Junglist, Or; How Not To Fire An Under-Performing Employee
39 Comments Published October 30th, 2009 in TelevisionFrom the Departments of While You’re Reading This Children Are Starving & Sh*t Just Got Real comes:
- Good Game presenter claims ABC gender bias after axing
Asher Moses
[Fairfax]
October 30, 2009
An evil pixie at the ABC has decided to sabotage the ratings success of Good Game by ordering management to sack, without warning or explanation, one of its presenters — ‘Junglist’ (Jeremy Ray) — and to replace him with a virtual unknown: the poisoned chalice in this instance going to someone called ‘Hex’ (Stephanie Bendixsen).
This sounds like a job for Profile Talent Management!
Personally, I’d like to see both presenters (including ‘Bajo’ / Steven O’Donnell) axed and replaced with B-grade TV celebrities ABC management’s children inform them are like, totally hot right now. But like, only after a private consultancy firm has been hired to do some hideously-overpriced market research on what the yoof are like, really watching on TV.
And stuff.
One extremely-talented performer that immediately springs to mind — to be precise: cartwheels, fire-breathes and juggles his way into my consciousness — is Dylan Lewis. He’s crazy, funny, wacky and zany — and The Kids love him!
Mad skillz!
Anyway, there’s been plenty of online back-and-forth in the meantime, both about the decision to sack Junglist, and the future of the show. The actual decision to sack Junglist appears to have taken place on or about October 23 (according to David Wildgoose @ Kotaku), but the shit has really only hit the fans this week, after the first episode featuring Bajo and Hex went to air (October 26).
Here’s what ‘Bajo’ had to say after having completed his first show with ‘Hex’ (Stephanie Bendixsen):
Author Bajo (Presenter)
Date/Time 29 Oct 2009 8:10:07pm
Subject Re: Statement from the team…I would very much like to do that again, one of the best days I’ve ever had on this show!
If you’ve ever worked in any sort of organization you’ll know that as much as it sucks, work related issues cannot be discussed outside the work place, it’s just as simple as that, and I wish we could tell you more – but we can’t and that can’t change and it’s not going to. It feels unfair to us that we can’t say our side of the story, but that’s the position we’re in and we understand and respect why these rules are in place in our workplace, or any.
[NB. When Bajo writes "I would very much like to do that again, one of the best days I've ever had on this show!", he is not referring to shooting the show with Hex, but to an 'Open Day' GG had previously arranged. See this comment for further clarification.]
Well actually, exactly who is responsible for ‘Junglist’ being removed from the show is slightly unclear. ABC management reckons they took the decision and it was because Junglist was a slack bastard behind the scenes — an under-performer. But the remaining cast and crew — possibly as a result of the laws which govern how the script unfolds on that long-running soap opera Workplace Relations — also appear to be completely supportive of Junglist’s sacking. Here’s the Good Game statement:
Dear GG’ers
You can’t help but have noticed we’ve been quiet regarding Junglist’s departure from the show which has really sucked because we’re used to having such an honest and open relationship with you.
For all sorts of reasons we are unable to tell you things that have happened over many months inside Team Good Game which have impacted on the production. That’s just real life folks. We know it leaves many questions unanswered but we have reached that point where we really can’t say any more than that.
But we can tell you this much…
The decision to take Junglist off air was not forced upon us by ABC Management and it’s one that is fully supported by all the GG team. We are gutted that it has come to this but in our opinion it absolutely had to happen.
It’s strange for us to read that so many of you think this is because we have suffered a raging case of political correctness gone mad or a wish to dumb the show down. That’s absolutely not right. We, as ever, will continue our quest to bring you the show for gamers by gamers but this has to be our last word on this – we have shows to make!
Finally, we genuinely wish Junglist all the best, and we hope he finds a medium for his awesome analysis and presenting skills that works for him.
Team Good Game Out
(Syd, Bajo, Moe, Tuk, Gog, Mafia, Jeremy Pencil, Palindrome)
And here’s how Junglist responded:
Author Junglist (Reviewer)
Date/Time 29 Oct 2009 4:48:18pm
Subject Re: Statement from the team…I can tell you that this is a lie. There was no vote taken, no consensus reached. In fact, the GG team was completely unaware of the change until the same day I found out. The same confidentiality clause that prevented me from saying anything publicly, prevented management from telling them anything.
I have spoken to members of the GG team who clearly DON’T support this, but can’t say anything publicly. Of course they’ll tow the party line. They have to.
Up until now the situation has just been poorly handled. But to now LIE to your own audience, in an effort to save face for replacing an experienced reviewer/presenter with an inexperienced one, is quite simply the lowest thing I’ve ever seen ABC management do.
I feel now as if I’m being professionally attacked, so here’s a truth bomb. In the meeting where I was told I would be replaced, the reason given was they wanted a girl on the show. “Mass appeal” was a direct quote from that meeting. After a half-hour of explaining how they’ll lose their hardcore following, they responded that yes, they knew this, but expected to make up the numbers with a new following. “A show can grow beyond its hardcore base”, is another direct quote.
The decision was forced by ABC management, for a mass appeal direction, and will naturally be dumbed down for the loss of experience. Case in point: Monday night’s show. Both Forza 3 and Kingdom Hearts clearly written by people with no idea about those franchises. Hell, no one on the team even thought to correct the presenters on how to pronounce “Forza” correctly? Expect a lot more of that…
And so on…
one
Author Junglist (Reviewer)
Date/Time 29 Oct 2009 5:16:31pm
Subject Re: Statement from the team…“We have felt personally attacked by some of the posts by Jung, and others, with the inability to reply due to confidentiality.”
Actually, I’ve been very supportive of Hex, and pointed out that all she ever did was accept a cool job. What possible truth bomb could YOU drop? I’m not trying to be a White Knight, I’ve made mistakes too. I’ve disagreed with the ABC on reviewing policies, which sometimes resulted in footage being handed in late. And it’s a shame that the Christmas special was decided on around the same time I booked an overseas trip, and neither party were flexible enough to change plans.
But at the very, very least, I want to be honest with the community. Realise it or not, Good Game has a responsibility to show younger Australian viewers what the ABC is about. I think the appropriate term here is, “epic fail”.
two
Author Syd (Series Producer)
Date/Time 29 Oct 2009 5:35:21pm
Subject Re: Statement from the team…This could easily degenerate into a he said she said we said… none of us were in that meeting after all… BUT the GG team is here with me in the office right now…
Jung mate, I’m sorry to say it but you are wrong… no one on the team feels we have to tow the party line here – no one has been coerced into doing or saying anything they don’t want to. Sure we didn’t all find out till you did – but that does not mean we don’t feel it’s the right thing to do for the show. That’s the truth we need to swallow here… as bitter a taste as it might leave in our mouths.
Regardless of what Jung might say GG will NOT be dumbed down and I state again, the decision was nothing to do with bringing in a girl… FFS – I’m a girl and I started this show – I don’t care about the gender of the presenters – I just care about having the best ppl working on it.
Guys… I totally acknowledge Jung[']s contribution to GG – and yeah I can see how it feels like we’ve stabbed a mate – and what’s the Aussie thing to do? Stand up for a mate in a fight right? But this show is more than just one person – is and always has been.
GG has been my life for the last nearly four years… why on earth would I want anything to hurt it?
Syd
three
Author Junglist (Reviewer)
Date/Time 29 Oct 2009 5:43:42pm
Subject Re: Statement from the team…“GG has been my life for the last nearly four years… why on earth would I want anything to hurt it?”
I completely believe that you have the best of intentions, Syd. It’s you that holds this show together. And I likewise believe you when you say it has nothing to do with bringing in a girl.
But it’s not up to you, is it? This change comes from higher up.
As I said, I’ve spoken to team members who contradict what you say about “supporting the ABC’s decision”, so this is damage control, pure & simple.
four
Author Bajo (Presenter)
Date/Time 29 Oct 2009 7:42:17pm
Subject Re: Statement from the team…Hi guys,
I can’t stress enough to scrub ‘mass appeal’ from your minds. The words are ridiculous to me, and the team and no one has ever felt that it’s even remotely where we are heading. If you find you can’t scrub it than at least take a look at the show over the next few weeks and you’ll see that we’re not changing focus/direction at all. Yes there is some change obviously, but not to the content and definitely not to our attitude to how we present gaming information. No one is understating the loss we’ll feel without Junglist[']s excellent reviews and input to the show, but we will find our groove again, with your help and the help of our very hardworking team who have come from so many different places from magazines to other shows to freelance game journos to just plain gamers that we thought were awesome and needed to work on the show. No one has any interest in dumbing anything down, the thought of it makes me vomit on Gog’s keyboard. Amongst other people keyboards and chairs.
From outside looking in it’s easy to jump to conclusions and assume lots of things, so try to trust that we really do care about you, we troll every day, and we feel your words. We are going to deal with this change in the best possible way we can with the tools we have, with the best possible team we can find. We are still filling our team up behind and in front of the scenes, and it’s only growing as the year turns into the next. Like Syd said, we have two shows next year, and GGSP is focused on tween, which allows us to put MORE adult content in the regular GG, something we have always wanted to do and have always fought to do.
Despite all this hate and flame, just take a deep breath. Now, exhale, and think about games for a moment, which is why we are all here. I’m not trying to make light of an obviously hard and awful conversation we’re having, but games are awesome.
Their awesome juice will seep into our souls, and we’ll be awesome again, and show you this juice as it transforms into words. The juice will then flow out of our pores, into our actual drink of juice (possibly pineapple) and then that juice will be drunk again, only doubling the effect of awesome juice which is all from games in the first place.
I very much wish I could be next to you all to talk about this in person. It’s hard to express my frustration about the misconceptions I keep seeing here. I would like to give you all a real hug… please accept this internet hug ‘O’ for now.
Those of you whom are doubtful, I do hope you choose to stay, and at least give us a chance. The show is really important to me, and us, and we just want it to be epic as it once was, with all the tools we have.
five
Author Junglist (Reviewer)
Date/Time 29 Oct 2009 8:43:18pm
Subject Re: Statement from the team…“I can’t stress enough to scrub ‘mass appeal’ from your minds.”
That’s because “mass appeal” is the truth. You’re asking for a lot of trust in that statement when trust is clearly an issue right now. I actually believe that you believe what you’re saying, but you weren’t the one who talked to upper management for 30 minutes about their new mass appeal plan.
“Yes there is some change obviously, but not to the content.”
Explain then why I’m only contributing 1 token review a week? And quite possibly those reviews won’t even make it into the show? A proven reviewer over 3 years has been replaced with a less experienced one. The content HAS changed, already.
As ever Baj it seems like you couldn’t wait to just get on with things… fair enough if you don’t care about this whole thing, but asking everyone to just forget about it by promising fruit hats and horse heads is insulting peoples’ intelligence.
For my part, I’ve been honest about my own weaknesses in my role. There is no more “we can’t say anything”. I’ve said it. So have at me bro, if that’s what you feel like.
Bonus TISM!
Search
Finally, we get to the real issues. Baj is an unfunny tosser and Junglist was carrying the show. The last episode of Good Game was terrible. They actually sat there and said (more-or-less) “Oh, we don’t really get this game. Oh well.” So. Shit.
Explain then why I’m only contributing 1 token review a week?
Maybe because you had the chance to contribute more but couldn’t meet your deadlines?
For my part, I’ve been honest about my own weaknesses in my role.
Not so much. You’ve claimed you’re the victim of a feminazi conspiracy aimed at — shock, horror — improving the appeal of the show.
——
I don’t really see what the fuss is about. But then I always preferred Bajo’s reviews to Junglist’s.
Bajo,
You’re making me a little bit sick mate, I really enjoyed watching you and Junglist present the show with good humour and genuine reviews, but this is a little too much to take.
Either treat your audience with some respect now, when they are asking for it, or this show (which has been great until now) will sink into the abyss.
This show had a really big potential, but all this situation stinks of is commercialism.
Save Junglist!
What disappoints me is the way the Fairfax and News Ltd online services (particularly the latter bunch of Nazis) spun it as a “gender bias” issue. It obscures the real issue that ABC management probably don’t watch their own network’s shows.
As far as I can see, the real reason for his dismissal was that they saw Good Game, with its rising ratings and committed audience, as a vehicle for cross-promotion of ABC3 and its dead-eyed hosts. Massive Egos overruled objections from Junglist, who, knowing the relationship the programme had with the viewers, could anticipate all of this.
It’s tragic, but fascinating at the same time … because normally such managerial thuggery is hidden from view.
Oops.
Apparently Bajo reckons I misquoted him:
And Bajo is right. Apologies to Bajo — here’s the full quote:
Yeah well anyway, leaving aside the issue of Junglist vs. Bajo vs. Hex for a moment, I reckon the real issue is control. Let’s assume, for another moment, that Junglist was a reasonably competent reviewer, but one whose work practices in some way failed to meet the standards set by management, either that involved in the production of GG, or that of the ABC ‘light entertainment’ division (or its equivalent).
As it stands, GG is expanding, producing a spin-off, Good Game: Spawn Point, aimed at tweenage gamers (as opposed to the ‘hardcore’ gamers who are believed to constitute GG’s core audience). In fact, Bajo and Hex will be hosting both GG on ABC2 and GG:SP on ABC3 (launching into space on December 4, 2009):
Like deforestation, desertification, ethnic and racial hatred, global warming, intractable and radioactive waste, not-quite-natural disasters, political corruption, social inequality, species extinction, soil erosion, Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, terrorism and war.
Where was I?
Oh yeah.
I think it’s called ‘brand re-positioning’.
No! No no no no no no no!
The show IMO has been changing, but all that was forgiven because of the awesome rapport that had developed between the hosts.
For a hardcore fan Bajo is replaceable. Sure he’s the energy, the melody, but Junglist is the bassline, the pulse of this show.
Without him I’m watching something I don’t fully understand, or not watching, as I think the case will be.
If what Junglist claims he was informed of at his 30-minute meeting with ABC management — during which he was effectively sacked from GG — is correct, then the loss of some fans is likely to have been expected by the brains trust at the ABC. On the other hand, there also appears to be an expectation that more and different consumers will be enticed by the new format (- 1 Junglist; + 1 Hex). So in terms of market positioning, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to lose some audience, provided that the target audience is kept and even expanded upon. It may be that, given that Bajo and Hex have already been earmarked for the role of presenters on GG:SP, and that there were some ‘performance’ issues surrounding Junglist’s contribution to GG, it was thought that jettisoning Junglist and thereby allowing Hex a few opportunities to host the final episodes of the latest season of GG would be a good test run, as well as establish her as a new face in the brave new world of ABC2 and 3. What seems to have gone unnoticed by ABC management (to be precise: those members of ABC management responsible for overseeing ABC yoof programing) is that GG has developed a reasonably large audience, and Junglist has been positioned as representing the voice of the average gamer; further, the ABC has chosen to promote the show as being ‘by gamers and for gamers’. Their heavy-handed intervention has come as a reminder that the show, while regularly ‘consulting’ with its audience, is produced by a corporation, and that corporation, despite investing large sums of money into market research on precisely such matters, acts more-or-less precisely as a corporation is generally expected to.
PS.
Why keep an underperforming host around for 3 years and *then* sack him? It makes no sense.
Exactly, this is total non-sense. Bajo’s been hosting with Jun for how long now? And to see him backing out and telling everyone to forget it after Jun was sacked, is just disgraceful. I never thought you’d fall this low Bajo (backstabber, abandoning your mate) and to be honest many people I know liked Junglist way better.
There is no reason for Junglist to be sacked, there never was. (Apart from money-hungry ABC managers.) No one is perfect, but Junglist had the intellect, skill, knowledge, experience and ability to create a sense of belonging with the GG community [and that] is irreplaceable.
nobody likes change.
to tell you the truth, i didnt mind at all looking at hex. but thats all i was doing. just perving on her the whole time.
junglist WAS the backbone of the show. when he reviewed, i listened to what he had to say.
Bajo on the other hand is… really wet. uno? i just never had the same respect for him or what he said, like i did junglist.
the reason why the show became so popular was because it was simple, with your two types of gamers presenting. your average joe and your geek.
im not a geek or a girl so its drastically lost its appeal for me.
it seems like its getting a bit gayer now anyway. its certainly not like i remember it used to be, and if it aint broke, why fix it??? oh yeah money.
commercialization is shithouse.
Who cares?
Nerds, that’s who.
I thought we were jocks, Andy.
Whatever REALLY happened behind the cameras, one thing is certain – there definitely is an underperformance issue. And it’s the underperformance of whoever on ABC management is responsible for this PR meltdown. Regardless of whether the change was needed or not, the handling of the change has been about as effective as gaming in boxing gloves.
“Who cares?
Nerds, that’s who.
I thought we were jocks, Andy.”
Jews Cam.
Jews.
Also DATA.
Dorks Against The Authorities / Dorks Advocating Total Anarchy.
Products of a hellish high skool experience…
PS.
“…and early 7 Seconds…”
I’m slightly mortified that Bajo might have read my comment calling him an unfunny tosser. OH SNAP, ANOTHER TRUTH BOMB. I’m resigned to the fact that Junglist won’t be coming back to GG and I probably won’t be watching it.
BTW, I’m told that GG is the most downloaded show on the ABC.
“I’m slightly mortified that Bajo might have read my comment calling him an unfunny tosser.”
Yeah. It’s a pretty mean comment Lumpen. But I imagine that he may be subjected to not one several unkind comments as a result of this latest farce; created by ABC management, it seems, but still being given the complete support of the remaining employees at GG (Syd, Bajo, Moe, Tuk, Gog, Mafia, Jeremy Pencil, Palindrome).
“Junglist won’t be coming back to GG.”
No. While technically possible, it’s extremely unlikely. But if, as it appears, he has more than a few fans, it’s quite possible that he’ll pop up somewhere else. After all, when David and Margaret left SBS, they got a gig at the ABC, so maybe Junglist will be sacked by the ABC only to find a job at SBS? Stranger things have happened.
“I’m told that GG is the most downloaded show on the ABC.”
Yes it is. I don’t imagine that this will last a great deal longer, however. Then again, who knows? Maybe Hex and Bajo will absolutely sparkle as co-hosts of both GG and GG:SP, and Junglist will be confined to the dustbin of history.
PS.
[Angry wave of the fist in the general direction of Save Junglist!]
PPS.
Save Junglist! on Facebook has over 5,000 members.
Odd. Junglist has been sacked for over a week now, and yet John Mangan…
Keeping ahead of the game
John Mangan
The Age
November 1, 2009
…Jeremy Ray, presenter of ABC-TV’s cult show Good Game, says that while the Australian development scene has had its ups and downs in the past few years, digital distribution opens exciting new doors. ”The greatest recent success story in my eyes comes out of Melbourne in the form of [video game developer] Infinite Interactive,” he says. ”Steve Fawkner’s team created the worldwide hit Puzzle Quest, and it’s with these smaller, casual games that there’s massive potential”…
I’m with Calvin on this one. I would have expected junglist to get more support from bajo considering they both worked ‘together’ to get where they are. They could have done a ‘Movie Show’ manouvre where they could swap stations and trounce the revamped show. Bajo already does advertisements on the side so I don’t think he needed to sell junglist out.
Sauce : Discussion: FYI here’s the press release
~versus~
In other words: it appears that, on (Friday) October 23, prior to the release of the ‘Statement from the team’ on (Thursday) October 29 — but following on from the ‘press release’ of October 23 — ‘Gog’, one of the producers of GG, contradicted the official line on Junglist’s sacking. That is, the line which sustains the group statement: “The decision to take Junglist off air was not forced upon us by ABC Management and it’s one that is fully supported by all the GG team. We are gutted that it has come to this but in our opinion it absolutely had to happen.” Or: ABC management decided to sack Junglist — according to Junglist because they wished to re-position the GG brand in the market — and the happy team at GG then produced a statement which contradicted this and assumed the responsibility for Junglist’s sacking on behalf of this same team. Subsequently, the moderator of the ABC forum has re-edited Gog’s original post to remove any suggestion that this might have been untrue.
Great chemistry between the both of you!
Sounds like something to definitely work on!
Ah… would I be right in thinking that the above comment is a ref to Bajo and Hex’s performance on GG tonight? If so, yeah: they were fine.
Oh yeah. Two small additional comments: no ref to Junglist’s sacking during the course of the show (obviously); no trace of Jeremy’s name in the credits. So no ‘behind-the-scenes’ role for J either.
Last night’s abysmal episode was both depressing to watch, and sweet in its failure. ‘Sweet’ in that Duthie’s uniformed and idiotic decision to sack Jung has culminated in last night’s disaster. Eat dick, ABC – you really have reaped what you sowed.
Facebook wars!
Good Game 7,187 fans
Save Junglist! 6,393 members
The ABC, like a lot of other Australian companies who have made bad management decisions, will be disposing of those clueless luckies [?] who executed this dumb idea.
Junglist is gone, Bajo has had his career trashed and Hex is hated. The ABC have reached new levels of middle management dysfunction. After the stall is the fall.
Hmmm.
Maybe.
I expect there’ll be a re-assessment on the part of the GG production team and the ABC at the end of the current series, but as to what is concluded at the end of this process… who knows? It seems to me that the ABC is committed to launching GG:SP (at the very least), so Bajo and Hex should continue to have a job. As for job losses among management — it’s unlikely. A failed TV show is a failed TV show — not a reason for axing a manager. That said, if — assuming GG’s not cancelled, which again seems unlikely — the next series is not considerably better than the current one, it — in addition to the already well-documented failure of the ABC to oversee a forced change in line-up — would presumably place some pressure on employees — but at the lower end of the corporate food-chain, not the highest (shit flows downhill, not up). And Amanda Duthie (just) survived The Chaser blah blah, so…
Good Game 7,318 fans
Save Junglist! 6,696 members
PS.
It’s a new frontier, they say. It’s wide open, anything can happen…
Good Game 7,403 fans
Save Junglist! 6,820 members
Hahahahah went to the good game website to see if they had somehow delivered on their promises of a better show. OMG it still sucks. Hex and Bajo ALWAYS post the same scores!! GOD!! Makes me mad just watching.
Junglist was the man. Anyways thought I’d revive this thread by posting here all these months later.
Cheers
I think Junglist is posting on Kotaku now?
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/03/brisbanes-mana-bar-launches-this-saturday/
Good Game : 10,658 fans
Back to the Junglist: Junglist Appreciation and Gaming Discussion Group : 7,209 fans
i’m actually surprised no1 pointed out that Hex *sounds* *acts* like Bajo has from the get-go…which annoys the crud outta me. i’m all 4 gamer gal input [being 1 myself] but ffs, at least express your opinion based on ur own idiosyncrasies/body language don’t just emulate ur co-hosts?