Tabling the report, Fifield revealed Milne had told him on September.
12 that the board did not believe Guthrie was best placed to lead the
organisation, and that he would be telling her that next day.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Mrdak, who interviewed both Milne and Guthrie, said they had no doubt the government was “very concerned at the issues of opinion and accuracy and editorial standards raised” in the several pieces.
Before Milne’s announcement Communications Minister Mitch Fifield.
conspicuously failed to back him when addressing reporters.
David Crossing/AAP
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.
In a text message exchange with ABC radio presenter Rafael Epstein, Mr Milne said “yes” when asked if he intended to remain in the role.
Joel Carrett/AAP
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.
Michelle Guthrie has been criticised for not standing up for the organisation sufficiently, and for her lack of journalistic experience.
AAP/Julian Smith
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.
Author Tom Keneally, actress Magda Szubanski and journalist Kerry O'Brien are among the ABC’s high-profile supporters.
AAP/Jeremy Ng
The public broadcaster’s editorial independence must be protected at all costs – from within and without.
With reviews into the ABC underway on its competitive neutrality and its efficiency, Milne said that, echoing the past, some rivals urged the ABC should be banned from providing digital services and restricted to linear radio and television.
Joel Carrett/AAP
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.
Michelle Guthrie pointed out that the broadcaster’s per capita funding had halved in real terms in three decades while the demands on it had increased.
Joel Carrett/AAP
Michelle Guthrie has hit back against critics with a Deloitte Access Economics assessment the public broadcaster contributed more than $1 billion to the Australian economy in the last financial year.
The ABC’s independence is a global concern.
AAP/Joel Carrett
As the Trump administration settles into office, regulators and lawmakers have big plans for shifting the country’s media landscape, with potentially profound effects on the public.
There were high hopes that the SABC would become a true public broadcaster after the end of apartheid when it was used ruthlessly as a propaganda machine. But those hopes have since been dashed.
We who love and cherish the BBC, even from afar – and I am unashamedly one of them – have been awaiting with some anxiety the UK government’s white paper on the future of the corporation. The culture secretary…
Mark Scott has altered the ABC in profound ways.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
ABC managing director Mark Scott’s recent speech to the National Press Club today had the quietly confident tone of a CEO who knows he’s leaving his organisation in broadly better shape than he found it…