Mediaweek: Misbehaviour in power and industry silence
Reports of serious misconduct in the Australian media and marketing industry in recent months have raised concerns about complicity and accountability from those within the sector. Mumbrella has launched an investigation surrounding recent allegations made at Mediaweek.
It’s been over five weeks since a report by the Australian Financial Review alleged serious misconduct against Mediaweek’s publisher and managing director, Trent Thomas.
Thomas owns Mediaweek under his company Chattr, a pop culture and entertainment publication, which he founded in 2016. The 31-year-old took over Mediaweek in 2021 as editor, and in 2023, he named himself publisher and MD.
Within a day of the AFR report going public, it was confirmed by Mediaweek that Thomas was to “step back” from his role.
And this week, it was officially announced that the media and marketing trade publication would be bought off Thomas and Chattr by ASX-listed Vinyl Group. The music company – which acquired The Brag Media late last year – confirmed on Tuesday that it will take Mediaweek’s assets in exchange for $500,000 in cash and $500,000 in shares.
However it is still unclear what Thomas electing to “step back” explicitly means. With staff unrest, questions remain unanswered about Thomas’ involvement in the business.
There is one thing that is clear though – until the completion of the Vinyl Group deal, which is expected “by no later than 30 September 2024”, Thomas still owns Mediaweek. And the problem still lies in his ownership of Chattr.
In the report published in early July, it was revealed that an external human resources firm, TLC HR, began an investigation in April 2024 into Thomas’ alleged inappropriate behaviour towards his female employees. But when the firm was close to finalising its review, it was terminated by agreement due to a number of reasons, which were outlined in an email to staff by Mediaweek’s chief revenue officer, Andrew Mulready. Reasons included typos in correspondence, a conflict of interest, “leading witnesses” and that allegations were not presented properly.
An industry source, who wished to remain anonymous, told Mumbrella that whilst TLC HR was finalising its review, the firm advised Thomas not to return to the office, which he allegedly declined to accept. According to the industry source, Thomas allegedly told the firm that if it did not alter its advice and recommend that he be allowed to return to the office, then the relationship between TLC HR and Mediaweek would be terminated.
The following day, Mulready’s email was sent to staff, Mumbrella understands. In the email, seen by Mumbrella, Mulready notes that he was “asked to share” the reasons why the agreement was terminated, as allegedly instructed by Thomas.
A second firm, JAR Consultants, then conducted an investigation in May 2024, and found on the balance of probabilities that some allegations were “substantiated”, meaning they were more likely than not to have taken place.
Let’s be clear – this story is not about the wider Mediaweek company and its employees, advertisers or audience. This is about Thomas’ alleged behaviour, lack of willingness to address it, and his role in the business.
Mumbrella has contacted a number of staff including Thomas, as well as contributors and commercial partners connected to Mediaweek, about their knowledge of the allegations and their ongoing relationships with Thomas.
As of publication, neither Thomas nor editor-in-chief and former owner, James Manning, responded. Commercial partners of Mediaweek – notably those who continued to advertise with the publication after the allegations were made public – also either did not respond to Mumbrella’s questions, or chose not to comment.
This is exactly the problem.
The overall silence from the Australian media and marketing industry since these allegations surfaced has been deafening. Is it ignorance? Is it compliance? The hope that the claims will get swept under the rug? A lack of care for the individuals or indeed the situation itself? Why is the industry a bystander?
The allegations against Thomas range from bullying of staff to sexual harassment. Mumbrella cannot confirm these allegations were substantiated as we have not seen the report. Sources close to Mediaweek have spoken to Mumbrella about the situation, and are equally baffled by the industry’s apathetic reaction to the claims.
Not only did Thomas not provide any comment to the media, including the AFR and Mumbrella’s own questions, but the “step back” statement provided by the publication was not attributed to anyone. Why? And what does “stepping back” really mean?
Thomas’ lack of ownership of the situation highlights a larger industry issue. Serious allegations, that have apparently been substantiated, require greater accountability than has been seen in our industry. And no real reaction by industry stakeholders suggests there is nothing to be concerned about.
Mumbrella acknowledges that this is not an isolated issue. It is not a Mediaweek problem. It is not even just an industry problem. This is a wider, societal problem. We’ve seen it elsewhere this year alone, and we’ve seen it in years past. If this type of non-reaction continues, we will undoubtedly see it happen again in the future.
It is on everyone in the industry to take a meaningful stand and that includes Mumbrella. We seek to evidence that stand here, and will continue to do so.
While the overall industry remains complicit, with many hoping people would just forget about the allegations and move on, there are some who should be applauded for taking action.
Editor of the publication, Brittney Rigby, last week took to LinkedIn announcing her decision to quit.
“Some news: I’ve made the difficult decision to move on from Mediaweek. It has been a hard call to wrap up my time as editor, as I have been lucky to work with a great editorial team, break a bunch of news, and build some real momentum,” she wrote.
“In a few weeks time, I’ll say a sad farewell to Tess Connery-Britten, Jasper Baumann, Amy Shapiro, and Alisha Buaya: good people who have shown so much resilience and care – for their work, the industry, and each other.”
Deputy editor Tess Connery-Britten also publicly announced her resignation earlier this week.
“This is a hard post to write. After three and a half years with Mediaweek, I decided to call time last week,” she wrote on LinkedIn.
“When I joined the company, there were only three of us in the office. Helping Mediaweek grow into what it is today has been one of the biggest privileges of my professional life. Getting to help lead such a talented, thoughtful, and all-around wonderful group of people in the editorial team has been beyond an honour.”
Thomas
The publication also had a number of high profile columnists who regularly contribute. While some will continue their relationships as it remains under Thomas’ ownership and beyond, others have ended their agreements.
The founder and global chief executive of TrinityP3, Darren Woolley, entered an agreement with Mediaweek mid-last year, which saw him publish his regular column ‘Woolley Marketing’ on it, and take the remote role of editor-at-large. Woolley confirmed to Mumbrella that there was no commercial aspect to the agreement, and he never invested in or loaned money to the publisher.
Woolley took to LinkedIn a day after the allegations were made public to announce he would be terminating his agreement.
“Just under 12 months ago, I began publishing my regular column ‘Woolley Marketing’ at Mediaweek Australia and took up the honorary title of ‘Editor-at-Large’, serving as a sounding board on marketing and agency issues for their Editorial team,” he wrote in the post.
“I’d like to thank Mediaweek editor Brittney Rigby and former editor Danielle Long. Both are strong leaders who have executed a clear editorial vision for the publication. It’s been a pleasure to work with both of them and their editorial team.
“Like many in the industry, I was disappointed with what I learned yesterday morning in the AFR, and I don’t believe I can continue to be involved with the publication. In light of this, I’ve terminated the arrangement with Mediaweek. Woolley Marketing will now be published each month on LinkedIn.”
While Woolley said he was shocked at the details from the AFR report, he told Mumbrella he was aware of some gossip and rumour prior to publication.
“People had shared gossip and rumour with me, which I communicated to Trent. I left it with him to address the issues that those rumours suggested,” he said.
Mumbrella understands Thomas would recount the incidents differently, describing them as exaggerated or untrue.
Meanwhile, Innocean’s chief executive Jasmin Bedir had a fortnightly column in Mediaweek, sharing her thoughts on the impacts of artificial intelligence on the advertising industry.
She told Mumbrella there was no formal agreement made for the column, and upon the allegations being made public, she waited to see what would happen, before making a decision on whether or not to continue it.
However, prior to making her decision, Bedir did comment on Woolley’s LinkedIn post, saying she was “with [him] on this one”.
“I love it when people walk the talk, Darren,” she wrote.
When the next article was due, Bedir decided to discontinue the column with Mediaweek, instead also taking it to LinkedIn.
“You may have read my AI column in Mediaweek this past year,” she wrote on LinkedIn.
“Due to the quite horrendous allegations against its GM, I really couldn’t see myself continuing to publish it there any longer. For now I’ll post it here on LinkedIn.”
Andrew Mercado, a well-known TV personality, has been a long time contributor to Mediaweek, writing a weekly column and co-hosting the TV Gold podcast with the publication’s editor-in-chief, James Manning. He told Mumbrella he was not aware of the allegations prior to the AFR’s report, and he has never regularly been in contact with Thomas.
“My relationship with Mediaweek has always been through James, and the only time I have ever had to contact Trent was to chase an overdue payment which was then paid to me,” Mercado said.
As of publication, we understand Mercado will be continuing his relationship with the publication.
The sale of Mediaweek is obviously the right move for Thomas, and for its employees, advertisers and audience. It is in the best interest of the brand that has been built. However, a problem still lies in his continued ownership of Chattr.
Thomas’ silence throughout this entire ordeal and the fact that speculation about Mediaweek’s sale was the main talking point for the industry should be scrutinised.
Thomas has not publicly acknowledged JAR’s findings and no apology has been forthcoming. Where is the remorse? Where is the accountability from Thomas, Mediaweek and now Vinyl Group about his alleged inappropriate behaviour? Where is the public acknowledgement that he will do better?
When contacted by Mumbrella this week, a Vinyl Group spokesperson said: “Following a review of Vinyl Group’s media arm after acquiring The Brag Media, we identified the opportunities to group and grow our trade media and events offering. By bringing trade brands The Music Network, Variety Australia and Mediaweek together, Vinyl Group’s media arm will now be in a unique position to connect advertisers with hard-to-reach decision makers and leaders in the entertainment industry through content, advertising and events across these mastheads.
“The acquisition of Mediaweek will see the publication held to the same high standards and policies that all Vinyl Group companies are held to.”
Vinyl Group did not respond to Mumbrella’s questions specifically about the claims that have been made at Mediaweek and the context in which it has bought the publication’s assets.
Crisis comms experts often refer to the four ‘Rs’ of PR – recognise, respond, regret, remediate.
And while Mediaweek did respond quickly with the statement of Thomas ‘stepping back’, and somewhat remediated the situation with the sale to Vinyl Group, the lack of recognition and regret speaks volumes.
If a publicly-facing business owner like Thomas is not pressured to speak up or take ownership of the situation, how can we expect anyone else in the industry to?
How do we move forward as an industry, as a society, if we continue to protect and ignore the poor behaviours of those in power?
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Certainly a real lack of whistleblowers too, with some (now recently departed) staffers liking Trents LinkedIn posts up until very recently. How many people just looked the other way?
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@whistleblowers It seems as though there was a power imbalance and potential silencing of the alleged victims. It’s plausible that they were unable or afraid to speak out publicly due to fear of reprisal or due to contractual obligations. Such tactics are unfortunately not uncommon in situations where those in power seek to protect their reputation or avoid accountability. The fact that others at MediaWeek might have known about the alleged misconduct but did not take action raises concerns about a culture of complicity or fear within the organisation. Ideally, colleagues should support and stand with victims, but this may not have happened because of their own self-interest. The individual/s who had the courage to speak out against him, despite the potential risks and consequences, deserve our admiration and respect. They are the genuine heroes in this situation, as their actions may have prevented further harm to others and have sparked a much-needed conversation about workplace conduct and accountability.
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Who’s ever even heard of Chattr?
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So the guy stepped down when the stories were published but the industry had been talking about it for months before that. That means the management team knew everything and did nothing. Is Sportsbet taking odds on that same management team moving over to Vinyl with the sale?
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Hopefully SWIFT justice for all.
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Beautifully written Lauren. I wish more people would speak as candidly and courageously as you have.
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Can you please do News Corp? Or do they spend to much with Mumbrella to investigate?
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Nobody wanted to go on the record which is understandable, but the ex media trade perpetrator is out their plying his trade. Worst kept ‘secret’ in town, but escaped scot free.
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@whistleblowers? Really? Surely that’s where the stories have come from.
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many people – men and women, are facing challenging times in a crippling industry, when holding onto your job is so important. Blowing the whistle on companies and naming high profile leaders, who unfortunately still have weight, could be the nail in the coffin for those who were on the receiving end of their bullying and misogynistic behaviour. This behaviour was often displayed in open office environments, with HR and CEO’s brushing it aside and labelling it as “it’s just them” or “everyone knows they behave like this”.
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It’s great to see Mumbrella call this out but where are the industry leaders commenting on this? The entire industry has been talking about Media Week for months but what has changed? As always it’s the victims that continue to suffer while the industry whispers and gossips at events. This industry bangs on about innovation and leadership – I’m sure many of the companies still advertising on their website included – but is it all talk?
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Mediaweek isn’t the only publication with this history – there’s others that have a longer history of harassment, bullying and assault. It’s an open secret in market.
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