ABC managing director Hugh Marks has confirmed he secretly engaged a recruitment company to find a replacement for news director Justin Stevens, after the two disagreed over the direction of ABC News. Stevens, a 19-year veteran of the network, “did not know” about the international search - because nothing fosters a healthy working relationship like a clandestine job hunt behind your back.
Marks said the move was necessary because they “couldn’t get agreement on the way forward.” That way forward turned out to be hiring Simon Robinson, a top news executive from Reuters, to replace Stevens, who was forced to resign last month. Marks also signalled sweeping change across the organisation, saying all leadership roles were under review and that it was not unusual to “undertake extensive succession planning for all of our key executive roles, all the time.” Which is corporate-speak for: nobody’s job is safe, and we’ve got headhunters on speed dial.
In an interview with Sally Sara on Radio National Breakfast on Tuesday, Marks said there were “key problems” the ABC had to fix and resources were too stretched across live news. He again indicated some legacy programming or services may have to go, echoing comments he made last month on Alan Kohler’s That’s Business podcast: “I’ll give you an example: a legacy television show that has been around for 40 years.” When pressed, Marks ruled out that 7.30, a 40-year-old program, was facing the axe, calling his earlier remarks “hypothetical.” So, hypothetical axe-wielding - very reassuring.
Marks also addressed the controversy over hiring former Australian of the Year Grace Tame to host a podcast about autism, after Melbourne radio host Charlie Pickering called the move “problematic” in an interview with right-wing live streamer Avi Yemini. Pickering later apologised, claiming he was “ambushed by a known provocateur.” Marks said Pickering’s comments were not a breach of the ABC’s editorial code, and indicated Tame was hired before she made controversial comments about Israel and Gaza, including incorrectly referring to the rape of Israeli women on October 7 as “propaganda” and “debunked.” Marks defended Tame, saying she “abhors violence of any kind,” and encouraged people to listen to her podcast, which he described as “great.”