‘One of the most soul-crushing places you can work’: ABC Four Corners investigates Seven’s workplace
ABC will be taking aim at Seven’s workplace culture in a new Four Corners set to air next Monday.
Titled ‘Don’t Speak’, a thirty-second trailer released this week by the ABC features former employees, including Amber Harrison – whose affair with former CEO Tim Worner was made public after she was fired from Seven – with the network claiming it was for credit card misuse.
“Silence for life,” she says of the fallout.
“They shouldn’t be in business if that’s what they’re doing to young women,” one commentator says in the trailer. “How do they sleep at night?”
Reporter Louise Milligan and the Four Corners team spoke to more than 200 people for the story, including current staff who “believe there is a desperate need for change at both Seven and the broader commercial television industry”.
ABC’s synopsis reads: “Channel Seven bills itself as a family network, but a Four Corners investigation finds it to be a ‘second chance club’ for senior men, described as a ‘degrading, soul-crushing’ workplace.
“Allegations of sexism, exploitation and extreme bullying at the network are rife and staff have been left hospitalised. In some extreme cases, they are unable to work or been suicidal.
”Many staff have made legal claims against the network and many past staff have been gagged with non-disclosure agreements.”
Mumbrella has contacted Seven for comment.
Don’t Speak airs Monday 12 August at 8:30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
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I couldn’t agree more. Having spent over five years in the newsroom, I have witnessed some truly appalling stories. The toxic workplace culture and bullying tactics that were perpetuated from the top created an environment that was deeply troubling. The constant turnover of staff during my tenure highlighted who could endure the toxicity the longest, before being betrayed by colleagues desperate to save their own jobs. It was truly a dog-eat-dog world.
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Funny, I’ve heard the same thing about the ABC.
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