Miranda Devine claims she suffered ‘poison messages’ abuse from SMH colleagues
Right-leaning columnist Miranda Devine was abused by colleagues who did not share her political views when she worked at the Sydney Morning, she has claimed.
In a column for The Sunday Telegraph, Devine said she was sent “poison messages” on the company’s internal email system when she was on deadline. After she publicly challenged one of her colleagues, she says she was asked by the editor whether she needed to see the HR department.
Fairfax has given short shrift to her claims – pointing out that she is now a columnist for rival News Limited.
Devine left the Fairfax paper in 2010 to write a column syndicated to News Limited’s metro Sunday papers.
In today’s column she claims that the Herald “was controlled by a handful of hard-Left enforcers who dictated how issues were covered, and undermined management at every turn”. She adds:
“Their tactics against me included bombarding my screen at deadline with poison messages about previous columns, or recruiting friends to lodge complaints about my work.”
There was eventually a newsroom confrontation, Devine claims. She said:
“Fellow columnist Paul Sheehan once advised me to use the word “harass” against a particularly vexatious colleague.
“A touchstone word of the PC brigade, it didn’t spring naturally to my lips, but the effect was electric. The newsroom stopped. My tormentor rose in his acid-washed jeans and swore at me, which only made it more delicious for the audience.
“I repeated the magic word several times in the vigorous exchange that ensued and returned to my desk with the little thrill of knowing I’d used the enemy’s weapon against them.
“A few days later the editor sidled up and asked if I needed to see HR. I didn’t, but acid-wash man didn’t trouble me overtly from then on.”
She said in her column that the majority of her colleagues were professional.
A Fairfax Media spokesman said “Are you joking? We have no comments to make on a now News Limited employee’s recollections.”
Poor dear..
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So rather than speaking with police and raising an official complaint she airs her dirty laundry in the public forum.
It’s hard not to see Fairfax’s position that this is more games than anything.
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She’s really not a fan of acid wash jeans is she?
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Devine produced the best content back at Fairfax when she was trolling her own employer and its readers.
Now she’s just one of many at News, the copy doesn’t have the same impact.
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One shouldnt really bitch about ones previous employers publicly.
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Harrassment in any form is not cool. But neither then is airing your dirty laundry in public. Perhaps she should have taken it through the appropriate HR channels as her editor suggested!
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News Ltd newsrooms reinforce a right wing mind set that filters down through the ranks while Fairfax newsrooms reinforce a left wing mind set that does the same. Most of the anonymous faces – the down the food chain hacks who will be shown the door in the great purge about to take place in both newsrooms – don’t care too much one way or the other. But don’t worry – the Miranda Divines of News and the David Marrs of Fairfax will survive and keep pumping out their biased, done to death opinions for the millionth plus time … and they wonder why the punters have stopped reading.
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yeah never really rated her anyway…..something about heat and kitchen?
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Does anyone actually NOT harass, limit or persecute this intellectual pygmy? The whole world is very very unreasonable and mean to her.
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Karma perhaps?
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Miranda Devine the victim of abuse.. Well with this ‘columnist’ who has written many homophobic and abusive articles herself (one famously titled “Pregnancy of Penny Wong’s female partner no cause for mass celebration”) will get no sympathy from me.
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no one should air dirty laundry in public, but no one should wear acid wash jeans either. wrong on all counts
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First she came for the Democrats,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Democrat.
Then she came for the ALP,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t part of the ALP.
Then she came for the acid-wash-jeans,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t wearing acid-wash-jeans.
Then she came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
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Queen of vitriol, what does she expect? I’ve always assumed her views were really just attention seeking anyway, this proves it.
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If you can’t take it, don’t dish it out, Miranda. I stopped reading your sad, nasty attempts at journalism years ago. Like Kyle Sandilands, I realised that giving you any attention at all just helps keep you employed.
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It’s just mummy re-writing history again.
Those “poison messages” were just subbies correcting her spelling and grammar in her copy. All her own work really.
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all these self righteous Richard Craniums attacking Miranda for speaking the truth.I for one just cant wait for Gina to take over and clean out Fairfax.long long overdue.
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Joseph, when she speaks the truth instead of spouting opinions I’ll get back to you.
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Flares, don’t worry, you are not on the list (this time).
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Good to know where to find Miranda if want to. Not sure when.
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Is this your problem in life? What a privileged upbringing Miranda Devine
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