Another SBS reporter ‘sacked’ after social media posts

A second SBS employee has been dismissed in less than a month following social media commentary, amid speculation she may have breached company guidelines.

News presenter Marion Ives, who worked for SBS for nearly seven years in television, online and radio divisions was told there were no more shifts available to her, just a day after she republished part of an article that criticised the ‘watering down’ of the SBS Charter.

Ives was on a casual contract when she posted an article on Facebook written by Helen Vatsikopoulos for The Conversation website.

Vatsikopoulos, a former Dateline presenter, accused the broadcaster of not meeting its charter obligations on multiculturalism titled, “Whitewash? That’s not the colour of the SBS charter.”

SBS sources tell me they were shocked when they heard that management did not offer the Iraqi-born reporter a job upon the completion of her cadetship, late last year. The reason, reportedly, was budget constraints, which didn’t stop the station hiring two Anglo women in the same period – Brianna Roberts and Alyshia Gates.

Ives posted the article on Facebook, adding “I’ve admired Helen Vatsikopoulos’ work for a long time, and I found her perspective on many aspects interesting. But I’m not going to risk breaching SBS’ social media policy by commenting further — I’ll leave that to others”.

Steven Wilson, Chief Producer at SBS News, left comments under the post:

“Shouldn’t people just shut up unless they know the facts?”

He went on to attack the accuracy of the piece. Ives deleted the post later on Thursday.

Wilson told New Matilda he had not conveyed his frustrations about the piece, nor the fact Ives had shared it, to management at SBS.

“I didn’t speak to anyone more senior than I,” he said.

When pushed on whether he had spoken to others of his own level or below he said “possibly”, but did not elaborate.

 

News Corp reports Ives sent an email to colleagues after being told she had been sacked, noting she wasn’t “given any concrete reasons”, but was told “budget constraints and reviews of staff mean no further casual shifts”.

Last month sports reporter Scott McIntyre was dismissed for tweets criticising ANZAC Day diggers, which the broadcaster said breached social media policy.

In a statement SBS said, “As I’m sure you can appreciate, SBS is not in a position to discuss employment information about individuals. Like any organisation, SBS regularly reviews its workforce to ensure it meets the needs of the business.”