What is happening at The Sydney Morning Herald?

After the misreporting of the NSW Rail shutdown, more information has emerged, and staff aren't happy

This is a follow-on from what I wrote earlier this week, and the story has blown up.

The controversy over the way in which the SMH handled its initial reporting of the government-led industrial action at NSW Rail—where the NSW Government shutdown the commuter service with no warning and that the SMH reported as a strike—has brought to the surface a lot of internal dissatisfaction at the masthead, especially around the role of editor, Bevan Shields.

I have contacted Shields for comment, as noted earlier, but am yet to receive a reply.

In the meantime, a number of people with knowledge of internal matters at the paper have contacted me and provided me with copies of staff discussions, and it is clear that the issues go well beyond the matter of how the rail lockout was reported and include concerns about the general working conditions at the masthead, as well as matters such as how they have dealt with former columnist, Clementine Ford.

Some of this had already been reported by the friendly…