“I would get a phone call from somebody else.”

Outgoing ABC News boss Gaven Morris has revealed how “subtle” pressure from above has been applied  to the news division without leaving telltale traces…

Speaking to Inside Story, Morris referred to the period when Justin Milne was chairman and Michelle Guthrie was managing director.

Guthrie was sacked by the board in 2018, and Milne was forced to resign shortly afterwards after Guthrie revealed he had pressured her to sack journalists, Andrew Probyn and Emma Alberici.

Milne was also a friend of PM Malcolm Turnbull.

“When Turnbull came out and said, ‘Well, I’ve never phoned Gaven Morris,’ he’s right about that,” Gaven Morris said.

“I didn’t get phone calls from Turnbull, but what I would notice is that other people would get phone calls that were very similar to the ones I was getting from other quarters… So the [Canberra] bureau would get a phone call from somebody. I would get a phone call from somebody else. Michelle [Guthrie] would get a phone call from somebody else.”

The message was clear, he said.

“We’re all getting different phone calls, and the people involved would all be able to say that they never talked to so-and-so. But on a number of occasions, it was clear to me what was happening. It was quite a dangerous time in terms of the editorial independence of the ABC because of the different characters involved and the dynamic that was at hand.”

Morris didn’t identify if other callers were politicians or board members but apologised for “speaking in tongues.”

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