“Misunderstanding” behind Sunrise spat in South Australia
It's a 'he said / she said' spat over a live weather cross that never happened.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
Sunrise is having an awkward week of it in South Australia, with claims it failed to front for an agreed segment at an animal sanctuary.
Willow Wood owner Mark Aldridge, a volunteer and former political candidate, accused the show of failing to front on Tuesday for a pre-arranged cross for its weather segment with Nuala Hafner.
But Sunrise claims its messages to him had not been returned because Alridge was out of range leaving them no option but to cancel.
On Facebook Alridge’s accusations gathered over 11,000 shares:
……….SUNRISE SUCK……….Letting down South Australia fire victims the animals and their rescuers, Sunrise contacted me asking if they could set on our property, they came out yesterday to sort out where to set up the satellite, they asked that we stack the donations on the lawn, to have all the rescuers there with the animals, and those that lost their homes in the fires here for the cross overs, that we have the trucks arriving and departing, from 5.30 in the morning, so dozens of good people missed out on well earned sleep (We have been doing rescues and feeding the animals and familys devastated by the SA fires) some of us have missed days of sleep, but as Sunrise were going to help get the word out about the good work of the rescue groups, and in the hope that we would raise money for them, we all went out of our way. Now we have hours of work to get all the feed back under cover, and the rescuers have wasted time better spent doing what they do best……..NOT EVEN A CALL SAYING THEY WERE NOT COMING, People devastated by the fires came all the way to be interview……what assholes, in the world of mobile phones, they could have let us know last night, I will never watch that show ever again. Go to their page and tell them how you feel.
Sunrise responded with its own clarification:
On Monday afternoon, Sunrise producers contacted Mark Aldridge’s animal sanctuary in South Australia to see if Tuesday morning’s weather crosses would be possible from his property.
After an initial phone conversation between Mark and a producer, it was agreed Mark would first need to investigate what he could arrange and he would then call back in the afternoon for further discussion. When Mark did not call back in the afternoon, producers and other crew members made numerous calls into the late evening, leaving phone and text messages for Mark, including messages to let him know the weather cross would need to be cancelled due to a lack of information from Mark.
Producers again made contact with Mark early on Tuesday morning to check he’d received the previous evening’s messages. Mark replied that he had received the messages sent the previous evening, but had been unable to respond as he had returned to the fire zone. Sunrise producers have a text message from Mark confirming he’d received the messages that Sunrise would not be attending the sanctuary.
A senior member of the Sunrise staff contacted Mark on Tuesday. Mark advised that he would amend his Facebook post to say that it had been a misunderstanding and that Sunrise was not at fault.
Sunrise supports everyone involved in the battle against the South Australian bushfires and wishes Mark Aldridge all the best with his ongoing, important work.
Alridge says he was in range from 7:30pm and home from 9pm.
The disagreement follows a viewer backlash earlier this week over Sunrise‘s belated coverage of South Australian fires, although the network defends it was comprehensively covered on Weekend Sunrise.
Meanwhile Studio 10 reporter David Robinson spoke to Alridge yesterday about his volunteer work.
Sunrise still wins comfortably in Adelaide but could it be time for a South Australian OB sometime soon?
5 Responses
Someone isn’t telling the whole truth.
Mark says someone visited the property and looked at where to setup.
Sunrise says only phone calls took place.
Which is the truth?
Where is ACA when u need them
Doesn’t sound like Mark Aldridge and Sunrise had proper communication to begin with. Sounds like Aldridge thought there was an agreement when there clearly wasn’t, whether he misinterpreted the phone call or what who knows? I can teel you in business miscommunication is a common everyday occurrence, particularly when your on the phone.
I am sure Today would love to swoop in & do a live cross. Sunrise certainly seem to be taking their audience for granted at the moment as is Seven in general. It could cost them dearly.
I liken this to the political situation down here in Shepparton. Liberals/Nationals held the seat for 47 years but after betraying our loyalty at the Victorian election an Independant won the seat.
Sorry to go off track, but my point is, Channel 7 has been dominant for too long in SA and is starting to neglect its most loyal audience. If they don’t watch out they might not be so dominant anymore….
Shouldn’t t be up to the local SAS station to break into Sunrise with live, local news and information – and not the national breakfast show.
After all – SAS are the ones with local knowledge experience, relevance and a duty/commitment to serve Adelaide viewers,