ABC and Political Interference

[K]

'More honoured in the abuse than application': ABC panel member hits out at board appointments

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/more-honoured-in-the-abuse-than-application-abc-panel-member-hits-out-at-board-appointments-20180930-p506zy.html

"The government appointed half of the current ABC board without the endorsement of the independent nomination panel designed to depoliticise board appointments."


Made me wonder about the CFC nominations committee...

[David]

Glad that this is all coming out. It�s a disgrace, really.

[K]

Kevin07 speaks...

'Culture of fear': Murdoch, the ABC and how to fix a media in crisis

https://www.theage.com.au/national/culture-of-fear-murdoch-the-abc-and-how-to-fix-a-media-in-crisis-20181001-p5073f.html

By Kevin Rudd

"What Australia needs is a far-reaching royal commission covering not just the abuse of media power in pursuit of personal gain, but also examining future models for public and private media ownership - to preserve the press and democratic freedoms on which our nation has been built."

[K]

Justin Milne wanted Kylie Minogue to sing about the ABC - with a potential price tag of $750,000

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/justin-milne-wanted-kylie-minogue-to-sing-about-the-abc-with-a-potential-price-tag-of-750-000-20181002-p507b4.html

"Ms Guthrie is understood to have "hit the roof" when she discovered the proposal.
...

Mr Milne, who has a marketing background, confirmed he thought the idea was "cool", but denied having knowledge about how much it would cost or pushing it on ABC management.
...

A source close to Ms Guthrie alleged Mr Milne had gone directly to the ABC's senior financial team about the Minogue proposition, asking them to have the plan costed.
...

Staff at the ABC suggested a $3 million advertising campaign starring Minogue would have raised eyebrows in newsrooms given the broadcaster had shed about 1000 jobs since 2014."

[K]

ABC board hires investigator to examine explosive Michelle Guthrie claims

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/abc-board-hires-investigator-to-examine-explosive-michelle-guthrie-claims-20181004-p507ot.html

"Board directors agreed to appoint the external investigator on Sunday September 23, the same time as it resolved to sack Ms Guthrie after months of internal unrest over her leadership.
...

In their statement, directors said they chose to confirm the appointment of the investigator now - 11 days after it happened - in order to "clarify various media reports".

Separately, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has commissioned an investigation into claims of Mr Milne's political interference in the broadcaster, which is being undertaken by the secretary of the Department of Communications, Mike Mrdak."

[K]

Funding fights and content clashes: turbulent times are not yet over for battered ABC

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/funding-fights-and-content-clashes-turbulent-times-are-not-yet-over-for-battered-abc-20181005-p507yp.html

[K]

'The barbarians are not at the gate; they�re in the building'

https://www.theage.com.au/national/the-barbarians-are-not-at-the-gate-they-re-in-the-building-20181001-p50728.html

"In the months before managing director Michelle Guthrie was sacked, the ABC was at war with itself. Then, all hell broke loose."


'Guthrie, 52, had been appointed to the $900,000-a-year ABC post in 2015, after a stint as a Singapore-based Google executive. A lawyer by training, she had spent 14 years in Rupert Murdoch�s global pay-TV empire � working for BSkyB in London and for Foxtel in her home town of Sydney before taking over from Rupert�s younger son, James, as the Hong Kong-based chief executive of Asian network, Star TV. Heading the ABC made her a public figure for the first time in her career. People recognised her everywhere, she told me. �I get a lot of, �Thank you for doing your job. You�re doing a great service for Australia.��
...

Ealy read it the same way: �A bunch of people have come in who see the ABC as this public-service monolith that needs to be reinvented in the corporate image.� Gretchen Miller said the newcomers� predilection for �management psychobabble� won them few friends among journalists and program-makers: �There was eye-rolling in meetings, and the managers knew it. I was once told to stop rolling my eyes. I�m quite proud of that.�
...

Guthrie, too, was said to be next to invisible, rarely entering production areas or speaking directly to employees. She travelled a lot, giving speeches at conferences and attending international broadcasters� meetings. Last year, she went to China, Sweden, Canada, the US and twice to the UK, at a cost to taxpayers of $62,000. In her own time, she headed frequently to Singapore, where her husband, Australian chef Darren Farr, has a restaurant, and where she sits on the board of a telecommunications company, StarHub. Even when physically present at head office, she often seemed to staff to be strangely disengaged. Several people told me they suspected she had taken on the job without realising exactly what it entailed. �She didn�t understand what an operational role it is,� said one. She claimed to adore leading the ABC but, up close, didn�t appear to embrace the challenge � at least, �not in that roll-your-sleeves-up-from-six-in-the-morning-till-midnight kind of way�.
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Doug Spencer, a radio producer who left in 2015 after almost four decades, said, �I�m sure I�m not the only former ABC staffer who at times idly thought to himself, �If only I were a satirical novelist. Because there�s so much priceless material here that I wouldn�t have to rewrite.��
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In Guthrie�s ABC, youth seemed to many to be favoured over experience. �There�s a lot of slagging-off of older staff,� said an editorial middle-manager. �If you�re over 45, �You just don�t get it. You�re not going to be up to it, and the sooner you�re shuffled off the better.��
...

Guthrie�s response to en masse misery was to fly staff around the country to workshops on �ABC principles� and �leadership transformation�. She and her leadership team wrote group emails exhorting everyone to keep up their wonderful work. �Absolute fantasy,� marvelled a longtime employee. �It�s as if they�re on drugs, or refined sociopaths. They sack staffer after staffer, and send out emails as if they were Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.�

Last month, employees were issued with thank-you cards they could give colleagues who demonstrated qualities valued at the ABC. The cards featured a fictional character called Larry wearing a delighted grin and a T-shirt with the ABC logo on the front. The range included an �Open & Transparent� Larry card, a �People-Focused� Larry card and a �Straight-Talking� Larry card. Matt Peacock had got to know Guthrie during his time as the staff-elected board member, and he had a lot of time for her. But when he learnt about the Larry cards, he was incredulous. �So stupid,� he said. �If you set out to deliberately alienate staff, you could hardly do better.� Gretchen Miller, appalled, fired off an email to Guthrie. �Your organisation is sick and someone needs to tell you this,� she wrote.
...'

[stui magpie]

You should change your user name to Flipboard or google Alerts.

[K]

What is Flipboard? (Did they pay you to mention them?)

I don't know what "Alerts" are either, but assume that company must have its multicoloured fingers in many pies.

[K]

Michelle Guthrie lodges Fair Work claim against the ABC

https://www.theage.com.au/national/michelle-guthrie-lodges-fair-work-claim-against-the-abc-20181018-p50ahi.html

"Ms Guthrie is expected to rely on the general protections provisions of the Fair Work Act, under which an employee may be protected from "adverse action", including dismissal, in some circumstances."

[K]

Michelle Guthrie may have grounds for claim against ABC: expert

https://www.afr.com/business/media-and-marketing/michelle-guthrie-may-have-grounds-for-claim-against-abc-expert-20180930-h161pp

'Maurice Blackburn principal Josh Bornstein said Ms Guthrie's sacking could trigger a "cracker" court case, although the ABC was probably more inclined to settle.
...

"One of the issues that Guthrie might benefit from is the last thing that the ABC and its board needs is a very public examination of who said what and who did what in relation to political interference," Mr Bornstein said...

"That could lead to a desire on the part of the ABC to avoid litigation even if they think they can win because they don't want to have that sort of dirty linen paraded in front of the entire community."
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It was likely she would argue she was sacked because she complained about the conduct of board chairman Milne.

Under so-called "general protection provisions" under the Fair Work Act, an employee may be protected from dismissal if they received adverse treatment after exercising a workplace right.

These rights include the ability to make complaints. The protectionsare often invoked by whistleblowers.
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"The argument might be that Guthrie was terminated because she complained to the board about Milne's political micromanagement and intervention," Mr Bornstein said.

"The argument on the other side is likely to be, that wasn't the reason we terminated you, the reason we terminated you was over your performance.

"So there will be two very different positions, which is quite common in these sorts of cases."
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"The court has very broad powers to make any orders it sees fit to remedy the contravention, including penalties and compensation," he said.

"This can include training and any other remediation the court feels is appropriate.

"But most cases get settled." '

[watt price tully]

[Culprit]

[K]

ABC reporter suspended for two months after complaint by Alex Turnbull to chairman

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/abc-reporter-suspended-for-two-months-after-complaint-by-alex-turnbull-to-chairman-20181101-p50de4.html

"The revelation sheds new light on the close relationship between the Turnbull family and the former ABC chairman - who was in business with Malcolm Turnbull at Ozemail in the late 1990s.

Senior ABC sources said there was no connection between the audio leak investigation and demands Mr Milne made to former managing director Michelle Guthrie to sack Alberici and political editor Andrew Probyn. They suggested the broadcaster would have investigated the leak regardless."

[Culprit]

^^The Government appointed ABC stooges think the people are stupid.