news

At Last, Some Happy Channel Nine-Related News: Peter Hitchener Comes Out!

4:40PM Clem Bastow | To be quite honest we were starting to think that with their recent (and by “recent” we mean “roughly the last 18 months”) run of bad luck and internal politics gone mental, we were never going to be able to write a positive piece on Channel Nine ever again. We now have long-time Nine newsreader Peter Hitchener to thank for breaking that drought, with this happy bit of personal news hidden near the end of a weekend feature on Hitch from the Herald Sun: “I am a single person and given that we are on private issues of private life, I am choosing to share with you today that part of my life that I have not spoken about before: that I am gay,” Hitchener said. More »

Nobody Is Safe From The Boning Madness As Nine Dumps Another ‘Valued’ Staffer

3:01PM Clem Bastow | You just can’t stop the avalanche of boning at Channel Nine, it seems, with the news (ho ho) that another member of the Nine News team has been given the boot. And as if the rest of the bonings hadn’t seemed arbitrary enough for you, this time it was veteran reporter Brad Schmitt who was unceremoniously shown the door – after twenty-five years with the network. Way to golden handshake your faithful, Nine! Right on! “They told him they were going for a fresh look and he wasn’t going to be part of it,” a Nine insider told Confidential. “After 25 years, he’s absolutely devastated. To say it’s come out of left field is an understatement and a half.” Nine wasted no time, allegedly cutting Schmitt’s remote access to its computer system by Monday afternoon. Schmitt was highly regarded as Nine’s most senior Sydney reporter and was to have celebrated his quarter century with the network on August 1. Rather than being a contracted star, Schmitt was on staff and is believed to require three warnings of poor performance before he can be legally sacked. Experts said his case for unfair dismissal was “on solid ground”. Said “experts” said his case was “on solid ground” while rubbing their hands together while an imaginary sack filled with gold coins above their heads. So, let’s just add this to the list of things Channel Nine doesn’t like, shall we? Women, locally-produced content, expectant mothers and now, oldies. Have we missed anything? More »

Boned Reporter Claims Nine Riddled With Sexism; Somewhere, A Mini-skirted Shelley Craft Says “Not So!”

9:51AM Clem Bastow | Remember Channel Nine reporter Christine Spiteri’s ongoing battle with the network? It’s still going! Spiteri is planning to blow the lid off Nine’s alleged climate of sexism and the sorts of industry dealings you would’ve thought went out in the days when Les Paterson was considered a work of cutting non-fiction – by suing Nine for damages. Female journalists at the Nine Network were discussed as “sex objects”, according to documents filed in a $560,000 damages claim by dumped reporter Christine Spiteri. Documents with the Federal Court yesterday reveal the network’s head of news John Westacott allegedly told female journalists: “To make it in this game, women have to be f…able.” Spiteri, 40, was told while on maternity leave her contract, which expires next month, would not be renewed. She lodged a complaint last December with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, alleging she was the victim of discrimination on the grounds of sex, race and her parental responsibilities. She wouldn’t be the first to wonder whether Nine’s gender politics were a bit off, as this stirring Photoshop job from News Ltd last December suggests. After all, you don’t hear phrases like “boning” emerge from totally right-on, gender neutral, forward-thinking workplaces, do you? More »

Ray Martin Bones Himself!

10:00AM Clem Bastow | When it comes to Australian television, there are some things in this world that are a given: Jeannie Little wearing something made out of Chux Superwipes and/or garbage bags, Darryl Somers cracking really bad dad jokes, and Ray Martin on Channel Nine. Well, you can scratch that last item from the ledger, as the network’s golden son has quit in a huff! (Incidentally, he was probably more upset than in a huff; we just wanted to use that term, as we’ve long wanted to quit a job of our own in a huff, but it’s hard to walk triumphantly out of your living room in your pajamas the sort of high-powered and five-star offices the Defamer Australia crew frequent in a hurry.) It goes without saying that this is massive news; he’ll be a big hole in Nine’s roster of stars, which is steadily dwindling – and we can’t see Tracey Grimshaw being elevated to Ray’s echelon in his wake, somehow. Ray Martin, on a $1.2 million salary, has been unhappy at the restructuring and cost cutting at Nine and has been a constant critic of his employer. His walkout is a major blow to the once mighty network which has fallen hard into second place in the ratings, and third in advertising revenue. Martin last night said he was quitting to become a “gun for hire”. “It is not hard to jump off the edge of the carport and fly again,” he said. Word is that the network is happy to see the back of him, having grown increasingly tired of his diva (divo?) tendencies and constant grandstanding. Ray’s been at Nine for over twenty years now, so we’ll be interested to see just how he adjusts to being said “gun for hire”. The stench of Nine is so deeply ingrained in him that we’ll be surprised if anyone will pick him up as a roving reporter now! More »

Channel Nine: More Bonings Than An Annabel Chong Get-together

11:20AM Clem Bastow | Those champs over at Chez Nine just keep kicking goals, with news that they’ve “boned” yet another station employee, this time newsreader Majella Weimers. We were initially inclined to think that it was merely the fact that, in a non-ratings period, people usually come and go, and Nine were just unlucky to have sent a few others on their way recently, hence making it look like they were in a frenzy of sackings – until we saw the reason they’d given. In short, the Nine news boss “doesn’t like blondes.” Weimers, who stepped in when regular weather presenter Jaynie Seal went on maternity leave, is understood to have stormed out of Nine on Wednesday afternoon immediately after hearing her contract would not be extended beyond December 31. Producers were left to scramble together scripts for Mark Ferguson to cover the forecast but Weimers is believed to have cooled off since and bravely fronted for both the afternoon and evening bulletins yesterday. A Nine spokeswoman told Confidential Weimers was advised to have the afternoon off by news director Ian Cook, who did the boning. The decision has angered her colleagues, with one news staffer saying the decision was because news boss “(John) Westacott doesn’t like blondes”. “It’s really sad she’s going and is such a nice girl,” the insider said yesterday. “She can produce, report and present and does her job well. They’re getting rid of her, so what does that say?” Less than two weeks after reporter Christine Spiteri was sacked and allegedly told “with a surname like Spiteri you should try SBS”. And this followed the infamous “boning” of former Today show host Jessica Rowe. With all these bonings happening it’s a wonder Nine haven’t changed their official slogan to “Still In Priapisms” or “Cum On In, The Water’s Fine At Nine”. Somewhere, Eddie McGuire is giggling to himself and saying “boned” in a manner befitting a 12-year-old boy. More »