Government asks TVNZ's board to confirm hiring process of Kamahl Santamaria was proper

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#2921362 1-Jun-2022 11:51

The Spinoff weighs in on the whole hiring saga and possible implications for TVNZ:

https://thespinoff.co.nz/media/01-06-2022/why-the-kamahl-santamaria-saga-could-cause-even-bigger-problems-for-tvnz

gzt

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#2921388 1-Jun-2022 12:34

PolicyGuy: What interests me is why TVNZ News has been going so hard on this - it was the lead story in their main 6pm bulletin.

Trending high on social media I expect. Breakfast is a high rating show and has a strong female audience demographic. The stakes are high for TVNZ.

As I recall there was some previous broadcasting controversy all over social media, print, and competing stations and barely mentioned by the station concerned. Imo that does not go down well.

quickymart

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#2921399 1-Jun-2022 13:15

Finally, Al Jazeera are doing something about it, although I personally think it should not have taken an incident like this for these steps to happen.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/468270/al-jazeera-holds-staff-meeting-following-kamahl-santamaria-s-tvnz-departure

networkn

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#2921405 1-Jun-2022 13:35

Why is this in the public arena at all? It's an employment matter and or matter for the police if it's a breach of the law.

quickymart

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#2921408 1-Jun-2022 13:46

He's a reasonably high profile presenter who abruptly left (what appeared to be) a pretty sweet job, he had just travelled halfway around the world to do. TVNZ's handling of it has been poor.

networkn

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#2921409 1-Jun-2022 13:48

quickymart:

He's a reasonably high profile presenter who abruptly left (what appeared to be) a pretty sweet job, he had just travelled halfway around the world to do. TVNZ's handling of it has been poor.

So what?

How is it in the public interest for this to be front page news?

gehenna

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#2921412 1-Jun-2022 13:56

There's an audience for salacious tripe

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quickymart

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#2921414 1-Jun-2022 13:59

One viewpoint: my taxpayer dollars paid for this guy to come back to NZ to do this job, only for him to leave abruptly after barely a month and probably get a payout, from more of my dollars. I don't think that's right.

I guess I am biased as I have a small stake in the media field so this does interest me personally, but for him to quit the job after such a short time (especially with the practices involved in hiring him) it isn't a good look for TVNZ, and I feel it's in the public interest as he was in the public eye. Then again, maybe you don't care about this. Having said that, you're most welcome to have your opinion on this though, as I am with mine 🙂

networkn

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#2921415 1-Jun-2022 14:00

gehenna:

There's an audience for salacious tripe

Exactly this.

eracode

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#2921417 1-Jun-2022 14:04

networkn:

Why is this in the public arena at all? It's an employment matter and or matter for the police if it's a breach of the law.

The reason is that, although this thread has drifted way off its supposed title, the real issue is the questions surrounding the process of his recruitment by a state-owned entity. That’s an important public policy issue - which the alleged behaviour is not - and is rightly in the public arena.

The behaviour stuff doesn’t need to be in the public arena but it is - because it involves a broadcaster (state-owned or not) and it’s salacious and people love that combo.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

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#2921419 1-Jun-2022 14:06

Harassment, bullying (also on these forums), inappropriate behaviour is a big issue in the work place. It is serious and damaging. Bringing this to the open empowers more victims to come forth so this insidious behaviour can be stop. Bringing it to the open certainly is NOT "salacious tripe".

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#2921425 1-Jun-2022 14:20

quickymart:

I guess you missed the part about him forcing himself on a junior colleague and kissing her against her will, forcing her to hide in the toilets whenever he was around. I guess that's just a normal part of workplace life, right? 🙄

https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/300601641/lewd-email-and-kiss-attempts-of-extvnz-host-kamahl-santamaria-revealed

Yep he was a real catch, all right - keeping on at her when she didn't want him to go near her. What do you seriously think would have happened to her if she had slapped him in the workplace?

Oh and did I mention he was married, too? Would you consider that all perfectly fine as well?

/s

He didn't force her to hide in the bathroom, she chose to do that instead of reporting the behavior she felt was inappropriate. It sounds like after she did finally report it he immediately desisted.

I certainly think he should have known better, but he might have genuinely believed he wasn't doing anything wrong. And in lieu of anyone telling him otherwise, or complaints being laid, why would he think to change his behavior?

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#2921439 1-Jun-2022 14:39

Paul1977:

He didn't force her to hide in the bathroom, she chose to do that instead of reporting the behavior she felt was inappropriate. It sounds like after she did finally report it he immediately desisted.

I certainly think he should have known better, but he might have genuinely believed he wasn't doing anything wrong. And in lieu of anyone telling him otherwise, or complaints being laid, why would he think to change his behavior?

It's been noted that at the time, the only real mechanism for reporting this sort of thing at Al Jazeera was during your exit interview, when you were leaving the company. She did talk to a senior manager, I agree, but him completely ignoring her afterwards doesn't make for a healthy work environment, especially if they had to work closely together; that sort of carry-on lacks professionalism to me personally.

If she was avoiding him in the toilets as the only means to get away from him, surely he must have cottoned on using common sense that what he was doing to her wasn't right?

Anyway getting a bit offtopic here. Tova on Today FM talked to Bill Ralston (who also used to work as head of news at TVNZ) about the upcoming review:

https://www.todayfm.co.nz/home/national/2022/05/crisis-meetings-called-at-al-jazeera-amid-santamaria-fallout.html

Rikkitic

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#2921441 1-Jun-2022 14:55

Paul1977:

He didn't force her to hide in the bathroom, she chose to do that instead of reporting the behavior she felt was inappropriate. It sounds like after she did finally report it he immediately desisted.

Please think about this some more. It comes perilously close to telling a rape victim she should not have dressed so provocatively.

Paul1977:

I certainly think he should have known better, but he might have genuinely believed he wasn't doing anything wrong. And in lieu of anyone telling him otherwise, or complaints being laid, why would he think to change his behavior?

I think this is a specious argument. An illiterate peasant might (or might not!) have trouble judging a situation like this. An educated and worldly professional should not.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Paul1977

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#2921449 1-Jun-2022 15:15

Rikkitic:

Please think about this some more. It comes perilously close to telling a rape victim she should not have dressed so provocatively.

It really doesn't.

Rikkitic:

I think this is a specious argument. An illiterate peasant might (or might not!) have trouble judging a situation like this. An educated and worldly professional should not.

Don't underestimate male arrogance.

I personally think it's unlikely that, in these situations, the men believe their advances are unwanted. I think it's more likely they have such a high opinion of themselves that they can't imagine their advances would cause anything but delight.

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