Australian firm identifies employee who leaked news anchors' rant on Djokovic

Ai-Media Technologies

14/01/2022 04:15

Jan 14 (Reuters) - Australia's Ai-Media Technologies
 AIM.AX , which provides captioning and transcription services,
said on Friday it had identified the employee who leaked a video
of two news anchors privately criticising tennis star Novak
Djokovic.
    The expletive-laden video, leaked this week, showed anchors
at Seven West Media's  SWM.AX  7NEWS discussing Djokovic's
COVID-19 status and visa application in an off-air conversation,
condemning him as being deceptive.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2TS05O
    The video was apparently recorded without the news
presenters' knowledge and gained traction on social media, with
many people voicing support for the anchors. Seven also defended
the presenters, saying the act of recording the video broke
state laws.
    "Ai-Media has identified that an employee working remotely
due to the COVID-19 outbreak was responsible for the
unauthorised distribution of the content," the company said in a
statement.
    "Appropriate action has been taken with regard to the
employee responsible," it said, without elaborating.
    Djokovic, the world tennis number one who is chasing his
21st Grand Slam title at next week's Australian Open, has had
his visit to Australia disrupted since his arrival after border
control guards deemed his medical exemption for being
unvaccinated against COVID-19 invalid.
    Though a judge quashed the federal government's decision to
cancel Djokovic's visa, the immigration minister is considering
whether to revoke it again.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2TU097

 (Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi
Editing by Robert Birsel)
 ((Shashwat.Awasthi@tr.com))