On Monday night, several credible sources told radioinfo that the ABC 7:30 program would be airing a follow up to last week’s expose of workplace bullying at 2GB.
This was to follow last Wednesday’s 15 minute, 43 sec segment that covered accusations from former 2GB staff members Chris Bowen, Jesse Perez and Andrew Moore of Ray Hadley bullying them.
Starting this morning (Tuesday) we made several attempts to reach out to 7:30 to simply confirm or deny whether the story was going ahead. They did not respond to any of our attempts. In the end we spoke to a senior executive at the ABC who was unable to supply a direct phone number to 7:30 but promised to speak to them on our behalf.
7:30 finally sent radioinfo an email less than an hour before the program was due to air confirming that, “We are not airing a story tonight.”
radioinfo apologises to our readers for any inconvenience caused by our earlier article suggesting that the story was going to air tonight. We will keep you informed.
We were told that a very senior manager will recount his past experiences with Ray Hadley.
Over the weekend The Daily Telegraph posted a story from former NRL star turned sports commentator John Gibbs who had kept silent for decades about the way he was treated by Hadley while they worked together at 2UE.
As tough as they came on the football field, Gibbs saw no other way out of the constant harassment than to quit his job. In an excerpt from his 1998 letter of resignation to 2UE management, published by the Tele, Gibbs wrote of the psychological battleground in the radio station’s sports department.
“I am treated like a dog, verbally abused and told I’m a failure on air,” he wrote.
There was also a report that was published in both the Fairfax media and the Nine News site (which now own MacRadio) that an unnamed, senior, long serving manager has lodged a formal complaint with his bosses about bullying that took place just last year. This appears to contradict Hadley’s claims that this recent spate of accusations is all old news and that he has apologised to staff and has since mended his ways.
If you’ve been bullied in the workplace by anyone at your station, email Peter Saxon in strictest confidence. [email protected]
Read Peter Saxon’s article, What Keeps Bullies in Business
