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David Anderson not looking to quit under Michelle Guthrie

"I'm very lucky to be stepping into the role as Acting Managing Director. I am only Acting."

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Acting ABC Managing Director David Anderson was not one of the executive team looking to resign under Michelle Guthrie’s leadership, and has publicly praised her achievements.

“I can’t tell you why (Guthrie) was wrong for the ABC Board and why the ABC Board made the decision that they made,” he said on News Breakfast this morning.

“Michelle’s leadership style was dynamic. Michelle challenged us in a lot of ways to be better, challenged us to free up more money for content and went about that over the last two-and-a-half years.

“There will always be different opinions about different people and how they lead.”

He said she did good things with the Board and executive team including in areas of strategy.

“Her relationship with the board is not something the leadership team could actually see, nor will I criticise Michelle in any way for the last two-and-a-half years.”

Asked if he was one of the leadership team who was threatening to quit under Guthrie he responded, “No. Look, I don’t know and I can’t speak on behalf of the rest of the leadership team.

“I will say we have a talented and aligned leadership team. I’m very lucky to be stepping into the role as Acting Managing Director. I am only Acting. We work very well together as a team…” he continued.

Anderson is highly regarded amongst ABC staff, having worked his way up from the ABC mail room to the top job in ABC Television, including overseeing Production.

Michael Rowland likened the sudden firing of Guthrie without explanation to Malcolm Turnbull’s exit in Canberra.

“A lot of ABC viewers, and it is Your ABC, are concerned there isn’t a proper explanation as to why we are where we are today?” he asked.

Anderson replied, “I think it’s different to what happened with Turnbull, in that there isn’t a voting selection here that I am aware of,” adding that a recruitment process hopes to be resolved by Christmas.

“I can’t tell you what happened behind closed doors, because I don’t actually know.”

3 Responses

  1. “I think it’s different to what happened with Turnbull, in that there isn’t a voting selection here that I am aware of”. Of course there is. The Board of Directors vote, individually. Majority rules…at least in any normal company.

  2. “Project Jetstream” is an expensive fantasy that has been around in various forms for years. It’s not gonna get funded by any government because it’s not what the ABC is about – which is (in the words of its name and its Act) “broadcasting” (it’s what the ‘B’ in ‘ABC’ stands for). The only way that will change is if some “brave” (thank you Sir Humphrey) politician decides it’s time to tear up the ABC Act and start again – spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in the process. Good luck with that!

  3. Hmmm interesting, so Anderson says of Guthrie as someone who challenged us in many ways to be better, challenged us to free up more money for content.

    While to ABC’s Joe O’Brien Milne talked of his commitment to Project Jetstream to which he sees as setting up the organisation for a future when broadcasting becomes a thing of the past. Plus in that interview Milne pretty much confirmed Guthrie’s opposition to Project Jetstream and Anderson also said Milne and Guthrie disagreed on whether content or technology should be prioritised over one another (Milne on Jetstream’s side Guthrie on more content’s).

    Smells like to me that Project Jetstream is a way to set-up the ABC as an Internet only service in the very near future, just like the Government want Community TV to be and Guthrie wanted no part of it.

    Interesting times ahead me thinks.

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