Duo stood down ahead of inquiry

Radio and news company MediaWorks has stood down two well-known employees ahead of an independent investigation into the company’s culture, sources within the company say.

The two men, one of whom holds a high-profile on-air position, have not been at work for more than a week. A MediaWorks website has been scrubbed of images and mentions of the on-air personality.

MediaWorks has refused requests for information about the suspensions, and would not confirm if anyone had been stood down.

In early March, an anonymous Instagram account began publishing posts referencing sexual harassment and bullying by radio workers, including one employee believed to work at The Rock radio station.

After questions from Stuff ,on March 14 MediaWorks announced it would hire an independent investigator to conduct ‘‘a thorough review of historic events and our current workplace culture and practices’’.

But this week the company claimed ‘‘many’’ of the social media posts were wrong. ‘‘There are many inaccurate accounts being published on social media which are bringing distress to our people. We are looking at how we deal with these inaccuracies.’’

A spokesperson acknowledged ‘‘channels that allow people to come forward are vital, but we also believe that due process must be followed’’.

A MediaWorks radio staffer told Stuff there were ‘‘enough affected staff to justify how true the allegations against [one of the employees absent from work] are’’.

‘‘Hopefully after this investigation this will at least be acknowledged by MediaWorks.’’

This week, MediaWorks chief executive Cam Wallace named Maria Dew QC to lead the independent investigation. But sources inside MediaWorks say an internal investigation appears to be taking place before the independent review begins.

A company spokesperson said the Maria Dew investigation would be run ‘‘in accordance with employment laws’’.