Em Rusciano slams ‘old school’ radio executives for treating audiences like they don’t have a brain’

Former radio presenter Em Rusciano has never been one to shy away from the truth.

And on Tuesday, she revealed that she often clashed with ‘old school’ radio executives.

The 41-year-old spoke to the podcast Game Changers: Radio and recalled a segment that required her to go inside a coffin-filled with spiders.

‘That’s what I hate about radio. The fact that radio treats the listeners like they don’t have a brain and the lowest common denominator bulls***. The going after the cheap shots,’ she said.

‘I remember one boss once said to me, “Em, tears equals ticks”…’ she said.

Em also took aim at the ‘inauthenticity’ of radio and ‘the entire executive board of 40-plus men trying to tell me how to be a relatable woman – I had a lot of issues with that.’ 

Elsewhere, she admitted that she did not work well in a team, saying: ‘Anyone who has ever worked with me in radio either loves working with me or hates working with me. There’s no grey area.’

Em, who revealed she had undergone three years of therapy, said: ‘I have very little tolerance for mistakes with myself so I reflect that on the people who work around me.

‘If someone in my team makes mistakes that make me look bad and it’s out of my control, I used to come down so hard on them and you just can’t treat people like that and I learnt that the very hard way obviously.

Em continued: ‘Radio’s this thing that, I’m really good at it, but I become the worst version of myself when I do it… I had to pick being good or being happy.

‘And thank God podcasting came along because now I can be both,’ she added.

Em quit her 2Day FM breakfast radio show with co-hosts Grant Denyer and Ed Kavalee in September 2018, and in December confirmed that she wouldn’t be returning in December 2018.

Back in April, Em launched her own podcast – Emsolation – with PodcastOne Australia, which is part of Southern Cross Austereo.