A friend rings to ask about a man we both worked with in the '90s. She says she's been approached by one of the journalists investigating sexual harassment in the TV industry.

"His name keeps coming up, apparently. Just curious — did he do anything to you?" she asks.

"No. I saw him being a pig to other women, but he was civil to me."

She says: "Well, he bullied me, and I know he sexually harassed some of the younger girls. I've told the journo to contact them."

In newsrooms, makeup departments and TV studios around Australia, women are talking. About pigs — men who bully, or make comments designed to insult and humiliate — and predators who cross the line into sexual assault. Both can destroy careers and self-esteem.

Women in TV have always talked about this, but you know things are changing when men join the conversation. Not just any men. The Blokes.

It happened this week, when allegations of sexual harassment and indecent assault against former TV celebrity Don Burke finally went public.

Two industry veterans — David Leckie and Sam Chisholm — went on the record to condemn Burke in no uncertain terms.

He was a disgrace, they said. A horrible, horrible man.

Former Nine Network director for news and current affairs Peter Meakin. (Fairfax Media: Jennifer Soo)

Another industry stalwart, Peter Meakin, gave a muted response, simply noting that there had been no formal complaints against Burke. (Because we've seen what happens when women make formal complaints about sexual harassment in commercial TV. See Amy Taeuber).

Nonetheless, it wasn't a ringing endorsement.

The response has changed

The astonishing part of this week's story is not so much Burke's behaviour, but that two of the blokiest blokes in the Old Boys Club of television threw him under a bus so readily, while a third watched on.

How things have changed. In the old days, when allegations of unsavoury behaviour surfaced, there was a flurry of media interest and then it was business as usual. There were few if any consequences for the men involved. Whether it was groping, gambling, "gang banging", drink driving, drug addiction or simply vile commentary about women, the Boys Club circled the wagons and protected their own. Women who kicked up a fuss would be destroyed; the perpetrators would get their own show.

Remember John "F---ability" Westacott, the former head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 9? "To make it in this game, women have to be f---able," Westacott is alleged to have said.

Or Eddie McGuire, credited with coining the phrase "boning" in reference to getting rid of female talent (he denies using the term).

Or Sam Newman, whose lucrative Footy Show contract just kept getting renewed, despite his deeply misogynistic comments.

Bad behaviour is bad for business

Women in TV — routinely sacked for being pregnant, too old or not attractive enough — often wondered exactly what a man had to do to lose his job and his multimillion-dollar salary. Commit mass murder?

It's been alleged Don Burke's behaviour continued for years, and was well known within the industry. Yet only now are senior men — men who were part of that toxic masculine culture for decades — speaking out against him.

This is to be welcomed, of course. But don't for a minute think that the men who run the commercial TV industry have had a Damascene moment of enlightenment on gender issues. They've simply realised that, these days, defending the Weinsteins of the world is bad business.

When Juanita started in the TV industry 30 years ago, a woman hit her use-by date by around 30, she says. (Supplied)

One of the dinosaur generation — I won't say who, but he's still around — once tried to woo me to his network. Over lunch, during which he boasted repeatedly about how powerful he was, he said that he would like to give me an on-air position already occupied by a woman.

"I'd love to get rid of her and put you in, but I can't, because she's pregnant!" he bellowed. "It's against the law, did you know? Bloody outrageous. You can't fire 'em when they're pregnant!"

I stared at him, lost for words. I'd also just given birth — that's why I was on maternity leave, having lunch with him. Breaking news: I'm one of "them".

Of course I said nothing. I smiled tightly and changed the subject, because that's what women do, to avoid embarrassing men. (That pregnant presenter, incidentally, is now one of Australia's most popular TV personalities. We can thank anti-discrimination legislation for that. Without it, she'd be just another talented woman who was fired while pregnant).

Tipping the balance

I've been in this industry for nearly 30 years. Back then, a woman hit her use-by date around 30. There were few women in senior roles, and even fewer whose career survived childbirth. Young women like me were hired to be glamorous sidekicks to older men with "gravitas". When we ceased to be babes, we were expected to gracefully fade away, grateful for our brief time in the sun, while the men continued on into their dotage.

Juanita speaking out on sexism in the industry decades ago. (Supplied)

We weren't expected to stick around. But we did. And that's what's tipped the balance.

Little by little, women have gained longevity and power in an industry which for so long actively denied it to them. Suddenly, there's a critical mass of women with the clout to raise issues that matter to women — like the activity of the sort Tracey Spicer, Kate McClymont, Lorna Knowles and others are currently investigating.

Respected women like Tracey Grimshaw, Leigh Sales and Emma Alberici conduct forensic, informed interviews about sexual harassment. That simply didn't happen before women were established in those roles.

Sexual harassment has always been rife in the TV industry, and it's been well-known. But until now, it's not been considered news — because until recently, most of the people deciding what news is have been men.

If the shocking events of this week prove anything, it's that the news business needs women in senior positions. So the truth can be reported, not just half of it.

More names to come

I was lucky. All of my male bosses were lovely men, decent and supportive.

I've never been the victim of a sexual predator at work. But I've worked with quite a few pigs — cruel misogynists and bullies — and I would not be surprised to see some of their names revealed publicly over the coming weeks and months.

Women in the industry have been talking about them for years. We already know their names.

The difference now is that we have the power to expose them. And as this week's events demonstrated, they can no longer rely on the Old Boys Club to protect them.