made complaints about Hadley yesterday.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/radio-2gb-host-ray-hadley-apologises-on-air-for-bullying-as-more-exstaffers-detail-abuse/news-story/bca1307bd184ae12233f7259e58bdb83

[Laoma]

I really wonder if there will be any change for Ray? There appears to be a lot of ex-staffers who had run ins with Ray.

It can be extremely difficult to work with certain people. Especially highly successful people. Not an unusual occurrence. In a lifetime, most people encounter this in some form. Not saying its right and not all successful people are like that.

The Alan Jones move away GB has gone quiet. May have missed something.

[thesub1]

MML are reportedly “terrified” they could lose Jones & Hadley.

If the pair or just one were to leave MML, where could they go?

Surely Cherie would be open to a change in format on 2CH?

Or does this all fall into Bill’s lap at BOG?

[littlegezzybear]

Jones leaving and Hadley & Smith in prison would be catastrophic.

[Laoma]

Unless a FM Station wants to become a talkback station. Like Triple M become completely Talk.

Or WSFM becomes talk with a new name. 2WS can be revived on 96.1 with repeaters still at Penrith and Campbelltown. It may not be necessary in Campbelltown but it is probably needed at Emu Plains/Richmond etc where the Wentworth Falls tower is shadowed by the lower mountains. .

[Rossco]

@Laoma

The Alan Jones move away GB has gone quiet. May have missed something.

I often wondered what was the cause of Stuart Bocking’s rapid exit from Ray Hadley’s show.

[Rossco]

@Rossco

The Alan Jones move away GB has gone quiet. May have missed something.

The Australian reported yesterday that negotiations had progressed somewhat and that Jones was asking for a 2 year contract to take him up to his 80th birthday. 4.5 million is still being bandied around but does this figure include his immediate staff?

[crankymedia]

@SamuelGS

Chris Bowen

Thanks @SamuelGS

@littlegezzybear

Will Macquarie do anything?

They’ll do what they always do unfortunately @littlegezzybear

Hasn’t been a good news day today for Ray or MRN:

Ray Hadley, Deborah Knight among 36 journalists and news agencies named in...

NEC would do well to offload those radio assets and put the money towards the M&A fees to acquire SCA.

[SydneyCityTV]

@crankymedia

Hasn’t been a good news day today for Ray or MRN:

…or Nine, with their very high profile (Deb’s is probably even higher than Ray Hadley’s, even from a Sydney perspective) breakfast co-presenter & lead anchor after Peter Overton also facing the prospect of jail.

@crankymedia

NEC would do well to offload those radio assets and put the money towards the M&A fees to acquire SCA.

Despite the ratings woes of both Sydney stations in recent years, surely a predominately FM broadcaster like SCA would be more profitable/lucrative for Nine in the long run than any of Macquarie’s AM stations? That of course, is even without talking about the regional TV stations.

[crankymedia]

@SydneyCityTV

urely a predominately FM broadcaster like SCA would be more profitable/lucrative for Nine in the long run than any of Macquarie’s AM stations? That of course, is even without talking about the regional TV stations.

Exactly, far better fit.

[nickatnights]

Right now Alan would regret that 2UE was bought by Macquarie and gutted.

2UE would have been the perfect place for him to return to in 2019.

If Hadley had stayed at 2GB, then it would have been the battle of the century.

Alan should think carefully about any move to 2SM. Their AM signal sounds like shit in most of Sydney, the digital signal is worse, the news service below budget and most of the shows sound like they belong on community radio. Alan is a Grange and 1269 is goon. The two don’t belong at the same party.

[thesub1]

Just remember though, if Alan were to come to 2SM he would most definitely demand sweeping change.

Unfortunately when Laws came across, all he seemed to care about was the presentation of his 9-12 show. Outside of that, the network remains a mess.

[TV.Cynic]

2GB breaches decency requirements

Harbour Radio Pty Ltd – the licensee of radio station 2GB – breached the Commercial Radio Code of Practice in an Alan Jones Breakfast Show segment broadcast on 23 August 2018.

An Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigation examined Alan Jones’s use of a racially charged phrase and found it offended against generally accepted standards of decency.

‘The phrase used by Mr Jones has not been acceptable as part of everyday speech in Australia for some time and does not belong on our airwaves,’ said ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin.

Numerous complaints were made to the ACMA about the 2GB broadcast and the fact that it was not the first time Mr Jones had used the phrase on air.

The station released an apology within hours of the broadcast and Mr Jones provided an on-air apology the next day in which he acknowledged the phrase was offensive and not appropriate for the broadcast.

2GB responded to complainants acknowledging that the phrase should not have been broadcast. As a result of the ACMA’s investigation, 2GB management has agreed the phrase will not be used on-air again.

The ACMA considers these have been appropriate responses by the licensee to this breach under the co-regulatory framework for commercial broadcasting.

The ACMA did not find a breach of the likely incitement of ‘hatred’ or ‘serious contempt’ or ‘severe ridicule’. Although the licensee broadcast a phrase widely considered racist, the ACMA did not consider that the high threshold test of incitement was met, as required for a breach of this provision.

The ACMA notes that the time taken to complete this investigation has been longer than preferable. This was a result of the licensee requiring additional time to respond to the ACMA’s enquiries due to the availability of its presenter.

[SydneyCityTV]

Not sure what’s worse: The fact that Alan Jones has said the phrase “n***** in the woodpile” on 2GB several times or how it apparently takes ACMA seven months to deliver their verdict and release their findings!

Looking forward to seeing how long it takes for them to announce their verdict on the infamous interview with Louise Herron on October 5, which I have no doubt would’ve attracted some complaints to ACMA.

[littlegezzybear]

@SydneyCityTV

Not sure what’s worse: The fact that Alan Jones has said the phrase “n***** in the woodpile” on 2GB several times or how it apparently takes ACMA seven months to deliver their verdict and release their findings!

ACMA blames Jones for the delay as he wasn’t available when 2GB needed to ask him questions. Jones saying the word is definitely worse.

Edit:

In their submission to ACMA, 2GB stated:

The licensee submitted audience demographic data for The Alan Jones Breakfast Show for the survey period in which the broadcast occurred. It argued that with an average listener age of 59.5 years, use of such a colloquialism in this context, would not have been considered offensive because Mr Jones’s audience grew up at a time when such words were not yet considered to be offensive.

and

2GB recognises that the particular word (the "N-Word") may be offensive when used about people of colour. However, the word was in common usage as recently as the 1980s in Australia without widespread awareness of its negative racial connotations. Indeed:

• The NSW Anti-Discrimination Act was enacted in 1977 and the Federal Racial Discrimination Act was only enacted in 1975;
• Some Australian place names contained the N-Word until only last year;
• As recently as 2010, a Queensland magistrate found that a facsimile message using this word, sent by a 62 year old male, was not offensive, stating "The words used were crude, unattractive and direct, but were not offensive to a reasonable person."(https://www.news.com.au/national/judge-rules-n-word-not-offensive/news-story/2158f5f4973eae1b5e29b5bffbd7eeea);
• In the case of Hagan v Trustees of the Toowoomba Sports Ground Trust [2000] FCA 1615 (unreported), his Honour Justice Drummond made it clear that the word was not inherently racist or offensive. Its offensiveness or otherwise depended on its context, such that the use of the word N-Word in a stadium sign was found not to offend section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act; and
• In a decision of the ACMA in 2012 (4EL Decision), the ACMA found use of the phrase "work like a n*****" on 4EL did not breach the equivalent provision of the Code in place in 2012. The ACMA stated:

In the present case, the caller’s tone did not convey aggression or contempt. The word was not repeated or used in a sustained attack on the relevant racial group.

Nor, as outlined above, was there any surrounding material that could be considered offensive in racial terms.

I’m around the supposed average age of Alan Jones’ listeners and I totally reject the arguments made by 2GB. Yes, the word was used - but it most certainly was offensive. That is why people used it - to cause offence. 2GB and Jones needed to accept that what Jones said was totally unacceptable and not try to argue their way out of it.

[cmo]

The ACMA are tootheless. why can’t they get him suspended off air or fine the station or something? This guy just keeps getting away with everything. Never held accountable.

[SydneyCityTV]

I agree.

Many of Alan Jones’ listeners might wish that Australia was still the country it was back in the 1950s and '60s when such words as “n*****” weren’t seen as being racist, but the world has (or should’ve) moved on from then.

[littlegezzybear]

7.30

7:30 has been working on a story about the bullying allegations against Ray Hadley at 2GB. The story is expected to air soon, possibly even tonight according to The Australian.