The National Communications Network (NCN) has rejected outright media reports that it has been meddling in the personal affairs of two of its female staff, who have recently been making headlines at the State-run entity.
On Monday, NCN said that it was very much concerned about statements being made in the press and online news outlets in relation to employment issues surrounding two of its employees, Natasha Smith and Jocelle Archibald-Hawk.
Jocelle Archibald-Hawk
The State media outlet said it wished to make it known that Smith, an anchor, was not removed from anchoring duties because of her pregnancy or marital status.
“NCN upholds the rights of all its employees in relation to their private lives and may only be required to address aspects of personal issues if they impede the employee’s performance on the job,” the organisation stated in a release Monday evening.
The organisation came under fire after word got out that it had removed Smith, one of its longstanding anchors from reading the news because she was pregnant out of wedlock, a claim the entity has denied.
Meanwhile, Smith also in a response on Monday gave her side of the story.
According to her, almost a month ago, she was informed by a senior manager that it was decided that she would be relieved of reading the news.
“On the following day I was called by another senior manager who explained to me how outraged he was about what was said in the management meeting of August 8. He told me he believes that as a woman I have a right to become pregnant and bear a child without it being a hindrance to my job since being pregnant does not affect my job in any way.”
She said she was called to the office of the Editor-In-Chief (EIC) the following day, and it was explained that she would be relieved of reading the news, “because, quite frankly, the CEO did not like what he sees when he looks at the news”.
“She told me that she was given a directive to remove me from reading the news in a management meeting on August 8 because the ‘image’ was not looking good for the news. I enquired if it had anything to do with my pregnancy, she did not respond to the question directly, but asked me to wear bigger clothes. She said the directive came from the CEO and she is just following instructions.”
Smith, who has been employed by the State entity for over eight years, has been serving for some six years in the News and Current Affairs Department and two years as an Announcer/Producer in the Production Department. She said this was not her first time anchoring the news while pregnant.
“This is my second pregnancy while being anchor. In 2011, I was pregnant with twins and there was never any issue with regards to my anchoring or attire, nor any directive to cameramen to shoot from my breast upwards,” she wrote to colleagues.
She continued: “Given the fact that I have to hide a part of my body, makes him seem like something unwanted or to be ashamed of. I likened the situation to one where I took a picture with my child and had to Photoshop him out of the picture.”
Smith said she was very much offended and immediately contacted her union representative, who arranged a meeting with the Human Resources Manager (HRM).
“The HRM did not deny that the directive was given, but insisted that it was not with immediate effect and that the EIC is misrepresenting what was said.”
Smith said she was later informed that there was a new directive for her to continue reading the news until she was ready to proceed on maternity leave; however, she said by this time she had already decided that she would discontinue reading the news because of all that transpired.
Meanwhile, NCN speaking on the issue of Sports Editor Jocelle Archibald-Hawk, who was suspended for one month without pay, said due process was followed in arriving at its decision.
“While the current issue is about disparaging comments made on social media about her colleague’s work and name calling, several other factors and incidents involving Mrs Archibald-Hawk were considered. NCN will not descend into divulging the details about personnel matters in the public domain,” it said in its release.
CEO Lennox Cornette said that it was unfortunate that the issues surrounding the employees have been misunderstood and misrepresented. In the case of Archibald-Hawk, he expressed surprise that “a simple HR matter that was investigated and dealt with, after a report by the aggrieved party has now elevated itself on social media as a denial of freedom of expression.”
