EXCLUSIVE
Nine has axed its second high-profile news director in as many weeks as the brutal killing season continues at the embattled broadcaster.
The network’s long-serving Sydney news director, Simon Hobbs, was the latest senior executive to be given the chop after staff were informed he had been dismissed on Wednesday afternoon.
His shock exit comes less than a week after Nine’s Queensland news director, Amanda Patterson, was unexpectedly ousted during a video hook up with the channel’s newly minted news boss Fiona Dear.
No reasons have been offered publicly for either Patterson or Hobbs’ departures.
Staffers at Nine’s Sydney headquarters were summoned to a ‘town hall’ meeting at 2pm when Dear walked them through the changes to the newsroom’s leadership structure.
As news of his axing spread throughout the network, Dear fired off an email about his departure to all staff about half an hour later – while also advising the company was now on the hunt for three new news directors in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
‘I wanted to let you know about some further changes to the news and current affairs leadership team,’ Dear said in the email.
‘Simon Hobbs will be finishing up…with Nine at the end of this week.
‘Current deputy news director Margie McLew will assume the responsibilities of news director until a permanent replacement is finalised.
‘Simon will be supporting Margie from home to ensure a seamless transition and handover in leadership, before finishing with the business on Friday, 15 November.
‘We are recruiting for three news director roles…the job ads are now live…and I’d encourage anyone who is interested to apply, or reach out for a confidential chat.’
Hobbs had been leading Nine’s Sydney operation for almost 13 years having rejoined the network in 2012 after working as a producer in the US for six years.
The veteran newsman was not answering his phone when contacted by Daily Mail on Wednesday afternoon.
Nine staffers had been bracing themselves for more heads to roll after Patterson was summoned into a meeting with the network’s Brisbane-based People and Culture representative last Thursday only to be told her three-decade career at the network was over.
After being informed of the company’s decision, she was escorted immediately out of the channel’s Mount Coot-tha studios without being allowed to return to her office or address her former staff.
The Nine veteran, who had been in the top job since 2016, has not commented publicly on her dismissal but has since retained the services of celebrity workplace lawyer John Laxon in an indication she is going to fight her sacking.
In an email confirming her departure, Dear said: ‘I wanted to let you know that QTQ News Director Amanda Paterson has finished up with Nine today.
‘While we formalise and internal and external recruitment process to replace the role, Kate Donnison has agreed to step in on a short-term basis until QTQ EP Brendan Hockings returns from the US and his annual leave.
‘Brendan will then act in the role until we finalise the recruitment process to ensure stability in leadership during this time.’
Staffers were quick to point out that neither email thanked the departing news bosses for their time at the network or contribution to the company.
The Perth news director role was left vacant after the former news boss, Gareth Parker, was tapped to run the channel’s national news desk three weeks ago.
Although Hobbs and Patterson’s exits come just weeks after the findings of an external investigation into the network’s toxic newsroom culture were made public, there is no suggestion either of their departures were linked to the review.
Former Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby commissioned the independent inquiry in to in June before quitting the company for unrelated reasons just five weeks before its damning finding were made public last month.
The review, conducted by workplace culture firm Intersection, found Nine had ‘a systemic issue with abuse of power and authority; bullying, discrimination and harassment; and sexual harassment’.
The investigation revealed 57 per cent of staff in the media company’s broadcast division had experienced bullying, discrimination or harassment over the past five years, with a third saying they had been sexually harassed in that time frame.
The report said the company’s toxic culture had been enabled by ‘a lack of leadership accountability; power imbalances; gender inequality and a lack of diversity; and significant distrust in leaders at all levels of the business’.
Sneesby’s departure came three months after Peter Costello was forced to resign as Nine’s chairman in June after he appeared to deliberately knock over a reporter peppering him with questions at Canberra Airport.
Ironically, the reporter had been asking Costello whether he continued to support Sneesby’s ongoing reign as chief executive.
Former chief financial officer Matt Stanton was appointed caretaker chief executive while a formal recruitment process for Sneesby’s replacement is underway, though insiders speculate he is likely to end up taking on the role full-time.
Stanton has vowed to reset the media empire’s culture in the wake of the scandal and told staff in an email there would be no tolerance for toxic behaviour within the company.
‘Since the release of the report, we can appreciate the strong desire to understand accountability for inappropriate behaviour that has occurred in our workplace,’ he told staffers.
‘There is no place at Nine for the abuse of power, bullying, sexual harassment or inappropriate conduct outlined in the Intersection report or for people who behave that way.
‘There will be change at Nine and individuals will be held to account for behaviour of this nature.
‘The Board and management are united in the need to accelerate change to support the workplace reform program.
‘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.
‘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.
‘There are a range of outcomes that might come from a formal investigation process, depending on whether the claims can be substantiated.
‘If a complaint is upheld, the consequences will be appropriate and proportionate, ranging from counselling, formal disciplinary action, to termination of employment.’