Underwood: Female broadcasters should not be publicly humiliated for simply doing their jobs

I paused, like I always did, once upon a time.

Tell the truth or protect yourself and your job?

I decided to tell the truth.

“I’m living with my partner Georgia,” I replied. Megan looked stunned. ‘You have a female partner?’ she asked. I nodded.

Megan proceeded to tell me that she too was gay and we instantly bonded over how difficult it was to judge whether we should be our true selves in the workplace, because we feared it would jeopardise our careers. We’d both done the hard yards and our work meant the world to us. Ever since that taxi ride, we’ve supported each other along the way.

When I heard the leaked recordings of a colleague discussing Megan’s appearance and private life on social media on Thursday, my heart sank for my friend. I felt sick to my stomach. And I was angry. Did the person who leaked that video even think, just once, about the ramifications for Megan and how it would turn her world upside down? And what was this colleague saying about other female journalists?

Of course, this isn’t a one-off. We’ve been here before. Many years ago, award-winning Age journalist Caroline Wilson was the subject of a sick joke when the Footy Show’s Sam Newman brought a mannequin on stage and stapled an image of her face to its head. He then proceeded to dress it in a provocative manner.

And who can forget the disrespectful Chris Gayle and his ‘don’t blush baby’ comment to television presenter Mel McLaughlin. Some will remember her career for that moment, despite the fact that she’s brought us excellent coverage from the biggest sporting events across the world.

On each occasion, strong, smart, hard-working women – who were simply doing their job – have been dragged into a controversy and publicly humiliated because of their physical appearance. Every single person has a right to feel safe in their workplace. Everyone has a right to be respected.

In Megan’s case, what happened next was significant. Fox Sports acted swiftly to dismiss the colleague who made those disgusting comments.

Sam Mostyn, who was the first woman appointed to the AFL Commission and is a former Sydney Swans board member, has strongly backed the move.

“The more you see consequences at a senior level, that is done immediately and with confidence that this is the right way to handle it, it sends a clear message to everyone involved in the industry that this sort of behaviour will no longer be tolerated. That’s a big change,” Mostyn said.

“It used to be, ‘We’ll issue a caution’. There was no consequence for the individual, particularly if they were senior or highly visible. If people don’t see consequences at the top, there’s a behavioural and cultural norm that creeps in that says this type of behaviour is OK.”

The Network’s biggest star Garry Lyon asked to make a public comment on behalf of the Fox Footy team.

“We support the decision arrived at. We understand and respect the standards and the values of everyone here at the Foxtel group and we – the on-air group – have a responsibility to live those values and not just pay lip service to them. We’ve got to be better, we need to be better. And most important in all of this, there’s an innocent party through no fault of this person, finds herself under enormous pressure and our thoughts are with her tonight,” Lyon said.

Mostyn has applauded Lyon for taking it upon himself as a leader of the industry to speak up.

“At the moment, men standing up and taking a stand is seen as bravery and seen as courageous. For women it’s seen as dangerous and career-limiting,” she said. “It is good to see men speaking up, we need many, many more men speaking up on this issue. It shows the culture of sport is changing.”

“This is an important moment to reflect on. There is now consequence that is felt by people that behave badly, and that has to continue … the message has to be clear that this culture will no longer stand with men just because they’ve got away it or because they are too important not to sack,” Mostyn said. “That’s why this moment matters. And that’s why it’s important Garry spoke up … it put the industry on the hook to show how they will be better.”

Lyon is an intelligent and invested colleague who understood the gravity of the situation. And he’s not the only male colleague who gets it. There are many good men in the industry. I’ve learnt so much from many of them including Dermott Brereton, Barrie Cassidy, Kerry O’Keeffe, Tony Squires, Brad Johnson, Alister Nicholson and Robert Craddock. They’re all good men who have taught me a lot about sport and broadcasting, but also a lot about life. I love them. And I’ll always carry their influence with me.

In recent years, there’s been a lot of work going on behind the scenes to help women get a start in the sports media industry. Popular podcasters and sisters Emma and Lucy Race have created a ‘Change Our Game’ Broadcasting Program to help women get a foot in the door. And last year, the ABC ran a Commentary Program for Women which involved a three-day workshop for women to learn the skills to become play by play commentators.

On the same day the leaked audio surfaced, I heard from two young women who participated in these programs. Lauren Bordin contacted me, jumping for joy, after hearing that she’d won a full-time sports broadcasting position with ABC Grandstand in Melbourne. And Julia Montesano was selected as the winner of a worldwide search to find a female ball-by-ball commentator for the Women’s Basketball World Cup in Sydney this September.

I was proud as punch. I’ve worked closely with these women and they are the future of sports broadcasting in this country. But how do we now ensure their cultural safety in commentary boxes and TV studios into the future?

None of us wants to be the only woman in the room. We want to encourage others. We want more women involved. We want TV studios and commentary boxes to accurately reflect society.

Mostyn believes we must keep the momentum.

“It can’t stop here. These can’t be one off instances. It’s a remarkable moment but this moment (has) got to be part of a movement to make sport better and truly inclusive,” she said. “There must continue to be consequences for those perpetrators that think the old system is going to protect them.”

And she says it’s a shame the AFL is yet to comment.

“I think it would have said a lot to women across the game, particularly when we go into the AFLW finals. These moments when you have an individual matter, suddenly can become very important moments to industry leaders, to show there is a genuine commitment to shifting the culture. And if they don’t speak up, it’s a missed opportunity of leadership to speak to those that love this game so much about what change can look like.”

I’m proud of the way my employer handled this. I can honestly say my gender has never been an issue at Fox Sports and I’ve always felt confident to be my true self. It’s a company that has nurtured female talent. Megan, Mel Jones and Alex Blackwell have excelled covering women’s cricket. Isa Guha shines in the men’s cricket coverage. I often call with an all-female commentary team during the AFLW season. And Fox Sports is about to start broadcasting netball again.

While it sometimes seems like one step forward, and then two steps backwards, I have hope for the future for our female broadcasters.

Megan will return on air in New Zealand on Tuesday, to cover the Australia v South Africa game at the Women’s Cricket World Cup. And she will continue to excel as a host and face of women’s cricket. I’m proud of my friend.