After a dramatic week at the ABC that sees them without a permanent managing director nor a chair, there remain serious questions about government interference and the broadcaster’s independence.
The ABC chairman’s resignation provides some resolution to the crisis, but a discussion is sorely needed about other threats to the broadcaster’s independence.
According to the report, Milne had said that if Guthrie didn’t fire Probyn, she would be jeopardising half a billion dollars in funding for the proposed Jetstream infrastructure project.
Peter Fray, University of Technology Sydney and Derek Wilding, University of Technology Sydney
The ABC Act clearly states the board is duty-bound to ‘maintain the independence and integrity’ of the broadcaster. Milne’s actions appear to have compromised both values.
The ABC affair – which began with the sacking of Guthrie - spun out of control on Wednesday, following the leaking to Fairfax Media of a highly damaging email, showing Milne’s editorial interference.
A former senior manager with the ABC laments the poor choice of Michelle Guthrie as managing director, leaving her - and the organisation - in an invidious position.
ABC boss Michelle Guthrie sacked, but the board won’t say why
The Conversation37.5 MB(download)
ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie was sacked today, despite being less than halfway through her five-year term. The major question is: why? Today on the podcast, we explore the possibilities.
One of the reasons the managing director failed was that she did not understand the journalism she was overseeing, and that weakness filtered down the ranks.
In a blunt statement, the ABC board has announced the end of Guthrie’s tenure as managing director, declaring it was “not in the best interests” of the organisation for her to continue leading it.
Amid endless reviews into the future of local screen content, uncertainty reigns on issues such as the impact of Netflix, the fate of local content quotas and funding for original children’s TV.
Fifty years ago, an insurance agent named Paul Simpson was convinced of rampant bias on the evening news. So he embarked on a project to record each broadcast and store them at Vanderbilt University.
The head of the prime minister’s department says an investigation by the Australian Federal Police has found “the breach was not a deliberate act motivated by criminal or malicious intent”.
In a strong defence of the public broadcaster, its chairman has warned against clipping the ABC’s digital wings and defended its place in preserving the nation’s identity.
The federal parliamentary press gallery committee - which mostly looks after routine matters affecting its members - has taken a defiant stand to the ban, which has been endorsed by Fairfax.
It was a busy week in politics, with the federal government passing its income tax package, more squabbling over the ABC, and all parties gearing up for the July 28 byelections.