NZ’s MediaWorks faces ‘pivotal moment’ as review exposes allegations of sexual harassment, bullying

A months-long independent review into the culture at MediaWorks, New Zealand’s biggest radio conglomerate, has exposed multiple instances of sexual harassment and bad behaviour.

Published Wednesday, the broadcaster’s review is a damning one which details a dominant “Boy’s Club” which promoted or tolerated sexist and racist behaviour, bullying, drug use, “inappropriate workplace relationships” with younger females, and more.

The results found that 26% of female and 17% of male survey participants had seen some form of sexual harassment in the last three years, and that 18% of female survey participants had personally experienced some form of sexual harassment while working there.

“Today is a pivotal moment in MediaWorks’ history and is not only a step forward for long-term change in our workplace, but for the wider media industry,” says MediaWorks CEO Cam Wallace, in a statement accompanying the review.

Its findings give MediaWorks “clear direction for creating long-term change,” says Wallace, who pledges the company “will move forward with all” 32 recommendations, which fall under nine action areas.

Ahead of its release, Wallace reportedly made repeated apologies during a staff-wide meeting.

“Firstly I would like to unreservedly apologise on behalf of MediaWorks to current and former staff for MediaWorks’ failures over the past years to inadequately respond to complaints of
misconduct, and for the harm that this has caused,” Wallace says at the top of a statement. 

According to Stuff, whose reporters spoke with MediaWorks staff who attended the gathering, there were “plenty of tears” around the office.

MediaWorks announced in March it had launched an internal investigation when allegations of sexual harassment by local music and media industry professionals began circling on the Instagram page for Beneath The Glass Ceiling NZ.

The workplace probe, a spokesperson for the broadcaster said on March 12, would be “a thorough review of historic events and our current workplace culture and practices”.

The review explored covered allegations relating to sexual or racial harassment, discrimination, bullying or misuse of drugs and alcohol and covered the three-year period between March 2018 and March 2021. MediaWorks paid for the review, which was led by Maria Dew QC, a senior barrister based in Auckland.

As part of the process, current and former employees were invited to come forward to share to share their experiences with Dew.

All told, 125 current and former staff came forward to be interviewed, and more than 480 employees completed a survey.

In it, one participant explained, “I found the [misconduct] disappointing. It impacts young females in our workplace. I was disgusted by it, and it felt brushed under the carpet. I want us to move on, but we need to acknowledge the mistakes we have made and show a way forward that is healthy, safe and diverse.”

Ahead of its release, a spokesperson told the Herald the business had “committed to being open and transparent throughout this process and as you know the Maria Dew QC report will be shared with our staff … before being released to the public.”

Based in Auckland and owned by Oaktree Capital, MediaWorks operates nine national radio brands, 12 websites and one locally operated radio station which, combined, reaching an estimated 3.1 million Kiwis.

MediaWorks is the latest Australasian media company acknowledging its own employees’ inappropriate conduct and cultural failures as the MeToo movement gathers pace in these parts.

NZ’s music business was rocked earlier this year when an expose in Stuff magazine detailed the years-long misconduct by Scott Maclachlan, the former senior vice president for A&R at Warner Music’s Australasia office, and former Benee manager Paul McKessar, both of whom lost their jobs when the scandal broke.

Beneath The Glass Ceiling now operates separate accounts for Australia and NZ, as a safe place for industry professionals to share their own, sometimes harrowing, stories.

In May, a post on the Instagram page for Beneath The Glass Ceiling NZ drew attention to an unidentified industry professional who boasts a Silver Scroll in his collection, a claim that prompted a response from APRA AMCOS.

Read the Executive Summary of the MediaWorks report here.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.