tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/justin-milne-60058/articlesJustin Milne – The Conversation2019-04-03T03:48:15Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1147522019-04-03T03:48:15Z2019-04-03T03:48:15ZABC inquiry finds board knew of trouble between Milne and Guthrie, but did nothing<p>The ABC board comes out badly from the report of the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Environment_and_Communications/ABCInterferenceAllegations/Report">Senate inquiry into political interference in the ABC</a>, which culminated last September in the sacking of the managing director, Michelle Guthrie, and the resignation of the chair, Justin Milne.</p>
<p>Referring to the long leap to this crisis, the committee says: </p>
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<p>This catalogue of events may give rise to the perception that the ABC Board had not been sufficiently active in protecting either the ABC’s independence from political interference or its own integrity.</p>
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<p>The committee says it was “astounded” that the board did not inquire into the causes of what it knew to be tensions between Milne and Guthrie.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/michelle-guthries-stint-at-abc-helm-had-a-key-weakness-she-failed-to-back-the-journalists-103759">Michelle Guthrie's stint at ABC helm had a key weakness: she failed to back the journalists</a>
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<p>It notes that allegations of political interference against Milne had been preceded by <a href="https://theconversation.com/constant-attacks-on-the-abc-will-come-back-to-haunt-the-coalition-government-98456">months of government complaints</a> against the ABC.</p>
<p>During this time, ABC board members had been aware of the declining relationship between Milne and Guthrie. But they had not made further inquiries about it, even though it was clearly impacting on the corporation and jeopardising the independence of key personnel.</p>
<p>This was a reference to two journalists, chief economics correspondent <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/abc-chairman-justin-milne-under-pressure-to-resign-over-emma-alberici-email-revelations-20180926-p5060s.html">Emma Alberici</a> and political editor <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/shoot-him-abc-chairman-told-guthrie-to-sack-political-editor-20180927-p5069v.html">Andrew Probyn</a>, whom Milne allegedly wanted sacked.</p>
<p>The committee says it was not until Guthrie’s now famous dossier about Milne’s alleged interference came out in the Fairfax press that the rest of the board woke up to what had been going on.</p>
<p>In the dossier, Guthrie alleged that Milne told her to “get rid of” Alberici and “shoot” Probyn because the government “hated” them, and Probyn’s continued presence was putting at risk half-a-billion dollars of funding for the ABC.</p>
<p>Milne has always denied there was any interference by the government. He <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/sep/27/justin-milne-resigns-and-denies-government-interference-in-abc">has said</a> the “interests of the ABC have always been utmost in my mind”.</p>
<p>The committee says that even after all this came to light and the cause of the breakdown between Milne and Guthrie had become clear, the board mishandled it.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267242/original/file-20190403-177167-11oc3sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267242/original/file-20190403-177167-11oc3sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267242/original/file-20190403-177167-11oc3sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267242/original/file-20190403-177167-11oc3sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267242/original/file-20190403-177167-11oc3sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267242/original/file-20190403-177167-11oc3sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267242/original/file-20190403-177167-11oc3sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A Senate inquiry has found the ABC board handled the deteriorating relationship between Justin Milne and Michelle Guthrie badly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Joel Carrett</span></span>
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<p>Instead of starting an immediate investigation into the allegations of political interference by Milne, it had persisted with its planned sacking of Guthrie.</p>
<p>The committee says that had the allegations in Guthrie’s dossier not leaked to the media, the board might never have suggested Milne consider his position, a suggestion that led directly to his resignation.</p>
<p>In other words, had it not been for the public pressure caused by the leak of the dossier, the board might never have put pressure on Milne to resign, and his alleged undermining of the ABC’s editorial independence might have been swept under the carpet.</p>
<p>The committee finds that the government’s control over ABC funding featured prominently in Milne’s thoughts and actions.</p>
<p>It also finds that the Coalition government was complicit in the events of September 2018 by using funding as a lever to exert political influence on the ABC.</p>
<p>The committee makes six recommendations. One is that the board reviews these events and reports to the minister for communications on what steps it proposes to take to guard against a recurrence.</p>
<p>Its other recommendations are directed at making appointments to the ABC board more transparent, gathering a broader range of experience, including media experience, on the board, and achieving greater stability in funding for the ABC.</p>
<p>The committee says the problem of politicisation of appointments to the ABC board “runs deep and wide”, and that it is important to bring transparency and accountability to the processes.</p>
<p>It expresses “grave concern” that in the midst of the committee’s inquiry, Prime Minister Scott Morrison chose to make what it called a “captain’s pick” and appoint <a href="https://theconversation.com/ita-buttroses-appointment-as-new-abc-chair-a-promising-step-in-the-right-direction-112683">Ita Buttrose as the new chair</a>.</p>
<p>More broadly, the committee says the formal process for board appointments needs to be tightened up.</p>
<p>It recommends:</p>
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<li><p>a formal process of consultation between the prime minister and opposition leader over the appointment of the chair, and a requirement that the prime minister make a statement to parliament about the extent and outcome of that consultation</p></li>
<li><p>selection criteria for board appointments be broadened to encourage a wider range of backgrounds.</p></li>
<li><p>inclusion on the board of at least two non-executive directors with substantial knowledge and experience of the media industry</p></li>
<li><p>explicit selection criteria be established for the appointment of the nomination panel, whose job is to put forward names to the minister for board appointments, so its work will be more transparent.</p></li>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ita-buttroses-appointment-as-new-abc-chair-a-promising-step-in-the-right-direction-112683">Ita Buttrose's appointment as new ABC chair a promising step in the right direction</a>
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<p>The committee also recommends that governments commit to a stable funding cycle for the ABC. This is partly because it gives the ABC certainty and partly to reduce the scope for funding to be used as a lever of political influence.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Environment_and_Communications/ABCInterferenceAllegations/Report">a dissenting report</a> by the two Coalition senators on the committee. </p>
<p>They reject all of this, saying the government has not interfered in the ABC and all the present procedures about board appointments and funding are fine.</p>
<p>What happens next will no doubt be influenced to some extent by the outcome of the forthcoming federal election.</p>
<p>However, much of the response is in the hands of Buttrose. She has the opportunity to assess the quality of the board she has inherited in the light of the committee’s findings, to lead the recommended review of last year’s events and to create a new boardroom culture.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114752/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denis Muller gave evidence in writing and in person to the inquiry.</span></em></p>A Senate inquiry report has found that while the broadcaster’s board was aware of the deteriorating relationship between the chair and managing director, it did not make any further inquiries.Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1107122019-02-13T05:42:01Z2019-02-13T05:42:01ZAustralian governments have a long history of trying to manipulate the ABC – and it’s unlikely to stop now<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258615/original/file-20190213-90488-erlef4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=520%2C5%2C2964%2C1988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Both Labor and Coalition governments have had run-ins with the ABC.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>History tells us that no matter which side of politics – Labor or Coalition – is in power, there is no respite for the ABC from incipient government hostility.</p>
<p>What does change, however, is the nature of the provocations that make governments antsy with Aunty.</p>
<p>Both sides get cross when the ABC criticises what the government does. But, in other respects, the provocations differ depending on which party is in power.</p>
<p>When it’s Labor, the sharpest tensions arise when the ABC’s journalism harms the party or its mates.</p>
<p>For example, during the Hawke-Keating years (1983-1996) there was fury about the ABC’s treatment of a Labor icon, Neville Wran, and Hawke’s mate, the transport tycoon Sir Peter Abeles.</p>
<p>In 1983, when Wran was premier of New South Wales, a Four Corners program, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/the-big-league---1983/2841712">The Big League</a>, implicated him in allegations of corruption in rugby league and the NSW magistracy. Wran was forced to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/neville-wran-labor-premier-had-a-golden-run-20140421-370ho.html">stand aside</a> during the ensuing royal commission. Although he was exonerated, he neither forgot nor forgave the ABC, and neither did the Labor Party.</p>
<p>Four Corners also investigated the business practices and political influence of Abeles, who was credited with playing a critical role in Hawke’s ascendancy to the Labor leadership.</p>
<p>However, under Labor these eruptions tend to be episodic – the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years were relatively tranquil – whereas during the Coalition’s past two terms in office hostility towards the ABC <a href="https://theconversation.com/constant-attacks-on-the-abc-will-come-back-to-haunt-the-coalition-government-98456">has been relentless</a>.</p>
<p>When the Coalition is in office, the sharpest tensions are caused by allegations of bias and by ideological conflict of the kind typified by the culture wars: Aboriginal issues, Reconciliation and Australian history.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/constant-attacks-on-the-abc-will-come-back-to-haunt-the-coalition-government-98456">Constant attacks on the ABC will come back to haunt the Coalition government</a>
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<p>This pattern was already established when John Howard became prime minister in 1996, but he took it to a new level. His senior adviser, Grahame Morris, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/an-eye-to-history-20081118-gdt37l.html">characterised the ABC</a> as “our enemy talking to our friends”. Howard himself referred to the 7pm ABC television news as “Labor’s home video”. </p>
<p>Within four months of the election, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/01/cabinet-papers-was-the-howard-government-conservative-or-liberal">his government cut the ABC’s budget</a> by 2% – breaking an election promise – and announced a review of the role and scope of ABC services.</p>
<p>Howard’s communications minister, Richard Alston, kept up an <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/static-from-the-newsfront-20050305-gdkv5g.html">unremitting barrage of complaints</a> that the ABC was biased. This culminated in 2003 with 68 complaints about the coverage of the second Gulf War. An independent review panel upheld 17 of these but found no systematic bias.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258056/original/file-20190210-174857-3gp846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258056/original/file-20190210-174857-3gp846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258056/original/file-20190210-174857-3gp846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258056/original/file-20190210-174857-3gp846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258056/original/file-20190210-174857-3gp846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258056/original/file-20190210-174857-3gp846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258056/original/file-20190210-174857-3gp846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">During the Howard government years, Communications Minister Richard Alston maintained a furious attack on the ABC.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Alan Porritt</span></span>
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<p>This playbook – repeated funding cuts, relentless allegations of bias, and recurring inquiries into the ABC’s efficiency and scope – has been followed to the letter by the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison administrations.</p>
<p>Howard also fashioned appointments to the ABC board into a new weapon in the culture wars by selecting not just party grandees and reliable allies, but cultural warriors.</p>
<p>This reached its apogee with the appointments of Ron Brunton in 2003, Janet Albrechtsen in 2005 and the historian Keith Windshuttle in 2006.</p>
<p>Brunton is an anthropologist who worked for the Liberal Party and right-wing think-tank the Institute of Public Affairs. He made a name for himself by writing a critical response to the report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.</p>
<p>Albrechtsen is a columnist with The Australian. She is a longstanding critic of the ABC and in particular its Media Watch program.</p>
<p>Her qualifications were enhanced by the fact that she had written in praise of Windshuttle’s work, The Fabrication of Aboriginal History, in which he disputed estimates of the number of Aboriginal people killed in frontier massacres during European settlement. These estimates formed part of what the historian Geoffrey Blainey called the “black armband” view of Australian history, an epithet later adopted by Howard.</p>
<p>Labor also stacks the board but tends to content itself with the appointment of straight-out political mates – ex-politicians, labour lawyers and trade union officials. According to the ABC’s historian, Ken Inglis, in 1992 the then chairman, Mark Armstrong, looked around the boardroom and wondered whether he was the only director who did not owe his place to some connection with Labor. </p>
<p>As this brief history shows, both side of politics are contemptuous of the merit-based process laid down in the <a href="https://about.abc.net.au/who-we-are/the-abc-board/">ABC Act for board appointments</a>. It requires an independent nomination panel to produce three names, based on stated selection criteria, and then to recommend them to the minister.</p>
<p>Ministers are under no legal obligation to take any notice and, as we have seen, they routinely do not.</p>
<p>Australia saw the climactic results of this shameless jobbery last September when the ABC chair, <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-justin-milne-gone-how-does-the-abc-go-about-restoring-its-crucial-independence-103987">Justin Milne</a>, and the managing director, <a href="https://theconversation.com/despite-her-good-intentions-michelle-guthrie-was-never-the-right-fit-for-the-abc-103755">Michelle Guthrie</a>, were forced out. This came amid recriminatory accusations about Guthrie’s performance, Milne’s relationship with the then prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and the board’s incapacity to defend the broadcaster’s editorial independence.</p>
<p>Two changes to the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018C00079">ABC Act</a> would go some way towards reducing the likelihood of more crises like this.</p>
<p>First, part VI of the act should be amended to include a mechanism for guaranteeing the agreed level of funding for a triennium. The finance minister would then be obligated to make a statement to parliament explaining any reduction.</p>
<p>Second, the merit-based appointment process set out in part IIIA of the act should be made mandatory. The act should also be amended so that if the minister rejects a nomination panel’s recommendations, he or she must tell parliament who has been rejected and why someone else was preferred.</p>
<p>In the lead-up to the 2019 election, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-11/labor-vows-to-restore-funding-to-abc-if-elected/9857468">Labor has promised to restore</a> the most recent cuts of A$83.7 million to the ABC budget over three years, but not the other A$250 million taken out, mainly by the Abbott government. The Coalition has kept a decent silence.</p>
<p>The moral of this story is that voters should not be too starry-eyed about how Labor is likely to treat the ABC if it wins the election. And they should be less starry-eyed still about the prospects of a minister giving up the power to manipulate board membership of Australia’s most important cultural institution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110712/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denis Muller carried out consultancy work for the ABC between 2007 and 2011 and is a guest each week on the Behind the Media segment on ABC Radio Victoria Statewide Drive.</span></em></p>The national broadcaster has had a tumultuous history, targeted by both major parties at various times. No matter who takes office after the 2019 election, the ABC can never rest easy.Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1039872018-09-27T06:26:24Z2018-09-27T06:26:24ZWith Justin Milne gone, how does the ABC go about restoring its crucial independence?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238286/original/file-20180927-48653-1jlvd4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Justin Milne, returning to his home in Sydney after resigning from his post as chairman of ABC. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joel Carrett/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The ABC’s former chairman, Justin Milne, has propelled himself from obscurity to infamy in just four days. Along the way, he has <a href="https://theconversation.com/abc-board-sacks-managing-director-michelle-guthrie-103756">ended the tenure</a> of the ABC’s first female managing director, prompted <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/sep/26/abc-crisis-dual-inquiries-to-investigate-alleged-political-interference">two federal inquiries</a>, revealed the dysfunctional relationship between the national broadcaster’s board and its upper management, and laid bare the politicised climate in which the ABC operates.</p>
<p>But on the positive side, it’s just possible that he has opened up a discussion that’s sorely needed about the independence of the ABC and the pressures that work to undermine it.</p>
<p>Milne’s position became untenable following <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/they-hate-her-emails-show-abc-chairman-told-michelle-guthrie-to-fire-emma-alberici-20180925-p505z4.html">leaks that appeared to reveal serial interventions</a> in day-to-day management. These included petitioning former managing director Michelle Guthrie to sack senior journalist Emma Alberici and to “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/shoot-him-abc-chairman-told-guthrie-to-sack-political-editor-20180927-p5069v.html">shoot</a>” political editor Andrew Probyn because the government didn’t like them.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/justin-milne-quits-as-abc-chairman-after-furore-over-attack-on-political-editor-103995">Justin Milne quits as ABC chairman after furore over attack on political editor</a>
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<p>The leaked emails suggest Milne <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-abc-chairman-justin-milne-compromised-the-independence-of-the-national-broadcaster-103985">wanted particular staff removed</a> to protect the ABC from its many strident critics in the federal Coalition government, and that he actively lobbied on a wide range of causes, including <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/abc-chairman-tried-to-stop-triple-j-moving-date-of-hottest-100/10308214">Triple J’s decision</a> to move the Hottest 100 from Australia Day. He opposed the move because it offended his friend, the then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.</p>
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<p>The ABC board met today without Milne and asked him to stand aside. But Milne instead offered to resign. Afterwards, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-27/abc-chairman-justin-milne-resigns/10311472">he told</a> ABC journalist Leigh Sales:</p>
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<p>Clearly there is a lot of pressure on the organisation. My aims have been to look after the interests of the corporation. And it’s clearly not a good thing for everyone to be trying to do their job with this kind of firestorm going on so I wanted to provide a release valve.</p>
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<p>Milne’s resignation has provided some resolution. But Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s hope that “normal transmission” will now resume is the wishful thinking of a government that desperately hopes the ABC won’t become an election issue, either in the impending Wentworth by-election or at next year’s general poll.</p>
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<p>The government has announced an inquiry, to be <a href="https://www.themandarin.com.au/99222-abc-chairmans-fate-in-the-hands-of-mike-mrdak/">conducted by Mike Mrdak</a>, secretary of the Department of Communications and the Arts. Communications Minister Mitch Fifield <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-27/fifield-announces-abc-inquiry/10311176">said</a> it would determine the facts and restore confidence in the national broadcaster.</p>
<p>But as several critics have pointed out, a review conducted by someone who answers to the minister is unlikely to considered independent, especially as it was the government that Milne was seeking to appease.</p>
<p>Labor’s Communications spokesperson, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radio/brisbane/programs/worldtoday/trust-and-confidence-in-the-abc-is-paramount:-michelle-rowland/10311990">Michelle Rowland</a>, and others have dismissed the proposed inquiry. Paul Murphy, chief executive of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-27/abc-chairman-justin-milne-resigns/10311472">labelled it a “whitewash”</a> and called for a full public inquiry.</p>
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<p>The Opposition and the Greens have <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/greens-push-for-senate-inquiry-into-abc/news-story/40e43a21c2520a7b1901deef3564733a">supported a separate Senate inquiry</a> to investigate the issue with wider scope and greater powers. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said it was needed “so we can question members of the board about what has really been going on”.</p>
<p>She also <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-27/abc-chairman-justin-milne-resigns/10311472">called for a clean sweep</a> of the entire board because of questions about what it knew about Milne’s interventions and its failure to protect staff: </p>
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<p>We need a broom through the board and we need to give the public broadcaster a fresh start.</p>
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<h2>ABC’s independence under threat in other ways</h2>
<p>This chaotic week has exposed the increasingly politicised climate in which the ABC now operates and the inconsistencies in the government’s narrative about the independence of the national broadcaster. </p>
<p>Both Fifield and Morrison have declared their support for the ABC and suggested that Milne’s reported interventions were unacceptable. But the party they represent is at the same time attacking the ABC on numerous fronts. </p>
<p>It has several pieces of <a href="https://theconversation.com/abc-targeted-in-government-deal-with-pauline-hanson-82535">legislation</a> before the parliament that seek to undermine the ABC’s role or change its editorial charter, some at the behest of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-public-broadcaster-that-bows-to-political-pressure-isnt-doing-its-job-92044">A public broadcaster that bows to political pressure isn't doing its job</a>
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<p>It has <a href="https://finance.nine.com.au/2018/05/08/22/32/budget-2018-abc-to-miss-out-on-84-million-in-funding">cut the ABC’s budget</a> by a reported A$83 million, and subjected the broadcaster to reviews into its efficiency and competitive neutrality, at the request of its commercial competitors. </p>
<p>Fifield is himself a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/minister-mitch-fifield-lodges-sixth-complaint-about-the-abc-in-five-months-20180601-p4zizn.html">regular complainant</a> about ABC journalists on the grounds that they have not reported on the Coalition fairly.</p>
<p>On Monday, which now seems so long ago, the former ABC staff-elected director Matt Peacock observed that for all her faults, Guthrie did at least stand up for the ABC’s independence. He <a href="https://theconversation.com/media-files-abc-boss-michelle-guthrie-sacked-but-the-board-wont-say-why-103752">told the Media Files podcast</a> that Guthrie understood its importance and did her best to defend it. It was an astute observation, given that independence has become the dominant theme of this unedifying week.</p>
<p>This is hopefully the main topic that will be explored in the impending inquiries. The issue of independence transcends the appointment of a new chairman or managing director, although clearly the next permanent occupants of those roles need to understand what a public broadcaster does and the importance of fearless, civic-minded journalism. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-abc-and-the-public-that-trusts-it-must-stand-firm-against-threats-to-its-editorial-independence-99784">Why the ABC, and the public that trusts it, must stand firm against threats to its editorial independence</a>
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<p>Questions about independence go to the way appointments are made to the board – a process that has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/27/to-save-the-abc-its-board-must-be-depoliticised">politicised by both major parties</a>. It is about what a public broadcaster is and whether governments are prepared, on the one hand, to support and fortify the ABC against its critics and, on the other, to leave it alone to do its job.</p>
<p>Others have called today for the government to ensure board members are appointed at arm’s length, as is meant to happen under existing rules, and to appoint directors who have media experience and a passion for public broadcasting. </p>
<p>As Marcus Strom, president of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-24/abc-news-24-stream/6418612">told ABC News</a>, the staff deserve better and are sick of being treated like “political footballs”.</p>
<p>For the millions of Australians who care about the ABC, this has been a wearying week in which odd alliances have emerged. It’s a strange day, for example, when an <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/editorials/unless-it-is-independent-the-abc-will-be-worthless/news-story/f173596c39196d6c176a7a853f9cb9f7">editorial in The Australian</a> concurs with the unanimous sentiment of ABC staff. </p>
<p>But the disruption won’t have been in vain if more awareness emerges about the fragility and importance of the ABC’s editorial independence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103987/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Dodd receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is a former staff member of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.</span></em></p>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.Andrew Dodd, Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1039852018-09-26T23:30:07Z2018-09-26T23:30:07ZHow ABC chairman Justin Milne compromised the independence of the national broadcaster<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238232/original/file-20180926-48634-1rc7hxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reports this week revealed that ABC Chairman Justin Milne called for a journalist to be fired after receiving complaints from the government.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joel Carrett/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>Update</strong>: <em>Justin Milne has now <a href="https://theconversation.com/justin-milne-quits-as-abc-chairman-after-furore-over-attack-on-political-editor-103995">resigned as chair of the ABC board</a>.</em></p>
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<p>Behind the extraordinary events engulfing the national broadcaster lies a rather ordinary and clear statement of principle enshrined in the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00300">ABC Act</a>. It clearly stipulates that one of the functions of the board is to maintain the corporation’s independence and integrity. </p>
<p>Has Justin Milne, as chairman of the board, done that? </p>
<p>Reports from Fairfax Media this week revealed email correspondence between Milne and the then managing director, Michelle Guthrie. In the emails, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/they-hate-her-emails-show-abc-chairman-told-michelle-guthrie-to-fire-emma-alberici-20180925-p505z4.html">Milne called</a> for chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici to be sacked over a report on government funding for research and innovation.</p>
<p>Then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had complained about the article; this followed complaints in February about two other pieces by Alberici on corporate tax, also critical of government policy. The ABC amended and reposted <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-14/why-many-big-companies-dont-pay-corporate-tax/9443840">one of these pieces</a> and eight days later republished the other, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-22/more-to-jobs-and-growth-than-a-corporate-tax-cut/9471856">an analysis</a>. </p>
<p>An <a href="http://about.abc.net.au/complaints/abc-news-online-265/">internal ABC review</a> found fault with both earlier articles, which had attracted considerable attention. </p>
<p>Another <a href="https://myaccount.news.com.au/sites/dailytelegraph/subscribe.html?sourceCode=DTWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&mode=premium&dest=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/abc-chairman-told-guthrie-to-sack-political-editor-andrew-probyn-after-angry-call-from-turnbull/news-story/ae63aff57101922926c1bafec111b4a9?memtype=anonymous">report this week in The Daily Telegraph</a> makes further claims that Milne later demanded the resignation of ABC political editor Andrew Probyn, following anger from Turnbull. “You have to shoot him”, Milne is claimed to have said to Guthrie. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/abc-board-chair-over-reaches-in-a-bid-to-appease-hostile-government-103913">ABC Board Chair over-reaches in a bid to appease hostile government</a>
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<p>On one view, the performance of a journalist is an operational matter for the MD or other executives, not a strategic matter, and there was no cause for intervention by Milne. </p>
<p>But others might ask, isn’t it the role of the board to intervene if there’s possibly severe reputational damage to the organisation and executives are not acting? </p>
<p>Both points seem reasonable, but this is the ABC, not a commercial operation. </p>
<p>It’s hardly contentious to say that its journalistic role distinguishes a news organisations from other businesses. Watchdog, fourth estate – however we describe it – news media are different. Editorial independence, along with editorial standards, is important. </p>
<p>But this is even more pronounced for public broadcasters. While government funds the ABC and SBS using public money, these are not state broadcasters. Being free from state control is a part of the legislation under which the ABC operates. It’s when we look at the ABC Act that we see the problem for Milne.</p>
<p>Although we often speak of the ABC “charter”, this is really just section 6 of the ABC Act. It sets out the functions of the ABC and it’s where we find reference to the ABC providing “innovative and comprehensive broadcasting services of a high standard”. </p>
<p>But important obligations are found elsewhere. The requirement to provide a news service, for example, is in a later, operational section.</p>
<p>And it’s section 8 where we find the twin requirements of independence and editorial standards. These are worth setting out in full:</p>
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<li><p>8(1)(b) to maintain the independence and integrity of the Corporation</p></li>
<li><p>8(1)(c) to ensure that the gathering and presentation by the Corporation of news and information is accurate and impartial according to the recognised standards of objective journalism </p></li>
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<p>The problem for Milne is that these obligations are not imposed on the ABC as an organisation. They are imposed on the board. The lead-in to section 8 is: “It is the duty of the Board…”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/media-files-abc-boss-michelle-guthrie-sacked-but-the-board-wont-say-why-103752">Media Files: ABC boss Michelle Guthrie sacked, but the board won’t say why</a>
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<p>Returning then to the emails, at issue was a report by Alberici on the main 7pm television news bulletin on May 6. According to the Fairfax report, Turnbull sent an email to news director Gaven Morris the next day complaining about the report. </p>
<p>Morris sent it to Guthrie, who contacted Milne. Milne responded, saying “they [the government] hate her” and “get rid of her”. </p>
<p>This apparently is before Communications Minister Mitch Fifield complained about the same report on May 9 and before the ABC’s complaints review unit had a chance to assess the complaint. When it did, <a href="http://about.abc.net.au/statements/statement-by-abc-news/">it found no problem</a> with the article except for one inaccuracy – certainly nothing that would justify the dismissal of the journalist.</p>
<p>It appears Milne acted to protect the reputation of the ABC. He and the board are required to do that – protecting its “integrity” is a part of their statutory duties. And the board also has a role in upholding standards. </p>
<p>Had the ABC’s complaints unit found there was a serious problem for a second time and executives had failed to act, maybe the board would have been right to intervene. But that step – assessing the validity of the complaint – was skipped, and it seems the main reason for proposing Alberici’s dismissal was to appease the government. </p>
<p>In this case, “independence” should have trumped the reputational aspect of “integrity”, especially when the risk was political. Instead, the chairman of the ABC may have compromised both values.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103985/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Derek Wilding receives research grant funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network Consumer Research Grants Fund. He is a member and Australian chapter head of the International Institute of Communications. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Fray does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>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.Peter Fray, Professor of Journalism Practice, University of Technology SydneyDerek Wilding, Co-Director, Centre for Media Transition, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.