Union calls on Nine ‘not to waste opportunity’ following Mike Sneesby exit

Australian trade union Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) has called on Nine Entertainment to “not waste the opportunity created by the departure of CEO Mike Sneesby to reset the business with a clearer focus on supporting quality journalism.”

Mike Sneesby

Nine Entertainment boss Sneesby will leave the Australian media firm at the end of the month, stepping down from his roles as CEO and director on the Nine board, it was announced yesterday.

Current chief financial and strategy officer Matt Stanton will become acting CEO from October 1 as the company begins the process of recruiting Sneesby’s successor.

Although sudden, Sneesby’s exit had been highly anticipated by the market and industry following disappointing financial results for Nine.

Nine has been beset by a litany of issues over the last six months including management integrity challenges, newsroom toxicity allegations, staff strikes and cost cutting measures that have resulted in the loss of hundreds of employees.

The tumult also claimed the scalp of stalwart chairman Peter Costello who resigned in June amid ongoing scrutiny of Nine’s workplace culture and management.

The MEAA said it was vital that the next Nine CEO “restore investment in journalism to regain public trust after a series of scandals at the company.”

“The next chief executive of Nine will have an opportunity to turn a fresh page and reset the company with a focus on its most valuable assets, its editorial staff, including aligning the publishing, broadcasting and digital operations to get the most out of its journalistic strengths,” said the acting director of MEAA Media, Michelle Rae.

She added that the recent journalist strikes at Nine were due to staff being “sick and tired of Nine putting the interests of high returns to shareholders ahead of investment in the editorial frontline staff upon whom the company’s reputation for independent quality journalism depends”.

“They want an end to the cover ups and big pay outs for bad behaviour by Nine executives. They want an end to the overseas junkets to the Paris Olympics and other events. And they want an end to the mindless cuts that included up to 90 print editorial jobs announced in the middle of an enterprise bargaining campaign.”

In Sneesby’s internal email to Nine staff, he revealed that the findings of the culture review would be released in October, after his departure.

The review was instigated some months ago by external firm Intersection, when the allegations of workplace toxicity and the exit of some senior management took place.

“It will build on the work we have done over the past three years to enhance our culture and employee engagement… Our Board and leadership team remain committed to taking on the report findings and using them constructively to ensure we continue our path of cultural improvement,” he stated.