News boss Paul Yurisich is TVNZ’s 2nd ex-Al Jazeera resignation means NZ is less in danger of becoming a haven for sharia style crimes with top Islamic police and media personalities hiding criminal identities and the Korans motivations. This website had previously called for Yurisich, who is now TVNZ’s 2nd ex-Al Jazeera resignation, to be dismissed.
This from stuff.co.nz regarding TVNZ’s 2nd ex-Al Jazeera resignation:
TVNZ’s head of news and current affairs, Paul Yurisich, has stepped down after an independent review into the hiring of beleaguered presenter Kamahl Santamaria.
Yurisich hired Santamaria after previously working with him at Al Jazeera and went on leave while the review was carried out.
The review, carried out by senior employment lawyer Margaret Robin, looked into recruitment policies, processes and practices.
Santamaria resigned from TVNZ’s Breakfast show only a month after starting at the company.
He was off-air for more than a week without explanation before his sudden departure.
The review found Yurisich did no reference checks on Santamaria.
It did not address why TVNZ originally told reporters Santamaria was off-air for a “family emergency”, when at least one female colleague had complained about his behaviour.
Additionally, the review found TVNZ’s recruitment policy wasn’t applicable for hiring presenters and therefore wasn’t followed in Santamaria’s situation.
TVNZ’s 1 News led its 6pm daily news bulletin with a breaking news story covering the report.
This has been a dark period in our newsroom,” reporter Nicole Bremner said during the segment.
“The review comes as a relief for many, who just want to move on.”
Bremner said the long-awaited report, released two months after Santamaria left “under a cloud”, had recommended a new way for employees to make complaints, as well as reassessing guidelines for recruitment.
TVNZ chief executive Simon Power confirmed he had accepted Yurisich’s resignation on Wednesday.
“I wish him the best for the future. Phil O’Sullivan will continue in the role of Acting Head of News and Current Affairs.”
Power said the review showed improvements needed to be made in recruitment policies and work was already under way to embed these.
“While the review found TVNZ’s recruitment policy fit for the purpose of most roles at TVNZ, it recommends developing that policy further, so it’s applicable to key presenter positions.
“TVNZ will be amending our policy and determining how best to involve key people in a transparent and consultative way for unique roles, such as presenters.”
Power said TVNZ would also be enhancing its ‘speak up’ policy, which made staff aware of how to raise complaints internally, following the recommendations of the review.
“We’re making the implementation of these recommendations our top priority.”
