2UE says tweet slamming merged news service was a hack by ‘concerned’ listener not staffer
Macquarie Radio has claimed a tweet posted to a 2UE Twitter account describing it as a “shit news service” was the work of a “concerned member of the listening public” rather than a sacked staff member.
A tweet posted from the @2UENews account posted at 7.43am read “Apologies for the shit service these days. We hope you like the sound of whinging hyenas reading the news.”
It comes days after the newsrooms for Sydney radio stations 2UE and 2GB were merged last week as part of cost cutting measures following the merger of Fairfax Radio and Maquarie Radio, which has led to a number of redundancies across the operation.
The tweet, which was quickly erased, included the hashtag #bringbackblanda, a reference to the sacking of veteran breakfast newsreader Steve Blanda, who had been with 2UE for more than 30 years.
A spokesperson for 2UE said in a statement: “@2uenews is a seldom used Twitter account designed for the exclusive use of journalists on duty. It appears that this account has been hacked and whilst this is unfortunate, to some extent its unavoidable.”
They also downplayed the possibility of staff tensions being behind the posting, despite 2UE staff telling Mumbrella last week the merger with Radio 2GB was like a “hostile takeover”.
“If the iCloud can be hacked then our humble Twitter account is also at risk,” the 2UE spokesperson added. “We do not believe that this is the work of past or present staffers, rather a ‘concerned’ member of the listening public.
“The tweet was removed after being live for just 11 minutes. Steps have been taken to ensure greater security of our Twitter account.”
Recent days has seen Macquarie Radio chief operating officer Adam Lang laying out major redundancies across the new network, with more than 40 staff axed from Brisbane station 4BC and Radio 2UE, plus further sackings at Magic 1278.
Macquarie Radio has consistently refused to confirm the total number of staff sacked, despite initially signalling 50 redundancies.
Nic Christensen
Nic Christensen is a former employee of both Macquarie Radio and Fairfax Radio.
Of course it wasn’t a disgruntled former employee!
Yeah right!
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Who cares.
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@Garry Wilson it appears you must care otherwise you would not have read the article and then posted a comment. Does that make sense ? So in answer to your question “who cares” I can confidently say that you and I care. ANd that’s nice isn’t it.
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