The chief of staff of WIN TV news has been sacked and a political reporter stood down after a senior member of Chief Minister Jon Stanhope's staff complained to the station about a story on government-owned fleet management company Rhodium.
John Roe was sacked from his position at the Canberra news station at 11am on Thursday after just three months in the position.
Long-time Legislative Assembly reporter Geraldine Nordfeldt has been suspended from covering local politics just six weeks out from the ACT election.
Meanwhile, WIN is exploring its legal options after a defamation case was brought against it by board members of Rhodium.
The Auditor-General's department issued a damning report on Rhodium Asset Solutions earlier this year which found there had been excessive and inappropriate spending by the company and poor management practices.
Mr Stanhope's chief of staff, Jeremy Lasek, who is a former WIN news director, confirmed to The Canberra Times yesterday that he had met WIN station manager Corey Pitt and Roe.
But he denied he had placed pressure on the news station to temper its political coverage.
''I speak with news directors and executives from across the city and have done so on a weekly basis as part of my job,'' he said.
''I had discussions with WIN management about a story that made serious allegations against high-profile people in Canberra and I saw it as my place to inform them [WIN] of this. Certainly I had discussions with the station, but any action taken has been on WIN's behalf.''
Mr Lasek also denied using any influence as a past news director of the station in his current role as an adviser to the Stanhope Government.
''It has been nine years since I worked at WIN and apart from [sports reporter] Phil Small, I don't believe any one I worked with would still be there,'' he said.
It is understood Roe's sacking was in part because he allowed a story to go to air concerning Rhodium that contained statements that have been alleged to be defamatory.
WIN state news director Stella Lauri refused to comment.
Sources told The Canberra Times the Chief Minister's office had been unhappy for some time with WIN TV's political news coverage and had discussed its grievances with the station. In particular, a news poll asking viewers their opinion about the fairness of a ''green car tax'' led to a heated boardroom meeting at WIN TV studio's between Mr Lasek, Mr Pitt and Roe.
The meeting took place several weeks before the Rhodium story went to air.
Several members of WIN TV staff have spoken of their dismay at Roe's sacking and said he was a likeable and capable man who would stand by his reporters.
Roe joined WIN news in May following a second stint at SBS News and A Current Affair. He had previously been involved in high-level indigenous affairs in advisory roles with the Liberal government.
It is not the first time a report on Rhodium Asset Solutions has raised the ire of the Government. In August, the Legislative Assembly Standing Committee reviewed the Auditor-General's report and made a series of recommendations on transparency and governance of government-owned corporations, and suggested the company's government shareholders (Mr Stanhope and deputy Katy Gallagher) had failed to uphold their responsibilities.