A newsreader shared a shocking email a viewer sent her after she showed a little cleavage during a live broadcast.
Narelda Jacobs is a respected news anchor who presents the national news bulletins for the programs 10 News First: Midday, as well as 10 News First: Afternoons, in Australia.
On Tuesday (May 7), the 48-year-old took to Instagram to reveal a screenshot of an email she got from a disgruntled viewer.
The message read: "Feedback: Inappropriate dress sense for reading the news." They even went so far as to say that "cleavage is for the nightclub".
Check out the post below:The "inappropriate" ensemble in question was the V-neck blouse Jacobs wore with a patterned blazer as she discussed the day's headlines.
The journalist did not hold back when she responded to the unsolicited advice on the social media platform.
"Yes, we still receive emails like this," she penned in the caption. "Yes, it went to the entire newsroom. Yes, I was on air at the time. Yes, it is intended to shame and humiliate me."
"No, what I’m wearing is not inappropriate but your email sure is," she added in the post, which she shared with a photo of her apparently too low-cut top.
Jacobs garnered immediate support from her followers and colleagues who also shared their own experiences of unwarranted criticism in the replies.
Former MasterChef judge Melissa Leong, reacted: "File under 'When you really hate yourself, so you decide to email random strangers to tell them.'"
Former Olympian and newsreader Gian Rooney chimed in: "Yep. The number of emails the newsroom used to get attacking everything about my appearance when I was presenting the weather was incredible…"
Another follower commented: "Some people are sad and small and spray their sad smallness around. Good thing the sound of their sad smallness is like a mozzie on helium and the sound of your radiance is the entire brass section of a whole goddamn orchestra."
Channel Nine news anchor Karl Stefanovic came to Jacobs' defense and called out the sexism that female TV presenters face from viewers.
Describing Jacobs as "great," the 49-year-old told The Daily Telegraph that he once wore the same suit on air every day for a year as an "experiment" to see whether men would be held up to the same scrutiny as women and found that no one seemed to notice.
"Nothing has changed for women in the media since then," Stefanovic told the outlet. "My colleagues Sarah [Abo] and Brooke [Boney] cop it every day from trolls... they are incredible professionals and wonderful people. They don’t deserve it."
"Platforms should not allow it. Trolls shouldn’t have a voice. They don’t deserve one. It infuriates me what [my female colleagues] deal with," he added.
