Source and entire item from news.com.au: THE intended recipient of a private text message broadcast on ABC Radio was laughed at when she called the Hobart station in tears to complain.


A woman lodged an official complaint with the ABC yesterday after a message from a friend sent to the station by mistake was read on air by breakfast show presenter Andy Muirhead on Thursday.

She has demanded an on-air apology from Muirhead and an admission the act was a breach of her privacy. ABC staff have been gagged on the issue.

The intended recipient also revealed the friend who sent the message, who she had met on the internet, had been rung off-air by a member of the breakfast show’s production team and allegedly ridiculed.

“(They) rang him and said, ‘I hear you’ve got a hot date tonight’ and then burst out laughing,” she said.

“He said he felt ridiculed and told them to mind their own business.

“They were trying to extract information from him about how we met.”

She said she was also met with laughter when she rang the station in tears to lodge a complaint.

“I’ve asked for an on-air apology from Andy Muirhead at the same time the program was aired so the same people driving to work who heard the original one will hear the correction,” she said.

The text message read: “Hey (name deleted) how was your day? Still right for tomorrow night or has my pic scared you off?”

the woman, who has a professional management job, said she was laughed at when she arrived at a work meeting on Thursday morning.

Yesterday, she said some of her work colleagues were also lodging complaints with the ABC. She is also considering legal action.

The staff member said a veteran programmer believed it was the first time radio staff were told not to talk about something.

The silencing came the day after a meeting discussing the value of talking about each other’s programs on air to reinforce the ABC 936 brand and its team spirit.

The meeting also discussed ensuring presenters talked about the same things on air as people would in everyday conversations, such as misdirected text messages.

ABC Local Radio state manager Cath Hurley said the station had apologised to the woman.