Justin Milne resigns from ABC chairman role
The leadership crisis at the ABC has deepened, with chairman Justin Milne bowing to mounting internal and external pressures, and resigning as the national broadcaster’s chairman.
Milne’s tenure at the helm of the ABC board was due to continue until 2022, however the position became untenable when it emerged he had pressured recently sacked managing director Michelle Guthrie to “get rid” of prominent journalist Emma Alberici, questions were raised about political interference at the ABC and staff passed unanimous motions demanding he stand aside.
Milne was due to remain in the role until 2022
Speaking to the ABC, Milne said the board had requested he stand aside while the investigation into the various allegations against him was conducted, but he concluded resigning was the better option.
Perhaps Fifield can consider taking this opportunity to put capable people in both roles. The abc has demonstrated yet again how intensely political is its own internal dynamic. The government has demonstrated yet again that it is clueless about the management and governance needs of the abc. The public has watch as still more theatrics and nonsense are the primary product of its billion dollars a year.
Two empty chairs. Fifield to serve.
The ABC “firestorm” is just the tip of the iceberg in the Australian media. The reason it has played out so publicly is because the ABC is independent and should be free from any political pressure or interference.
But shouldn’t those same rules apply to commercial/free networks?
Let Malcolm Turnbull and Mitch Fifield sweat under oath they haven’t bombarded CEOs about journalists and biased reporting.
And did the phone calls increase as the government was legislating millions of dollars in licence relief and change of ownership laws?
It is clear bullying and intimidation in Canberra is rife and not just aimed at women.
Suspect there are legs in this story still. The question now becomes how many people in the organisation knew about the political pressure and chose not to blow the whistle.
Of course, the issue wouldn’t have even come up if we didn’t have the embarrassment of literal IPA policy being parroted by the commonwealth government. Shambles.
For the best part of 40 years, I have watched ABC TV, which would have made up over 80% of my TV viewing. For the past 10 years at least, it has strongly pursued and supported a left wing agenda,
To be free of politically interference, is what everyone would hope, irrespective of their position on the political spectrum. But the ABC can no longer claim to have clean hands.
Hhmmm,
I dare say that other Boards Mr Milne is on should take a good look as well……any thoughts Tabcorp, NBN, MYOB??
Take a look at the share price performance of MYOB, NBN and Tabcorp and their ability to deal with technology disruption. What about other directorships of Quickflix and Pie Networks which have conveniently disappeared from LinkedIn? Tells a story about Milne’s Midas touch.
The ball seems to still be rolling. ABC Board still has questions to answer, as does Fiefield. Fiefield especially. Mr Teflon.
It will be very interesting how Emma Albarici is treated after this. The other interesting part of his ‘fatal’ email was the accusation of clear bias from a high profile journalist.
Whose responsibility is the neutrality of reporting from the ABC? Was it Michelle Guthrie’s? Or is it the board’s? Or is it both?
Is Emma Albarici’s position as a neutral now untenable, or since her main detractor is now on the outer – has she dodged a bullet?
In any business the Board sets the agenda.
The ABC Board has, one-by-one, been replaced by characters friendly to the right. As a result the ABC content has softened and been very soft on those of the right of centre.
Therefore I agree that the corporation should be free of political interference – from the Board and indirectly the government of the day (of any political persuasion) – and return back to its centrist position and be equally hard on both the left and the right.