Last of Paul Yurisich’s big hires departs TVNZ in ‘clearing of house’

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TVNZ’s head of news and current affairs Paul Yurisich was ousted in July and replaced by Phil O’Sullivan.

The last of former TVNZ boss Paul Yurisich’s big management hires has departed from the broadcaster after two months of “sick leave”.

A spokesperson for TVNZ confirmed that its general manager of digital, Mereana Hond, had resigned on Friday.

However, they would not comment on Hond’s entitlement to take months of sick leave ahead of her resignation.

Paul Smith, a long-standing TVNZ online manager, has taken the reins in an “acting capacity” while a replacement for Hond is found.

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Hond was hired by Paul Yurisich and was one of several management-level employees that used to work with him at Qatari TV network Al Jazeera.

Yurisich himself resigned from his role of head of news at TVNZ in July following an independent review into his hiring practices, prompted by the departure of Kamahl Santamaria.

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Kamahl Santamaria was among Paul Yurisich’s colleagues from Doha TV network Al Jazeera.

A former employee of TVNZ, who asked not to be named, said that Hond was one of Yurisich’s last remaining allies and there appeared to have been a “clearing of house” with her departure.

“Yurisich came in with a mandate of digital first and brought his own people in. That regime is over now.”

They said there was already unhappiness at the company about how changes were being executed and the Santamaria scandal was the “flash point”.

Another source who was employed in a relatively senior position at TVNZ said that once Yurisich had left, Hond’s position in the company was no longer tenable.

“I don’t think that she will be missed there, I mean she’s been on leave for two months already. I can’t think of another situation where anybody would have been gone so long.”

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The hiring of Santamaria, who resigned as Breakfast presenter after a month, shows the broadcaster’s recruitment process is not suited to presenters.

The performance of TVNZ’s online platform had also been disappointing, they said.

They said that a significant number of employees in Hond’s team had left during her tenure: “It was a borderline exodus.”

The source said that like other media, TVNZ was looking toward a digital future, and it needed someone who would take the company through a journey to change its mindset.

A TVNZ spokesperson did not respond to queries about whether a change of culture was taking place at the company.

A review, carried out by senior employment lawyer Margaret Robin found that Yurisich had done no reference checks when hiring host, and former Al Jazeera workmate, Kamahl Santamaria.

Santamaria quit his role as host of Breakfast after just 32 days. He disappeared from air for a week without explanation from TVNZ, to either staff or viewers.

It was later revealed that a woman coworker had made a complaint about Santamaria prior to his departure, and another woman who had previously worked with him came forward saying he had tried to kiss her.