Extract from The Guardian
Many staff are happy with the sacking of Guthrie but whether it will relieve their pain remains to be seen
The brutal sacking of ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie half way through her term came as a shock to many, not just her.
The news, however was greeted with joy by many ABC staff.
For years they have been in the bunker, working harder and harder in an ever-depleting workforce, demoralised and cynical as they weathered the latest cuts from a hostile government and the unceasing vitriol from Murdoch-owned newspapers.
Guthrie herself was mostly distrusted, spruiking feel-good messages while the staff witnessed the opposite: a perceived dumbing-down in content and shedding of experience.
The final insult was the “Larry cards”, supposed to be issued to employees for such virtues as plain speaking, which unsurprisingly were greeted with incredulity and derision.
But whether Guthrie’s execution will relieve their pain or just destabilise the national broadcaster further remains to be seen.
There is no doubt that in recent months her relationship with the board and in particular its chairman, Justin Milne, had become poisonous.
The political affiliations of the board are not just limited to the chairman. All of the current directors, with the exception of the staff-elected Jane Connors, were appointed by the minister rather than through the arms-length appointment process established by the former Labor government.
As a result, while they might be well-qualified for the corporate world, none have knowledge of the media industry, other than Peter Lewis, the former commercial TV accountant whom Turnbull commissioned to conduct an earlier ABC “efficiency review” before appointing him to the board.
These directors will now choose Guthrie’s successor.
Already they have a candidate close at hand, one who has been chosen as Guthrie’s interim replacement.
David Anderson is a long-time member of the ABC, well regarded by staff and senior executives alike, who was runner up to Guthrie for the job two and a half years ago.
He is certainly across the challenges facing the national broadcaster, having been elevated to a senior executive role in managing the transformation to digital by Guthrie’s predecessor Mark Scott.
He never agreed with the wholesale outsourcing of television content creation seen during Scott’s era, a strategy now acknowledged as a mistake as global competitors like Netflix steadily encroach on the local market. Both he and Guthrie acknowledged the importance of the ABC owning its own content, and on his initiative the planned sale of the ABC’s large TV studio at Gore Hill was reversed.
It’s an open question whether he has the mettle to resist the pressures in the top job from the government and its proxies, but certainly his colleagues on the executive are confident he has.
It may be, as one staff member observed, that the board will take a similar decision to that taken after the disastrous reign of Jonathan Shier as managing director, when it appointed the uncharismatic former accountant Russell Balding as a safe pair of hands to restore stability.
But more is needed than stability. The staff are crying out for a leader to inspire confidence and to publicly promote the cause of the national public broadcaster. The past master at this was Guthrie’s predecessor Mark Scott, who displayed a deft touch not only tweeting his tweets, but also glad-handling politicians from either side.
Scott’s critics viewed him as more style than substance, and it must be said that many of his poor appointments and decisions were unfairly blamed on Guthrie. Nonetheless, his political finesse delivered the Corporation additional funding from both sides of politics.
Never has this been more important, as the ABC retools along with media organisations throughout the world to survive the digital disruption enveloping its industry.
The board, Milne and Guthrie all realised the importance for the ABC to be more aggressive in reminding its audience of the vital role it plays in Australian national life. Most observers agree the current self-promotion featuring prominent Australians declaring their affection for Aunty has been a stand-out success.
It’s also for this reason that former ABC staff, myself included, have banded together into an ABC Alumni, in order to lobby for a secure future for Australian public media and to support the staff still employed at the ABC.
With Michelle Guthrie sacked and an ugly public legal battle seeming likely, the national broadcaster will need all the help it can get in maintaining the high levels of affection and public trust it currently holds.
The news, however was greeted with joy by many ABC staff.
For years they have been in the bunker, working harder and harder in an ever-depleting workforce, demoralised and cynical as they weathered the latest cuts from a hostile government and the unceasing vitriol from Murdoch-owned newspapers.
Guthrie herself was mostly distrusted, spruiking feel-good messages while the staff witnessed the opposite: a perceived dumbing-down in content and shedding of experience.
The final insult was the “Larry cards”, supposed to be issued to employees for such virtues as plain speaking, which unsurprisingly were greeted with incredulity and derision.
But whether Guthrie’s execution will relieve their pain or just destabilise the national broadcaster further remains to be seen.
There is no doubt that in recent months her relationship with the board and in particular its chairman, Justin Milne, had become poisonous.
The political affiliations of the board are not just limited to the chairman. All of the current directors, with the exception of the staff-elected Jane Connors, were appointed by the minister rather than through the arms-length appointment process established by the former Labor government.
As a result, while they might be well-qualified for the corporate world, none have knowledge of the media industry, other than Peter Lewis, the former commercial TV accountant whom Turnbull commissioned to conduct an earlier ABC “efficiency review” before appointing him to the board.
These directors will now choose Guthrie’s successor.
Already they have a candidate close at hand, one who has been chosen as Guthrie’s interim replacement.
David Anderson is a long-time member of the ABC, well regarded by staff and senior executives alike, who was runner up to Guthrie for the job two and a half years ago.
He is certainly across the challenges facing the national broadcaster, having been elevated to a senior executive role in managing the transformation to digital by Guthrie’s predecessor Mark Scott.
He never agreed with the wholesale outsourcing of television content creation seen during Scott’s era, a strategy now acknowledged as a mistake as global competitors like Netflix steadily encroach on the local market. Both he and Guthrie acknowledged the importance of the ABC owning its own content, and on his initiative the planned sale of the ABC’s large TV studio at Gore Hill was reversed.
It’s an open question whether he has the mettle to resist the pressures in the top job from the government and its proxies, but certainly his colleagues on the executive are confident he has.
It may be, as one staff member observed, that the board will take a similar decision to that taken after the disastrous reign of Jonathan Shier as managing director, when it appointed the uncharismatic former accountant Russell Balding as a safe pair of hands to restore stability.
But more is needed than stability. The staff are crying out for a leader to inspire confidence and to publicly promote the cause of the national public broadcaster. The past master at this was Guthrie’s predecessor Mark Scott, who displayed a deft touch not only tweeting his tweets, but also glad-handling politicians from either side.
Scott’s critics viewed him as more style than substance, and it must be said that many of his poor appointments and decisions were unfairly blamed on Guthrie. Nonetheless, his political finesse delivered the Corporation additional funding from both sides of politics.
Never has this been more important, as the ABC retools along with media organisations throughout the world to survive the digital disruption enveloping its industry.
The board, Milne and Guthrie all realised the importance for the ABC to be more aggressive in reminding its audience of the vital role it plays in Australian national life. Most observers agree the current self-promotion featuring prominent Australians declaring their affection for Aunty has been a stand-out success.
It’s also for this reason that former ABC staff, myself included, have banded together into an ABC Alumni, in order to lobby for a secure future for Australian public media and to support the staff still employed at the ABC.
With Michelle Guthrie sacked and an ugly public legal battle seeming likely, the national broadcaster will need all the help it can get in maintaining the high levels of affection and public trust it currently holds.
- Matthew Peacock is a former staff-elected member of the ABC board
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