2SER management accused over axing of radio journalism mentor
Opponents of changes at Sydney’s community radio station 2SER have accused its university owners of bulldozing through its plan to axe the staffer who leads the station’s speech output.
2SER announced in May that restructuring would be necessary in the face of funds being frozen by joint owners of the station UTS and Macquarie University.
The station’s talks co-ordinator Mark Robinson, a twenty year veteran of the radio station who helped guide the news and current affairs programming and university journalism students, has now seen his role chopped, protestors say. The decision – which 2SER declined to confirm upon being invited to comment by Mumbrella yesterday – comes despite 70 submissions asking station management to reconsider.
Wendy Bacon, UTS professor of journalism said: “The Talks Co-ordinator has been a long-standing lynchpin for student journalism and graduate support. After many years of mutual support between 2SER and the UTS journalism program, management did not intend to inform us of the decision until after it was a fait accompli.”
As a former volunteer I find the way management has behaved in handling this issue infuriating.
2SER is a community station, that is, a station run by volunteers who give up their time and energy on a weekly basis to keep the station running.
The very least they deserve in return is some input into major decisions such as this.
Instead, it appears station management has gone over the top of volunteers in making this heavy handed, arbitrary decision…the kind of behaviour you might expect from the commercial sector, even the ABC…certainly not in a community run organization…
Where were the meetings with volunteers to guide them on managements thinking at every stage of this process? Where was the feedback on the submissions made by countless present and former volunteers? Why did volunteers have to find out this decision had been made via the media? Where was the explanation of the rationale behind it?
If some of these basic things had be done, maybe we might have been more accepting of the final outcome.
It’s a slap in the face not only to Mark himself, but to every person that has come through that station and received invaluable guidance from him.
I certainly wouldn’t encourage anyone to volunteer for 2SER if this is the kind of treatment they can expect.
Posted a link to this article http://www.facebook.com/2serfm and I was blocked within a minute. Clearly not a topic management wants to discuss with their “community”, you know those content creators, journalists, volunteers and listeners who will be sorely disadvantaged by Mark’s redundancy.
Would be interested to know what renumeration the CEO and remaining 9 members of paid staff receive. Cutting only one staff member seems weird, especially a person responsible for overseeing current affairs. I smell a rat.
I just posted to the http://www.facebook.com/2serfm page also – and like Jane, yes,
was immediately blocked.
Community radio wasn’t draconian and heavily-censored in the past, what a let-down, 2SER obviously run by anti-community people these days.
Seems like the station is being pushed to more right wing infotainment courtesy of Withnall who used to produce Stan Zemanek! Why on earth is this person running a community radio station?
Surely community radio means it is driven by passionate, volunteers, not crusty people who’ve been there hogging a position and paid for a portion, or majority of your 20 years.
A good, bold move by management!
If you’re that valuable, go and get a real job in the industry Mark where your true performance is measured and open up a place for another keen volunteer who is keen to learn the craft from the ground up.
Stop hiding behind the volunteer code. If you are indeed that valuable, the ABC or, god forbid, commercial radio will sap you up. Mind you, if you’re not as talented as you think you are, your performance will be measured and you’ll be spat out very quickly.
Change is rarely easy – for management or employees. But the facts seem to suggest it is necessary for the stations survival in a tricky financial support environment. I agree with BW – but to me its more an argument about roles and responsibility across the whole station rather than one person, their individual history with the station or the views of past volunteers. Anyone passionate about 2 SER should, in my view, look closely at the bigger picture restructure for the good of the stations survival in the long term and the opportunity change can provide. Oh, and Steve, you obviously have no idea of what it takes to produce a high profile radio program, which rarely reflect the views of producers.
BW and Martin seem to be missing the point. he debate is not really about Mark Robinson, the debate is about his position. How can a station that is both a talk and music station keep a full time music producer and abolish the talk producer position? It doesn’t make sense. Also, by Mark being made redundant it will not “open up a place for another keen volunteer”, because the position no longer exists.