29-08-2023, 02:31 AM
Staying in NZ TV territory, former Al Jazeera English and TVNZ presenter Kamahl Santamaria (a fan favourite from the blue and purple places) has finally spoken out one year and four months after his controversial departure from TVNZ, and just a month after being appointed presenter of its Breakfast programme (replacing John Campbell, who took a new role as Chief Investigative Correspondent).
Today, TVNZ ombudsman Peter Boshier asked management to provide a timeline of events, after Stuff submitted an Official Information Act complaint to the broadcaster. In the other hand, Santamaria asked for privacy when reporting in the event, as he says "trial by media is not justice", and admitted wrongdoing inside TVNZ, and that the "family emergency" reason was described in his request only to refer to his short leave before his resignation, even after TVNZ had taken this measure after the compliant had been reported to TVNZ HR management.
www.kamahlsantamaria.com
www.1news.co.nz
To bring back some context... Santamaria's hiring by TVNZ was made with lots of pomp and circumstance, back in April 2021. The hiring of Santamaria was a shocker, given he had enjoyed a long stint at Al Jazeera, where he had become one of the network's top personalities, known for his serious reporting, but also for his unique, laidback style. He was appointed as part of TVNZ's plans to make Breakfast a more "serious" offering, but retaining its more accessible presentation. However, his stint lasted less than a month, starting as presenter on April 27 and last being seen on May 18.
His departure came after the New Zealand Herald, Stuff.co.nz, and the BBC reported multiple sexual harassment claims when on Al Jazeera, leading to his resignation due to a so-called "family emergency". The overall fallout of this led to an internal investigation (the Robins Report, named after externally hired independent lawyer Margaret Robins, who handled the investigation), whose results led that TVNZ had failed to review its recruitment policy; the aftermath led to the resignation of Paul Yurisich, a former Al Jazeera executive who was hired by CEO Kevin Kenrick to replace long-standing news director John Gillespie.
thespinoff.co.nz
This is just a piecemeal on an ongoing corporate mess at TVNZ, which has hit hard the 1 News service. Yurisich's task was to evolve 1 News' operation into a digital-first one, including more original content for social media and TikTok. Alongside Santamaria's hiring, he also hired two high-profile AJE executives: Mereana Hond, who led the social news strategy, and Nibras Kardaman, who led an "audience development" team. Both formed smaller digital teams mostly formed of old AJE digital reporters, something that was seen strongly by the 1 Newsroom, as well as TVNZ's executive board, as a "pricey" strategy. However, its quick development began to quickly and increasingly intertwine with the Kamahl Santamaria scandal and the upcoming political turmoil.
With Jacinda Ardern announcing the failed merger of TVNZ with RNZ to form the Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media holding, in May 2022 (after appointing Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson) Kenrick announced he was stepping down as CEO; he was replaced by former National MP Simon Power. Kenrick had championed Yurisich's strategy, and also had been successful in reviving TVNZ's fortunes by targeting a younger audience with more irreverent and trashy entertainment and comedy shows, as well as increasing the levels of Maori and Pacific-oriented shows and personalities. It also reoriented its TVNZ OnDemand into a more competitive AVOD service (laying the groundwork for what is now TVNZ+).
thespinoff.co.nz
However, Jackson was skeptical of Kenrick's approach to content, saying that news content had failed to attract a younger audience, and that the extra funding resulting from the merger would allow to boost the "social news" experiment. Additionally, Jackson clashed with Power over the strategy of the merger, a perspective shared by many at the broadcaster, and which came much more reflected in a confrontative interview with Jack Tame in December:
youtu.be
thespinoff.co.nz
In the midst of this, the Robins Report's results came, and then came Yurisich's resignation. By the end of the year, as Ardern was studying resignation, Mereana Hond also announced her resignation. Then, in January, Ardern was out, and so Chris Hipkins came, quickly undoing the TVNZ-RNZ merger. In the middle of this, Jackson announced his revised strategy for TVNZ, including plans to force them to air more NZ local productions in peak time; this led to Power's surprise resignation in June, and also most of the broadcaster's Board of Governors stepped down.
After the hiring of new digital news manager Veronica Schmidt (a RNZ stalwart) in March, Schmidt has been undoing the Yurisich strategy, returning to a more common strategy of prioritising content delivery for TV and its 1 News website, and seeing the "social news" strategy as not affordable and lacking any kind of long-term revenue, due to TVNZ receiving no additional funding after the merger was axed. As for the news director post, Phil O'Sullivan has taken Yurisich's place, but now in an Executive Editor role. As for Power's post, Brent McAnulty is acting as an "acting" CEO until his successor is formally named.
thespinoff.co.nz
Today, TVNZ ombudsman Peter Boshier asked management to provide a timeline of events, after Stuff submitted an Official Information Act complaint to the broadcaster. In the other hand, Santamaria asked for privacy when reporting in the event, as he says "trial by media is not justice", and admitted wrongdoing inside TVNZ, and that the "family emergency" reason was described in his request only to refer to his short leave before his resignation, even after TVNZ had taken this measure after the compliant had been reported to TVNZ HR management.
www.kamahlsantamaria.com
www.1news.co.nz
To bring back some context... Santamaria's hiring by TVNZ was made with lots of pomp and circumstance, back in April 2021. The hiring of Santamaria was a shocker, given he had enjoyed a long stint at Al Jazeera, where he had become one of the network's top personalities, known for his serious reporting, but also for his unique, laidback style. He was appointed as part of TVNZ's plans to make Breakfast a more "serious" offering, but retaining its more accessible presentation. However, his stint lasted less than a month, starting as presenter on April 27 and last being seen on May 18.
His departure came after the New Zealand Herald, Stuff.co.nz, and the BBC reported multiple sexual harassment claims when on Al Jazeera, leading to his resignation due to a so-called "family emergency". The overall fallout of this led to an internal investigation (the Robins Report, named after externally hired independent lawyer Margaret Robins, who handled the investigation), whose results led that TVNZ had failed to review its recruitment policy; the aftermath led to the resignation of Paul Yurisich, a former Al Jazeera executive who was hired by CEO Kevin Kenrick to replace long-standing news director John Gillespie.
thespinoff.co.nz
This is just a piecemeal on an ongoing corporate mess at TVNZ, which has hit hard the 1 News service. Yurisich's task was to evolve 1 News' operation into a digital-first one, including more original content for social media and TikTok. Alongside Santamaria's hiring, he also hired two high-profile AJE executives: Mereana Hond, who led the social news strategy, and Nibras Kardaman, who led an "audience development" team. Both formed smaller digital teams mostly formed of old AJE digital reporters, something that was seen strongly by the 1 Newsroom, as well as TVNZ's executive board, as a "pricey" strategy. However, its quick development began to quickly and increasingly intertwine with the Kamahl Santamaria scandal and the upcoming political turmoil.
With Jacinda Ardern announcing the failed merger of TVNZ with RNZ to form the Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media holding, in May 2022 (after appointing Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson) Kenrick announced he was stepping down as CEO; he was replaced by former National MP Simon Power. Kenrick had championed Yurisich's strategy, and also had been successful in reviving TVNZ's fortunes by targeting a younger audience with more irreverent and trashy entertainment and comedy shows, as well as increasing the levels of Maori and Pacific-oriented shows and personalities. It also reoriented its TVNZ OnDemand into a more competitive AVOD service (laying the groundwork for what is now TVNZ+).
thespinoff.co.nz
However, Jackson was skeptical of Kenrick's approach to content, saying that news content had failed to attract a younger audience, and that the extra funding resulting from the merger would allow to boost the "social news" experiment. Additionally, Jackson clashed with Power over the strategy of the merger, a perspective shared by many at the broadcaster, and which came much more reflected in a confrontative interview with Jack Tame in December:
youtu.be
thespinoff.co.nz
In the midst of this, the Robins Report's results came, and then came Yurisich's resignation. By the end of the year, as Ardern was studying resignation, Mereana Hond also announced her resignation. Then, in January, Ardern was out, and so Chris Hipkins came, quickly undoing the TVNZ-RNZ merger. In the middle of this, Jackson announced his revised strategy for TVNZ, including plans to force them to air more NZ local productions in peak time; this led to Power's surprise resignation in June, and also most of the broadcaster's Board of Governors stepped down.
After the hiring of new digital news manager Veronica Schmidt (a RNZ stalwart) in March, Schmidt has been undoing the Yurisich strategy, returning to a more common strategy of prioritising content delivery for TV and its 1 News website, and seeing the "social news" strategy as not affordable and lacking any kind of long-term revenue, due to TVNZ receiving no additional funding after the merger was axed. As for the news director post, Phil O'Sullivan has taken Yurisich's place, but now in an Executive Editor role. As for Power's post, Brent McAnulty is acting as an "acting" CEO until his successor is formally named.
thespinoff.co.nz
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