Nine’s management will brief staff ahead of releasing the results of an external independent review into cultural issues at the media company on Thursday, triggered by the exit of former director of news and current affairs Darren Wick earlier this year.
Acting chief executive Matt Stanton told staff on Wednesday afternoon the company expected to receive the report from independent firm Intersection on Thursday, acknowledging it might be a “challenging time” for some of those involved.
The review was commissioned by former chief executive Mike Sneesby and the company’s board in May after details were published regarding Wick’s allegedly drunken lecherous behaviour, kicking off a string of major events for the media company, which also owns The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. This included the exit of chair Peter Costello and Sneesby.
“The review was a comprehensive process and represents an important step for us as we work to strengthen our workplace culture,” Stanton said in an all-staff note. “While we recognise the interest from some external stakeholders, we wanted to ensure our people hear directly from us about the Intersection report and have planned a briefing tomorrow for all employees.”
Stanton said the board and management would also be seeing the report for the first time on Thursday, and that while they were committed to transparency, “we may not have all the answers in tomorrow’s briefing”.
Nine is expected to publish a version of the report online after the staff briefing.
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“We understand the completion of the review by Intersection may be a challenging time for some of our team members and have made arrangements for our Employee Assistance Program, Converge, to be on site at multiple locations for the next five business days for any confidential discussions or support you may require,” Stanton added.
While it was commissioned as a deep-dive into the news and current affairs television division, the review was expanded to include an organisation-wide survey.