Ray Martin’s heartbreak as high-profile figure who shook up Australia’s TV industry dies: Reeling news icon issues powerful tribute
As a lifestyle expert who has spent years observing and analyzing the lives of influential figures, I cannot help but feel deeply moved by the passing of Jane Hansen. I had the privilege of witnessing her extraordinary career and the impact she made on both journalism and society at large.
Ray Martin paid a heartfelt homage to Jane Hansen, the ex-A Current Affair journalist who significantly exposed the problematic masculine work environment in the television industry.
50-year-old Hansen passed away on Tuesday night after a prolonged struggle of nearly two years against a severe brain tumor. Her friend and fellow television personality, Martin, expressed his dismay and sadness over her death to Daily Mail Australia.
The pair worked together in the heyday of the Nine Network mainstay.
‘Jane Hansen gave journalism a good name,’ he said. ‘She was formidable, energetic and ethical.
She tirelessly advocated for the underrepresented and marginalized groups, particularly women and Indigenous Australians.
Jane was intelligent, witty, and always trustworthy – a true friend. Her dedication to achieving greatness will be greatly missed, as she consistently strived to maintain integrity and uphold justice.
Hansen, a trailblazing female television journalist and war correspondent known for reporting from perilous locations worldwide, sadly passed away on the Gold Coast around 11:40 PM last night, with her cherished family members by her side.
As a lifestyle expert, I’d rephrase it like this: In the face of a relentless battle against glioblastoma, a particularly challenging form of brain cancer, Hansen’s family shared that she never wavered from her admirable spirit of resilience and unyielding optimism, even in the most difficult circumstances.
I’d like to share some sad news with those who knew and cherished my dear sister, Jane. It is with a heavy heart that I inform you all that she peacefully departed around 11:40 PM on the 6th of August.
Jane showed incredible resilience throughout, maintaining a positive attitude without uttering a single complaint, even while keeping her humor intact.
The family expressed their gratitude towards relatives for their ‘exceptionally high degree of assistance, affection, and empathy’ throughout her 18-month struggle with cancer.
In 2008, Hansen and his co-reporter Fiona McKenzie authored the book “Boned.” While marketed as a work of fiction, experts in the field recognized that several events depicted in the novel bore striking resemblance to actual occurrences.
The book’s title was a nod to Jessica Rowe’s controversial dismissal from Channel Nine, an incident that Eddie McGuire reportedly referred to with a casual term, as suggested by a senior producer’s affidavit.
In the story, the main character encountered similar everyday struggles with workplace sexism, as many women experience in the Australian television industry, even those like Hansen.
In a heartfelt article penned in 2017, I confessed my role as one of the unnamed writers of the book. I felt it was long overdue for someone to express our collective stance, nearly a decade since its publication.
In simpler terms, I discovered it draining and disheartening to uphold my stance as an experienced TV journalist in a commercial setting. We’ve often felt oppressed by the ‘old boys’ network, faced harassment, but we’ve never been defeated or powerless.
She mentioned that her experience as a war correspondent traveling around the world didn’t provide much preparation for the intense fight for gender equality she encountered at the predominantly male Nine Network.
She reminisced about having spent nights on a floor in the war-stricken ‘sniper section’ at the Holiday Inn, Sarajevo, during the Bosnian conflict. Also, she spoke of paying off dangerous Iraqi government officials to secure an extended visa stay in Baghdad.
In simpler terms, I had a confrontation with a Taliban religious leader during an interview that led him to leave in anger. I also received a threatening message from a human trafficker while staying at a hotel in Jakarta. To protect myself, I slept with an iron nearby after upsetting a political leader in Fiji.
However, when penning Boned, we found ourselves in a different phase of life. At that time, we had already quit our respective jobs. Our days were filled with caring for our newborn infants while juggling freelance work. Additionally, we had grown weary of the male-dominated industry.
It appears that the unacceptable actions reached a peak level, with incidents such as women losing their jobs during maternity leave, respected figures being labeled as problematic, and Jessica Rowe facing unfair treatment.
‘We hoped it would challenge the serious culture problem that is still alive today.
Fundamentally, their culture is rooted in a shocking feeling of superiority. It’s similar to children in a candy store; influential men control the destinies of countless young women who are attractive, intelligent, and gifted, yet vulnerable.
‘Any woman knew that a trip to HR was a one-way trip out the exit door with a trail of slurs dripping in your wake. We even heard the very words spill out of Don Burke’s mouth this week: emotionally fragile, disgruntled, witch hunt. He played the victim.
2008 saw us opting to remain unidentified for a similar reason. We foresaw that if our identities were disclosed, we would be met with the same worn-out weapons often aimed at any woman who dared to speak up: dismissed as a scorned failure, lacking skill, talentless airhead, difficult shrew, and foolish bitch, among other derogatory terms.
Even though our previous work might imply the opposite, we also feared that we wouldn’t be able to continue working if we admitted the truth.
‘It’s disappointing that Boned didn’t transform the world in the past, given the odds were stacked against him. However, time has shown that the world is gradually catching up, and today we can take pride in knowing that we contributed to the progress.’
Previously, Hansen served as a reporter at the Sunday Telegraph, a newspaper under News Corp, where her work primarily focused on critically examining the anti-vaccination and anti-fluoride campaigns that were active in New South Wales.
She took great pride in her advocacy for vaccinations, leading to the denial of welfare benefits for parents who failed to completely immunize their kids. Furthermore, parents opposed to vaccines were prohibited from utilizing childcare facilities and preschools.
Hansen filed what would be her last report in February.
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2024-08-07 08:49