2Day FM Breakfast environment ‘dire’ following Em Rusciano interview

 


“You can’t bag your bosses, your work mates and the media and expect to keep your job,” says Peter Saxon whose opinion piece in radioinfo last Sunday- ‘Why Em Rusciano’s days at 2Day are numbered’ drew thousands of readers.

Today, The Daily Telegraph is reporting claims of a ‘dire working environment’ at the station, with one of the Breakfast presenter’s co-hosts refusing to speak to her off-air during yesterday’s three hour show, sitting in ‘stony silence’ during ad breaks.

The Daily Telegraph reported comments from an unamed insider source, who said:

“Things are at breaking point, people just cannot work with her (Em’s) energy. There have been … casualties at the hands of Em Rusciano.

“The audio producer is now working on another show, the publicist is refusing to work with her and one of the producers has told the company that they are looking for other work. All of that on top of the previous host (Harley Breen) leaving.”

radioinfo has reached out to a spokesperson at 2Day FM, who declined to comment. 

Saxon says: In my opinion Em’s looking to be sacked rather than have to work out the rest of her contract. By going public and telling Wil Anderson in his podcast Wilosophy that she’s tired, not suited to Breakfast radio, struggles with working in a team environment and, in any case, would rather choose her own team than have strangers foist upon her she’s making her position untenable.

I’ve been a huge supporter of Em Rusciano since January last year when I wrote:

So, has Em & Harley got what it takes? Will this be the show that finally gets 2Day FM off the canvas?

I’ll stick my neck out and say, “I think so.”

Why? Because to my ears, this show has what the others lacked: Attitude. 

Sure, it’s still a bit rough around the edges. The chemistry doesn’t flow as effortlessly as it will after 100 shows. Doing the show from Melbourne is going to be a challenge. Nonetheless, the details can be fine tuned.

But you can’t manufacture “attitude.”

Sadly, as her interview with Wil Anderson reveals, it’s her uncompromising attitude that’s got her to this unfortunate point in her career where she feels she’s about to implode. Em’s smart enough to know that you can’t pick a fight with virtually everyone you work with and expect to keep your job. So, I’m guessing that she’s hoping to be pushed now rather than have to go through the motions til her contract’s up at the end of the year and the inevitable will occur.

Responding to the controversy arising from the interview on his podcast, Wil Anderson tweeted today that Em Rusciano was “nothing but complimentary” about the people she worked with, suggesting that  some reports have taken her remarks out of context.

Tags: |