Report: Alan Jones disciplined by Macquarie Media board

Former Assistant Editor

2GB host Alan Jones has reportedly been disciplined by the board of Macquarie Media, following a series of incidents involving the veteran announcer throughout 2018.

The Australian reports that the board moved to act against Jones regarding three incidents stemming from his on-air conduct.

The first was the Wagner defamation case, in which Jones was found guilty of defamation over comments made about Toowoomba brothers John, Denis and Joe Wagner and 2GB ordered to pay $3.7 million in damages.

The second incident involved Jones using the offensive and woefully outdated phrase “n***** in the woodpile” when describing Peter Dutton challenging his former leader Malcolm Turnbull for Prime Ministership in August.

Finally, the board was reportedly unhappy with the way Jones handled himself during a now-infamous interview with Sydney Opera House CEO Louise Herron, over her resistance to plaster the building’s iconic sails with branding for the Everest horse race.

“We had a couple of big issues,” Macquarie chairman Russell Tate told The Australian.

“As you would expect, the board and management have been very mindful about these things and ­decided to make sure they don’t happen again and that’s been done. Alan is a professional. He gets it.”

Tate wouldn’t be drawn to comment on whether Jones had been asked to pay part of the legal costs of the defamation case, which legal sources have indicated could cost Macquarie between $8m and $10m in total.

“Whether Alan is paying or not, those are matters that we would like to keep within the company,” said Tate.

“We have learnt from this and there are new procedures and new rules and new training regimes in place ­including in the case of Alan.”

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Neil Dee
12 Nov 2018 - 4:27 pm

“Alan is a professional. He gets it.”

If you are a professional and you get it, why on earth do you continue to criticize, humiliate and disrespect people ?……

Kip Kear
12 Nov 2018 - 5:26 pm

Nope.

Too little, too late and far to insincere. The harm Jones has been responsible for requires far more than a stern talking to (if it was even that), and far more than a slap with a wet lettuce.

If he were a “professional” and actually “got it” you would not have needed to have the chat in the first place.

I still won’t be supporting ANY of their sponsors.

Paul
12 Nov 2018 - 5:51 pm

Alan was looking for a little discipline. Only reason he would have kept pushing such boundaries in idiotic ways for a prolonged period!

Bob
12 Nov 2018 - 6:50 pm

If 2GB is paying Jones $4.5m per year, then imagine how much they make out of him. Walk, Alan, and go to another station.

John Brogan
13 Nov 2018 - 10:16 am

I honestly think the time has come where 2GB could replace Alan Jones with Chris Smith or Steve Price and not suffer any declines in ratings. In fact, the replacement could even increase ratings, much as happened when the stalwarts at Fox News (Megyn Kelly and Bill O’Reilly) were replaced. His show has become stale and predictable and they could save about $5m a year by retiring him.

Sandra
13 Nov 2018 - 3:47 pm

What does it take for him to get sacked?

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