LGBTI community radio station embroiled in ugly member dispute

Melbourne’s LGBTI community radio station, Joy 94.9, has been fractured in an ugly dispute, with accusations of bullying, low morale and database theft leveled between the board, members and former members.

A “Save Joy” group set up by former members sent an email earlier this week to members of the radio station, calling for a special general meeting to spill the board. The email called for at least 100 signatures from current members to trigger the SGM, and cited bullying, lack of action, breaking of the station’s constitution, low morale, and disconnect with LGBTI communities.

Within a day of that email being sent, the board sent its own response signed by president Melinda Rich, accusing the group of having used a database stolen from Joy, and that Victoria Police had been notified. Save Joy organisers deny this.

A former on-air presenter and member of the organising committee, who did not wish to be named, told Crikey that allegations of bullying and other management issues had been previously raised with the board and not properly addressed, despite claims by the board and CEO Tennille Moisel to the contrary.

“Systematically over the last two years or so there’s been internal bullying that’s been unaddressed by the board … they’ve been given plenty of opportunity to to respond,” he said. “We’ve written to the board warning them they needed to take action and if they didn’t it would trigger an SGM.”

He said he was one of the “exodus” of on-air presenters, staff, patrons and volunteers who had left the station or let their memberships lapse.

In her email, Rich said the campaign was being conducted by a “small group” of members . “It appears that the group’s objective is to run a vicious and calculated campaign to undermine your board, our volunteers, staff, and supporters, and to maximise damage to Joy,” she said.

But another long-time former Joy presenter and volunteer told Crikey that she left because of the bullying culture, and said the email from Rich had “floored” her.

“This is PR spin to make the Save Joy group look like vicious people who are out on a nasty campaign,” she said. “When we made the decision to take this action we follow rules and procedures to the letter.”

She said she intended to go back to the station when there was new management, saying the issues were more than personality clashes, and she’d been dealt with in a “callous” way when she spoke with different managers about some of her concerns.

“For many of us, Joy is a really important part of our lives, for some of us it’s everything,” she said. “I owe a lot personally to Joy for the experience I’ve had and the the friendships I’ve made. But I can’t currently be a part of it.”

In a statement, Moisel said the board had been working with a “subset” of people named in the Save Joy letter to “understand and investigate” their concerns.

“The board and management team are conscious that there will always be parts of the membership base that do not agree with how the station is run, and we believe that this is the motivation for these allegations and the call for a Special General Meeting … At this stage, there are no grounds to convene an SGM, but we will continue to respond to any reasonable requests by our members appropriately and fairly,” she said.